In his second keynote speech on Europe, Chancellor Scholz once again campaigned for a Union that can compete with Russia and China – and warned of the threat of Europe becoming irrelevant. In the debate he had to listen to sharp criticism.
At the end of the debate in the Strasbourg plenary session of the European Parliament, Chancellor Olaf Scholz even became passionate about his circumstances when he defended himself against accusations that he was lacking leadership in Europe – for example in the dispute over the combustion engine end or military aid to Ukraine .
The Chancellor emphasized that Germany is Ukraine’s biggest supporter within the EU and will remain so. According to Scholz, after the decision to supply main battle tanks, many states that had previously participated in the debate were no longer visible.
Sharp criticism from the EU Parliament
Nevertheless, he had to listen to sharp criticism in the debate, for example from the head of the conservative EPP parliamentary group, Manfred Weber, who called for orientation from Berlin.
Particularly clear words came from the camp of the traffic light coalition: Green party leader Terry Reintke accused Scholz of lacking leadership in climate policy, among other things, and said she wanted to see Scholz fight for Europe.
Warning irrelevance from Europe
In his half-hour keynote speech in Strasbourg, the Federal Chancellor outlined what he thinks about Europe. Scholz called for changes so that the continent could survive in global competition – on an equal footing with other countries.
If Europe does not come together and act together, it will be irrelevant and will not be able to have a say about the future of the world. As in his Prague speech in the summer, Scholz appealed to the member states to coordinate better on armaments projects.
against that unanimity principle
He campaigned for a geopolitical union that can compete with Russia and China and affirmed that the Western Balkan states, Ukraine, Moldova and, in the future, Georgia, should become part of the EU. Scholz called it “really embarrassing” that the integration of the six Western Balkan countries has hardly progressed in 20 years.
According to the Federal Chancellor, in order to be able to admit further states, the community must change its decision-making processes in order to prevent individual member states from blocking decisions with their veto. Scholz reiterated his call for more Council decisions by qualified majority in foreign and tax policy.
However, the support of the EU Parliament alone will not be of much use, because a unanimous decision by the member states would be required to move away from the unanimity principle.
“Don’t wait for the Holy Spirit”
Scholz appealed to the member states to go ahead with migration policy instead of waiting for solidarity to come over them “like the Holy Spirit”. One day before the Berlin migration summit, the Chancellor called for the currently feasible plans to be implemented by the European elections.
In concrete terms, this means that skilled workers should be allowed to come legally, and countries of origin and transit should take people back without a right to stay. To do this, the external borders would have to be effectively protected, as agreed at the EU summit a quarter of a year ago.
No more concrete than in the Prague speech
Scholz’ speech in the plenary session of the European Parliament is his second keynote address on Europe since he took office as Federal Chancellor. As far as Germany’s role in Europe and in implementing the necessary reforms is concerned, he was no more specific than in his Prague speech last summer.
Since then, criticism of German European policy has increased significantly in Brussels and some EU capitals: Partners do not feel involved in the federal government’s plans, they criticize the long coordination processes in Berlin and a lack of understanding of EU procedures.