A breath of fresh air from Aachen
When, a week ago, in Berlin, following his speech on Europe, EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger answered questions for an hour about the state of the EU, no one thought to ask about new developments in the Franco-German relations. The two countries had, however, just signed the Treaty of Aachen thereby placing their cooperation on a new footing, and simultaneously announced their desire to revive European integration. When it was mentioned to him later, Oettinger also expressed surprise, particularly since another topic of the discussion was the digital tax brought in by the French at the start of the year. Three weeks, mark you, before signing a treaty in which the two countries guarantee to refrain from future unilateral initiatives. There again, of course, Germany’s decision to phase out fossil fuels also falls right into that category. How and whether joint efforts by Paris and Berlin are going to boost the EU in the future will be easier to assess at a later date. The cepAdhoc on the Treaty of Aachen, written by the Director of cepFrance, is just the start. |
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As part of a Reform Support Programme, the Commission plans to make available around € 22 billion to EU Member States for structural reforms. For this purpose, the EU Commission has proposed a Regulation.
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The European Commission wants to create a more competitive and innovative European financial sector with initiatives on new financial technologies. Therefore it has submitted a FinTech action plan.
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"Consideration for national peculiarities is advisable, however beneficial the internal market would like to be in principle."
Prof. Lüder Gerken, President of cep, on the forthcoming EU-wide deregulation of long-distance bus transport |
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"Our European Union shows a dramatic democratic deficit which is now also having a lasting impact."
Wolfgang Clement, Former Prime Minister of Nordrhein-Westfalen |
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"The pursuance of national climate targets that have not been incorporated into EU climate legislation, in general, and Germany’s decision to phase out fossil fuels, in particular, are a waste of economic resources, ineffectual per se for the purposes of climate policy and will place a huge burden on the public purse."
Dr. Götz Reichert, cep Division Head |
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| European elections in May are just around the corner. Surveys from the Member States show: critics and opponents of the EU have significantly increased in number. Forecasts assume 22% of the mandates. An increase of 12% compared to 1999. |
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