Good morning from Berlin
Just hours after sailing to victory in Germany's national election in February, Friedrich Merz staked out a position that may well define his coming chancellorship, writes Euractiv's Nick Alipour.
During the traditional post-election TV debate, the Christian Democrat delivered a now famous two-minute monologue on security, declaring that Europe must – as an "absolute priority" – become independent of the United States as soon as possible.
He went on to question whether Nato would even still exist by the time of its upcoming June summit, and warned that the EU might have to “establish independent defence capabilities much more quickly".
The self-described "transatlanticist" and leader of Germany's most pro-American party appeared to be turning his back on Uncle Sam.
French diplomats might well have adjusted their televisions sets, wondering if they had accidentally tuned an address by their own president, who has long been preaching about Europe’s ‘strategic sovereignty’ and Nato's ‘brain death’.
Since the election, it has become clear that Merz struck a chord in Paris, where officials have been “very enthusiastic about the views he has expressed on geostrategic affairs,” one European diplomat said.
Merz's alignment with Macron goes beyond geopolitics and his personal relationship with France, going back to a student exchange to the Auvergne. It encompasses his governing style, passionate Europhilia, and even his coalition's economic policy.
As he is to be crowned German chancellor by the Bundestag on Tuesday, the prospect of a veritable Chancellor Macron also heralds a much more French-flavoured EU. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [EPA-EFE/PIRJO TUOMINEN] |
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Tepid response. Just over half of the EU’s 27 member states have officially asked the European Commission for more budgetary leeway to ramp up defence spending, raising fears that Brussels’ ambitious rearmament plan could fall short of its €800 billion target, writes Thomas Moller-Nielsen.
Meanwhile, Russia claims that Ukraine launched an overnight drone attack targeting Moscow for the second consecutive night. All four of the capital’s main airports were closed for several hours as a safety precaution but later reopened, according to Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, on Telegram.
Former US vice-president Mike Pence has told CNN, in one of his most wide-ranging critiques yet on the policies of the president he used to serve, that Donald Trump’s tariffs policy will trigger a “price shock” and possible shortages, and lead to public pressure on him to change his approach.
Kicked out. Brussels-based renewable lobby group SolarPower Europe has expelled Chinese electronics giant Huawei from its members amid an ongoing EU bribery investigation into the company, writes Nikolaus J. Kurmayer.
EU-OM, anyone? The European Parliament has established a European Order of Merit, “to mark the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration,” which is apparently “the first European distinction of its kind granted by an EU Institution.”
Messaging app Signal combats child sexual abuse material by limiting virality and not acting as a traditional social media platform, Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker told Euractiv on the sidelines of the Choose France event in Paris yesterday. “You have to meet someone in real life to find them on Signal,” Whittaker explained, highlighting how the platform's design inherently limits the spread of illegal content, unlike apps such as Telegram.
Whittaker also warned that the issue of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is being “weaponised” by politicians seeking to undermine privacy protections through the introduction of encryption backdoors.
The Commission has announced a roadmap to try to solve the current technologically insolvable issue between protecting online message privacy and enforcement access to data to fight illegal activities. Thirty-nine organisations and 43 privacy experts expressed concerns yesterday that no technical solution exists that allows law enforcement access to encrypted services while preserving privacy. |
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| To Speak is to Exist!
Languages are the soul of Europe. Yet too many are in decline. We need to promote true linguistic equality!
At EFA, we care deeply — and that's why our General Assembly will give linguistic rights centre stage from 8 to 10 May in Nantes.
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images] |
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| The Social Democrats named their ministers in the incoming German government on Monday, with some big names from the era of previous chancellor Olaf Scholz nowhere to be seen. Read more.
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THE HAGUE
'Change course on EU Medicines Act revisions' Dutch pharma association urges government. The Dutch innovative medicines association, VIG, has urged the Dutch government to change its position on the revision of the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation, claiming the current plans will have disastrous consequences for the country. Read more. |
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| LISBON
Portugal: Q1 GDP dip no surprise after record Q4 2024, says minister. The Portuguese minister of finance said on Monday that the nation's economy should be growing at around 3%, but the fall in GDP in the first quarter is not surprising, after the highest growth in the European Union (EU) in the fourth quarter of last year. "The Portuguese economy should be growing close to 3%, with a potential GDP level also close to 3%," said the Minister of State and Finance, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, who was the guest speaker at a lunch hosted by the International Club of Portugal in Lisbon. The Portuguese economy grew 1.6% year-on-year in the first three months of the year and contracted 0.5% compared to the previous quarter, according to the flash estimate released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The government estimated in the state budget for 2025 a growth of 2.1% this year, but it should be noted that the outgoing Democratic Alliance governing coalition predicts, in the macroeconomic scenario outlined in the electoral programme, that GDP will grow by 2.4%. "In the first quarter of 2025, preliminary figures from the INE indicate a fall in GDP, which should not, however, come as a great surprise," said the minister. (Maria João Pereira | Lusa.pt) |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [EPA-EFE/MARTIN DIVISEK] |
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| PRAGUE Much of the continent may be hooked on heroin and cocaine, but in Prague and other Czech cities the drug of choice is methamphetamine. Read more.
Czech business leaders push back on EU pay transparency rules. Three of the Czech largest employer organisations are calling on the government to delay new EU rules on pay transparency, despite the country having the worst gender pay gap in Europe. Read more. ///
WARSAW Tusk: Europe must mobilise like in 1945. Europe needs to show the same resolve and bravery in the face of Russian aggression as it did to defeat Germany in World War II, Polish prime Minister Donald Tusk (PO, EPP) told the Netherlands’ annual liberation ceremony. During a joint appearance in Wageningen with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Polish Prime Minister Tusk directly compared Hitler's European invasion to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. “This is already the third year that we celebrate the anniversary of our victory over the Third Reich in the shadow of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” he said. “War and destruction are back in all their monstrosity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since 24 February 2022, almost every single day of this criminal aggression is testimony to this. the list of places where people are killed is only growing longer.” He warned that “the time of Europe’s carefree comfort and joyous unconcern is over,” and “today is the time of European mobilisation around our fundamental values and our security.” On 5 May 1945, in Wageningen, the German forces stationed in the Netherlands surrendered to Canadian General Charles Foulkes. During a ceremony, a small smoke bomb thrown on stage caused panic and the temporary removal of Tusk and Schoof. Earlier, a pro-Palestinian demonstrator had attempted to interrupt Defence Minister Brekelmans' speech. (Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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BRATISLAVA
African swine fever hits Slovak farm amid ongoing livestock crisis. African swine fever struck a large Slovak farm today, compounding the crisis in a region already grappling with foot-and-mouth-disease. Read more. |
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| Click on the picture to read the story | [Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images] |
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| SOFIA
Last Tuesday, the Bulgarian nationalist party Revival signed a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling party United Russia – a move which was not discussed with their far-right colleagues in Brussels. Read more.
Bulgaria has agreed to provide water to Greece for the next 5 years. In the next 5 years, Bulgaria will provide Greece with water from the Arda River, which is critically important for agriculture in Northern Greece. This follows from a joint declaration signed at the end of last week by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries - Georg Georgiev and Georgios Gerapetritis. Read more.
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BUCHAREST
Romanian PM resigns following coalition candidate's defeat in presidential election. The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) announced on Monday that it will withdraw from government, prompting the resignation of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. To maintain stability, the current ministers will continue to serve in an interim capacity, with the president Bolojan expected to appoint one of them as acting prime minister. Read more. |
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| EU: Commission President Ursula hosts Greens/EFA Group co-chairs Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout; Energy and Housing Commissioner Dab Jørgensen participates in exchange with European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources MEP Group on Clean Industrial Deal and Affordable Energy Action Plan; Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maros Šefčovič holds meetings with Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Gan Kim Yong, Minister in charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu Hai Yen, in Singapore; Parliament’s plenary session debates unified EU response to unjustified US trade measures, and more; Votes on labour market statistics on businesses, Water Resilience Strategy, 2023 and 2024 reports on Türkiye, and more. *** |
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| [Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Charles Szumski, Daniel Eck, Sofia Mandilara] |
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