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Commission Possible Hanging Together July 2020 ISSN 1864-3973 SHUTTERSTOCK/MONTAGE GT IN THIS ISSUE A HERCULEAN TASK BY PUBLISHER Commission possible DETLEF PRINZ Ursula von der Leyen is working hard to offset nyone in 2020 with the impact of the pandemic a pair of eyes or Aears cannot help but recognize the enormity European Commission – garnered there were even export bans of pean Commission also cooperated of the tasks and challenges BY SYLVIA SCHREIBER respect for her latest launch. She medical goods to other EU coun- with member states to bring back confronting Germany’s cur- brought a breath of fresh air to the tries. There were also ugly scenes 600,000 EU citizens stranded rent presidency of the EU he idea of selling the Brussels behemoth and encour- at border crossings and loud cries abroad and in some cases loos- Council. At stake is nothing European Green Deal aged her officials to bundle all from Southern Europe, which felt ened EU budgetary and financial less than the internal recon- Tas Europe’s “man on the planned environmental, energy abandoned, especially by Germany. regulations for EU countries and ciliation of Europe and the moon moment” was no doubt and economic legislative propos- The number of virus-related infec- industries. Still, the EU had not yet fortification of our continent very much to the liking of Ursula als together in a new package tions and deaths skyrocketed and provided any concrete road map in the eyes of the world, von der Leyen. She is an expert at under the Green Deal banner: the the lockdowns began, with each for Europe to protect its citizens so that it can again play setting the perfect stage for intro- ambitious climate protection law, EU country fending for itself. and emerge united from the crisis. an important role in inter- ducing policies with an emotive closed-circle economies, recycling In those early days of the pan- “Europe has been ambushed by national affairs and speak tone and professional glow. Last regulations, sustainable agriculture, demic, Ursula von der Leyen had an unknown enemy,” wrote von with a united voice that can December, less than 14 days after der Leyen in the conservative daily be heard across the globe. being elected president of the Die Welt. Soon thereafter came This is where we stand at European Commission, von der the moment when the president the moment. Leyen stepped up to the micro- – a passionate horse rider – took The fact that expectations phone to announce a new epoch Von der Leyen passionately up the reins again. After Germa- of Germany’s Council – one in which green investments ny’s Angela Merkel and France’s presidency also include and regulations would usher in presented what she called Emmanuel Macron presented a the finalization of the EU’s the ecological transformation of gigantic reconstruction plan for Europe. She spoke of the “mobi- a Marshall Plan for Europe Europe consisting of €500 billion lization of the entire continent” in grants for EU members in need, and called for the “decarboniza- von der Leyen added an additional tion of industry and transporta- €250 billion in credit for an EU tion,” promising at least €100 bil- CO2 taxation, the rededication of all but disappeared. “It was as if recovery plan to be supplemented lion in new funds. The goal was entire budgets, etc. The year 2020 she didn’t know whether there was by the 2021–2027 EU budget with a to render Europe climate neutral was supposed to mark the launch anything she could even do with volume of roughly €1.1 trillion. by 2050, with an interim target of the ecological age – with Europe the commission at that moment,” With clenched fists emphasizing of reducing CO2 emissions by at at the very forefront of efforts to says one Brussels insider. After all, every sentence, von der Leyen pas- least 50 percent by 2030. save the planet. the EU does not do health policy, sionately presented what she called Although von der Leyen has a Of course, everything turned which is still the domain of each a “Marshall Plan for Europe” to financial framework, ambi- reputation for launching large proj- out differently. And in January individual member state. the EU parliament: “We will get tious progress on EU cli- ects without knowing exactly if or and February, as COVID-19 made It was not until late March that out of this crisis together and make mate policy and the sus- where they were going to land, her its way from China to Europe, as the president emerged from her decisions about future investments tainable reinforcement of plan for a Green Deal actually came the first mass graves appeared in Corona shock, issuing the first together.” The plan would later our continent’s digital sov- at the perfect moment, as millions Italy and the healthcare systems guidelines for health-related be given the more contemporary ereignty – not to mention of young people were taking part of EU member states teetered on border management, introduc- name “Next Generation EU.” addressing the never-end- in the Fridays for Future demon- the verge of collapse, the EU was ing a strategic EU stock of medi- By mobilizing this huge sum ing conflict in the Middle strations. After a somewhat bumpy nowhere to be seen. Each nation cal equipment and reopening the of EU funds, von der Leyen was East and the ongoing crisis inauguration, the new president pursued its own course on border flow of goods at Schengen borders with Iran – shows how criti- – the first woman to head the closings and health regulations and via the “Green Lane.” The Euro- continued on page 3 cal German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political experience will be in the It is an exceptional moment in coming months, just as her BY WOLFGANG ISCHINGER the history of Germany as it is much vaunted ability to Hanging together surrounded by friendly neigh- distinguish between what’s or more than a decade, bors who are (almost all) mem- important and what’s urgent the European Union has Germany must enable the EU to become bers of its most important inter- will be indispensable in Fbeen in constant crisis national institutions, the EU and holding the European mode – from the financial and a stronger foreign policy actor NATO. Union together by means the refugee crises to the seem- Our security and our political of an appeal to both our ingly never-ending Brexit influence in the world depend larger and smaller member negotiations. The COVID-19 to Germany. This is not just hegemon in the European Union survival of the European Union on these partnerships. In a world states. This is a herculean pandemic is more than just the because Berlin happens to hold or that it could or should actu- – for both economic and politi- increasingly shaped by great- task. newest addition to this con- the EU Council presidency ally lead alone. It means that, cal reasons. While we often dis- power strategic rivalries and Nevertheless, I am person- glomerate of challenges that for the second half of 2020 – without German leadership, cuss our economic dependence transnational risks, the Euro- ally convinced that if there former European Commission although this role does put the there is not much hope for the on exports to China, it is the pean nation-state alone offers no is anyone in Europe up to President Jean-Claude Juncker country in the driver’s seat. All EU to successfully cope with the European single market that refuge – not even for the most the job of tying up the EU’s has dubbed Europe’s “polycri- across Europe, governments challenges it is facing. Germany will determine the future of the populous member state of the many loose ends into one sis.” The economic and political are looking for German leader- assuming a forward-looking German economy, which would European Union. cohesive whole and giving repercussions of the pandemic ship because – whether it likes leadership position, while not be devastated if European inte- How Germany and its partners our continent the boost it are so severe that European it or not – Germany has become alone sufficient for Europe’s eco- gration were to unravel. deal today with the pandemic so urgently needs, that leaders cannot resort to their Europe’s “indispensable nation,” nomic recovery and the develop- As Chancellor Angela Merkel and its repercussions will shape person is Angela Merkel. usual tactics of incremental as then-Polish Foreign Minister ment of a truly common Euro- recently noted, “Germany will the European Union of tomor- We should all wish her the adaptation. This time, it will Radosław Sikorksi proclaimed pean foreign and security policy, only fare well in the long term row. Germany could become best of luck, as Germans – simply not be enough. in 2011. is one necessary condition. if Europe fares well.” In political Europe’s “enabling power” and, and as Europeans. With the European Union at This does not mean that Ger- For Germany, there is no more terms as well, Germany is depen- the brink, all eyes have turned many should assume the role of vital national interest than the dent on European cooperation. continued on page 2.
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