N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
The Green Deal, the mega toy of socialists and greens, is a striking example of this. Implementation proposals have been delayed, watered down or withdrawn. Led by the German Christian Democrats, several EU member states succeeded in having the ban on the sale of cars with internal combustion engines scrapped by 2035.
The regulations on corporate reporting, obligations in the field of sustainability reporting and care in the chain have been considerably relaxed. The main reason? To save the EU competitiveness compared with the US and China.
The resistance to the Commission was not unexpected. In the European Parliament and in the European Council , the political relationships have changed. In the Parliament, the traditional coalition of christian democrats, socialists and liberals has disintegrated. The European People’s Party is increasingly seeking support from the European Conservatists and Reformists (ECR) and groups on the right that were previously subject to a political cordon sanitaire. A shift of tone is also visible in the Council, from further integration to a revaluation of national competences. Large member states more often operate outside the Commission. The London summit with President Zelensky to which the Commission President was not invited, illustrates this pattern of intergovernmental action.
In the field of security, there is a tension between the Commission and the member states. The Commission is seeking a more explicit EU role in defence, while most member states have a growing interest in European cooperation within the NATO framework, for example through a Joint Expeditionary Force with the UK.
The ever-closer union has not ended but the wind has turned towards the revaluation of national sovereignty and intergovernmental cooperation.
