Permanent Representation of Belgium to the European Union’s Post

Last week, I attended the Franco-German roundtable organized by the Mouvement Européen - Paris and the Jeunes Européens - Paris at the Maison de l’Industrie. Ambassador Stephan Steinlein, Pascale Joannin, Christian de Boissieu, Olivier Costa, Jeanette Süß and Joachim Bitterlich discussed the major European projects. Here is what I learned about the EU’s challenges ahead: 👉 Europe has lost its economic weight and risks being a spectator rather than a player in the global economy 👉 The EU needs to decide whether it prefers enlargement to consolidation. Should we look back on Jacques Delors’ vision "Priorité à l’approfondissement sur l’élargissement"? 👉 Is 2024 going to be the year for European defence? Or does defence only concern the French and the British? 👉 We are increasingly witnessing a multi-speed Europe but how can we organise it? Is judicial creativity or a complete reform the solution?  Finally here is my main takeaway: 📢 Making the EU visible to the public remains a challenge. Despite the work of the European Commission in France with "Les Decodeurs de l'Europe" or the European Parliament with "What Europe does for me?", we lack concrete visibility of the scope of action of the EU, and its concrete impact on a daily basis. I believe this challenge is the priority with the upcoming European elections. 👇I’d love to hear your thoughts on what the EU’s priority for this year should be 

How may the dissolution of the French National Assembly affect France's position within the European Union? I am pleased to share my latest article published by IE Insights on the consequences of the dissolution of the French National Assembly. https://lnkd.in/dD_DNd6E

👋 Goodbye, Belgium! As of 30 June, the #BelgianPresidency of the Council of the European Union bids farewell, making way for their Hungarian counterparts to take office from 1 July onward. Ever wondered about the responsibilities tied to the #CouncilPresidency? Curious about Belgium's achievements? 👇 Check out our overview on what it means to hold the Presidency, and discover the highlights from the last six months, complete with key insights from our very own Brussels-based policy specialist, Bram Smits. Interested in delving deeper into the intricacies of the Council Presidency, or eager to learn more about the FleishmanHillard network? ✉️ Connect with our expert, Maria Nowicka, to gain further insights.

On 6 & 7 March 2024, the European People's Party conference took place in the Romanian capital Bucharest. The entire #EPP party family came together. Of course the Konrad Adenauer Foundation was also represented. On the first day of the party conference, the EPP adopted a manifesto aimed at securing the "European way of life" in freedom, justice & democracy. The manifesto includes concrete proposals for a strong, competitive, and citizen-orientated Europe. Political proposals in the manifesto range from ramping up the defence industrial base, developing a European #Defence Union, an #EU foreign minister to the appointment of a European Security council. In the area of competitiveness, a strong emphasis is put on reducing regulatory burdens, supporting SMEs, developing energy infrastructure, diversifying the procurement of critical resources as well as on structural a cohesion policies in order to close the gap between rural & urban areas. EPP commits to a citizen-oriented Europe, underlining that the quality of life in Europe depends on social peace as well as on preserving democracy, tradition, cultural riches & diversity. Find more: https://lnkd.in/eVG5pF9S On the second day of the EPP party conference Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected by a large majority as the EPP's lead candidate for the 2024 European elections. In her speech, Ursula von der Leyen was putting our a clear mission for the EPP campaign: “And let there be no doubt what’s at stake in this election. Our peaceful & united Europe is being challenged like never before by populists, nationalists, and demagogues. Whether it is the far right or the far left. Whether it is the AfD, the Rassemblement National, the confederatia or Wasraschdene. The names may be different, but the goal is the same: They want to trample on our values, and they want to destroy our #Europe. But we, the #EPP, will never let that happen.” You can find interviews with various politicians on Instagram at @kasromania.

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union closes today. #EU2024BE Laurens Soenen shares some of the highlights with Dante Licona and Matthias Lüfkens 🧞♂️on the #SoMeInsightsPodcast

What are the European Union and the Council of Europe? Who are their members? What do they do? What is the difference between the EU and the Council of Europe? Watch this video and you will finally know who's who. 🇪🇺 https://lnkd.in/ebfszwMz #OneEurope Conseil de l'Europe

This is a lovely reminder that the Council of Europe, which has 46 members (including countries such as the UK, Turkey and Iceland, as well as Switzerland) is not the same as the Council of the European Union. The Council of the EU is one of the three main top-level governance elements of the EU, representing the interests of the EU member states' governments, with ministers representing their countries. And the European Council is different again, consisting of the heads of government of the EU member states. It's simplest to think of the European Council as the Council of the EU on the days when the full set of the most senior possible representatives for each country turn up. So the Council of Europe is not an EU body. And for clarity, the EU is NOT Europe - it's a subset of Europe - even though this is all too often forgotten (sometimes it seems to be forgotten especially often by EU bodies and their employees). It's also worth remembering that both the EU and the Council of Europe have territorial extent beyond the geographic concept of Europe, e.g. due to the overseas departments of France, and also don't fully encompass geographic Europe (e.g. Russia west of the Urals is part of geographic Europe, but it has never been a member of the EU and is no longer a member of the Council of Europe). For added fun, Alain Berset was indeed the President of Switzerland (twice: 2018 & 2023), but only because that role rotates among the seven Federal Ministers, not because he was specifically chosen by the population for that role. As once explained to me by a Swiss colleague: Switzerland has to have a President because you can't fit seven people in one chair when there is a head of state's funeral to attend in another country Here he is, in action early in the Covid crisis (his main job in government is leading the health ministry): https://lnkd.in/dntwAX-i

Posting this yesterday also reminded me of the absurdity of British political parties getting confused between the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) and the various treaties related to EU membership. That confusion definitely wasn't helpful w.r.t Brexit "debates" and has resurfaced in the latest UK election (in-person voting will be on July 4th), with at least one of the recently formed parties [1] wanting Britain to give up on its ECHR commitments. Apart from the similarity of names, there's also scope for geographic confusion. The European Commission is headquartered in Brussels. The European Parliament meets in both Brussels and Strasbourg but is formally based in Strasbourg (and its general secretariat is based in Luxembourg). This arrangement was formally approved at a summit held in Edinburgh in 1992. The Council of Europe is and always has been based in Strasbourg, There are confusingly named legal bodies too: CJEU is the Court of Justice of the European Union, and it has two parts. One is called the General Court, the other is the European Court of Justice. They are based in Luxembourg. ECtHR is the European Court of Human Rights and it handles claims that nation state members of the Council of Europe have breached the ECHR. It is based in Strasbourg (France, not Brussels or Luxembourg or The Hague). But to get back to the ECHR... The surreal absurdity of British political parties wanting to step back from ECHR commitments is best summed up by Sir Patrick Stewart and his colleagues in this skit from 8 years ago: https://lnkd.in/dia-yqfs Enjoy. [1] I chose this phrase carefully, noting that the Official Monster Raving Loony Party was formed in 1982, and that they are not the party I'm hinting at above.

#Luxembourg is one of the most important members of the European Union. It was also the country where the association was born. But what does #EU membership mean, and what are its rights and duties? Find out in our new article: https://lnkd.in/eTQAjZmU

Today, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the CoR, at the plenary session of the European Summit of Regions and Cities on the 'vision of regions and cities for the future of Europe', the Mons Declaration was adopted – a declaration that sets out the vision of regions and cities for the future of Europe and reaffirms the commitment to delivering a stronger, fairer and more resilient Europe.   https://lnkd.in/ezUYqv3Z "Regions and cities must be heard when the next Strategic Agenda of the European Union, as well as the next political priorities of the European Commission, are being formulated. We call on European leaders to do more to ensure that all EU policies are anchored in the local and regional level, thus reinforcing the democratic legitimacy and efficiency of these policies. We must work together at all levels, where a real difference can be made, be it at European Union, national, regional or local levels. Together, regions and cities have the power to deliver a stronger, fairer and more resilient Europe."   #eulocal #SommetMons24 #EU2024BE   European Committee of the Regions Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2024 Wallonie Bruxelles International Permanent Representation of Belgium to the European Union