EU leaders' summit on top jobs and future budget

"EU leaders have agreed to spend more on common defence and security policy in their next long-term budget, European Council President Donald Tusk says.

Leaders of 27 states were meeting in Brussels to shape the 2021-27 budget.

Members have been in disagreement on how to compensate for funding loss after Britain's planned 2019 departure.

Germany and France have warned any funding cuts to EU programmes could damage efforts to tackle illegal immigration and terrorism.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Tusk said leaders had agreed to spend more on security, as well as fighting illegal migration in their next long-term budget.

He said many of the EU leaders were ready to contribute more to the pot, but acknowledged others were less forthcoming." BBC

"European Union leaders rejected on Friday a push to have the head of the EU’s executive European Commission determined by voting in elections to the European Parliament, or to merge that job with that of the chairman of EU summits. 

Both initiatives are part of a power-struggle in Brussels between EU institutions like the Commission and Parliament which want to gain more control and European governments, known as the European Council, which does not want to cede it.

Donald Tusk, the chairman of EU summits, told a news conference that in nominating the next head of the Commission in 2019, leaders would to take into account the results of parliamentary elections as required by the EU treaty.

But they would not agree to be limited to a short-list of lead candidates prepared by the European Parliament. 

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At Friday’s summit, leaders agreed with Parliament’s proposals for reducing its size and reallocating some seats after Britain leaves the Union in March 2019.

Leaders also backed an initiative by French President Emmanuel Macron to allocate some British seats to new, pan-European constituencies would not be considered for next year but should be studied for the 2024 elections. Many states are sceptical of the notion of “transnational lists”.

Macron’s proposal to launch “citizens’ consultations” on the future of the EU ahead of the 2019 election was accepted by all leaders except Hungary. Macron will launch that project on April 17 in Strasbourg."

Reuters

European Parliament votes against transnational lists

MEPs rejected the idea of a transnational list for the 2019 European elections on Wednesday (7 February), though they agreed to change the composition of the Parliament in light of Brexit. 

The much-debated project of transnational lists did not win over MEPs. During a plenary session in Strasbourg, European representatives made their choice by voting against the creation of a transnational list for the 2019 elections.

Clearly divided on the issue, the outcome was still uncertain until the end of the vote. The initial proposal, put forward by MEPs Danuta Hübner and Pedro Silva Pereira, mentioned keeping 46 of the 79 seats vacated by the UK for a pan-European list. The additional seats would have been redistributed to under-represented member states in the Parliament.

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Following the end of the vote, the European Parliament finally decided to reduce the number of MEPs from 751 to 705 for the next elections and to remove the MEP reserve initially made for the constitution of a transitional list.

The remaining 27 seats, however, were granted by a large majority to the rebalancing of the Parliament’s composition. According to the text adopted with 552 votes for, 109 against and 17 abstentions, countries that experienced an increase in population will get additional seats for the next elections. France notably gains the most by winning 5 more seats and going from 74 to 79 MEPs.

This new distribution now has to be approved by the heads of governments and states, who will meet for an informal summit in Brussels on 23 February.

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Euractiv

MEPs vote to bolster Spitzenkandidat process

"The European Parliament gave its strong backing Wednesday for the Spitzenkandidat process for selecting the next president of the European Commission. It voted by 457 votes to 200 to adopt a resolution saying the assembly would reject any candidate for the Commission presidency that not been appointed as a Spitzenkandidat — or someone who has the formal backing of a party grouping — in the run-up to European election.

The Spitzenkandidat (or “leading candidate”) process awards the presidency to the party winning the most seats in Parliament. 

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The specific process does not have any official status in the EU treaties, but it was first used in 2014 to democratize a system that had hitherto allowed national leaders of the largest countries to dole out top EU jobs via backroom deals. A majority of European countries including France and from Eastern Europe have voiced opposition to the process though, arguing that it would force them to accept the winner of a process driven by party insiders. Critics also note that the Spitzenkandidat effectively eliminates from consideration any sitting head of state or government because it is unrealistic to expect someone to resign from national leadership to campaign for the Commission post."

Politico

EU opens door to Balkans with 2025 target for membership

"The European Union acted on Tuesday to reinvigorate the membership ambitions of six Balkan states and reclaim the region as its own amid growing Russian and Chinese influence, setting 2025 as a goal for Serbia and Montenegro to join. 

Seeking to breathe fresh life into the EU with Britain set to leave, the European Commission laid out a strategy to bring Western Balkan nations into the fold if they achieve required reforms, marking a change after years of fading interest.

“The door is open ... There is a clear path for the Western Balkans to finally join the European Union,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia as she presented the plan at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

“The future of the Union is not bound to be at 27,” she said, referring to the current membership level of the bloc, discounting Britain, which is due to leave in 2019.

Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said it was a call to “work every day from now ... to become part of the European family of nations”.

Johannes Hahn, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, earlier urged the bloc not to repeat past mistakes, alluding to what many believe was the rushed accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and the poorly managed migration of eastern European workers to Britain that turned many Britons against the EU. 

Brussels has been growing worried about Russia’s assertiveness on its borders since Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014 - concerns exacerbated in the Balkans after Montenegro accused Russia of supporting a failed coup in 2016.

Meanwhile, Chinese investment in the region, though welcomed by governments, is seen as undermining EU standards because it does not come with the same stringent requirements as EU aid.

EU “LIP SERVICE”?

Underlining the renewed enthusiasm for the Balkans, top EU officials said there was no alternative but for the countries to join the European Union. Support for EU membership ranges from roughly 75 percent in Kosovo to 52 percent in Serbia.

The EU’s Balkan strategy aims to show that membership is certain if the region’s states meet EU demands including establishing independent courts, a free press and breaking up crime rings that have badly weakened governments.

Jasmin Mujanovic, a U.S.-based political analyst, warned that the EU strategy would run into the same problems if there was not a new plan to help reform the Western Balkans.

“There’s a lot of lip service to addressing what are the structural problems in the region, which is corruption, clientilism and entrenched illiberal elites. But it’s unclear to me as to what exactly they propose to do about this.”

Integration means increasing access to EU funds and is designed to foster reforms to lure investors, boost growth and encourage stability in a region still grappling with the legacy of Yugoslavia’s socialist planned economy.

Albania and Montenegro are already members of the U.S-led NATO alliance while Macedonia is likely to be offered NATO membership, often seen as a springboard to EU membership, if it can overcome a dispute over its name with Greece.

EU leaders will embrace the 2025 timeline at a special Western Balkans summit in May in Sofia, the Commission said.

Serbia and Montenegro are the most advanced in the accession process but Hahn said that could easily change if Serbia did not recognize the independence of Kosovo, its former province.

Belgrade’s ally Russia and five EU states have also refused to recognize Kosovo, including Spain, which is trying to contain its own separatists in Catalonia.

Kosovo’s Integration Minister, Dhurata Hoxha, said it was important that the European Commission stressed Kosovo’s status as an independent country.

“The fact that the EU treats Kosovo’s accession to EU as separate from Serbia for me is the recognition of our independence despite that some of the EU members states do not recognize us,” Hoxha said."

 Reuters