Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, 48, has just written a book called: Why the best is yet to come. This is a very bold announcement as far as his political future is concerned. The seven-party coalition led by De Croo is as popular in Belgium as the traffic light is in Germany. His liberal party called Open VLD is leading the polls in the Flanders region, and only there is it running in elections, at just seven percent – far behind the far-right Vlaams Belang party, which leads the rankings with 25 percent.
Nevertheless, Alexander de Croo claims to be able to stop the right-wing wave that is currently sweeping through Europe and threatening to overwhelm Belgium. We will know on June 9th of this year whether this will be successful. Both the Belgian parliamentary elections and the European elections take place on that day.
It suits Alexander De Croo that on January 1st Belgium took over the Council Presidency of the European Union for six months, which means: The Belgian government coordinates and leads the cooperation of the 27 member states. De Croo will try to portray himself as a European statesman during the double election campaign.
“Europe, you’re on your own!”
Under Spanish direction, the EU did a lot of the heavy lifting just before Christmas. The reform of the European debt rules has been agreed, as has the reform of the European asylum system. All the more space now remains for the big picture. De Croo has set “Protect, Strengthen, Prevent” as the motto of his Council Presidency. It should be about the long lines of an EU that has to assert itself against Russia, China and the USA, but also against the right-wing in Europe. “Europe, you’re on your own!” De Croo said in an interview with the Belgian newspaper Le Soirin which he outlined his program.
Support for Ukraine is the linchpin of this policy. At a special summit at the beginning of February, the heads of state and government want to agree on how to raise the 50 billion in aid money for the country attacked by Russia – whether together with Viktor Orbán or without him. The heads of state and government paved the way for accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova in December. De Croo now wants to advance debates about how an EU can function that is expanding further and further east for geopolitical reasons. The Western Balkan countries and Georgia also hope to join.
“Before we get bigger, we have to get better,” said De Croo when presenting his program. He is primarily thinking about abolishing the principle of unanimity in order to enable faster decisions. In order to become independent, the EU also needs its own financial sources, its own tax, for example, says De Croo.
De Croo also views the Green Deal primarily from the perspective of European strength and independence. Like French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, he has already suggested a stop to regulation in order not to overwhelm the economy and society. Major Belgian impulses are therefore not to be expected if the EU struggles with the final environmental and climate laws, such as CO2 limits for buses and trucks, until the European elections. Even if the EU’s new climate targets are decided by 2040 – an important stage the path to the desired climate neutrality by 2050 – the De Croo government is likely to focus on the well-being of the economy. The economy creates wealth and social security in Europe, he says, and it needs help in the transition to climate neutrality.
Macron opposes Mercosur agreement
The trade agreement with the Latin American Mercosur states, including Brazil and Argentina, is of crucial geopolitical importance for the European Union. It is expected to be finalized in the next few months after years of work. The big question: Will Europe still be able to conclude such large trade agreements, bind states in the global south more closely, open up new markets and thus counter China’s global ambitions?
At the beginning of December, both sides broke off negotiations shortly before an agreement was reached. In Argentina, the outgoing government declared the agreement to be a matter for the new president, Javier Milei, who has not yet taken a position. The fact that the prospects are not promising is also due to the Europeans.
Of all people, French President Emmanuel Macron, who otherwise likes to emphasize Europe’s sovereignty, is blocking the idea. Officially, he says, because it pays too little attention to climate and species protection – even though the Europeans have negotiated an additional chapter on this in the agreement. Macron’s resistance is obviously due to the discontent of French farmers, who fear competition from cheap beef from Latin America. Macron is giving in to domestic political pressures, says a high-ranking EU diplomat. “This is a way to accommodate French farmers – at the price of a geopolitical weakening of the EU.”
However, the agreement is a sensitive point not only for Macron, but also for De Croo. As a liberal, the Belgian advocates free trade. However, in Belgium’s complicated political structure, the three regions must agree to new trade agreements. And the socialists in power in Wallonia are declared opponents of free trade. Like the Flemish right, they could also use the Mercosur agreement in the parliamentary election campaign against the liberal leading candidate De Croo. This is probably one reason why “Mercosur”, which has recently been propagated with all its might by the Spanish Council Presidency, does not even appear in the official program of the Belgian Council Presidency.