Subject: The Brief, powered by Google: The EU and Russia, much happier together than it seems
From: EurActiv <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 15:56:14 +0000

The Brief, powered by Google: The EU and Russia, much happier together
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    <http://eurac.tv/7a8v?sid=33541>    Today's EU policy news,
14.03.2017, 5PM

       = The EU and Russia, much happier together than it seems =

      ===  By Georgi Gotev <http://eurac.tv/7a83?sid=33541> ===

 On the face of it, EU-Russia diplomatic relations appear to have reached a
new low, following suspicions of meddling <http://eurac.tv/7a7m?sid=33541>
in elections around Europe and the continued deadlock  in eastern Ukraine
<http://eurac.tv/7a7n?sid=33541>.

 But when it comes to energy, Gazprom and Rosatom are doing more business
with the EU than ever before.

 Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas export monopoly, masquerades as a
normal business but is rightly dubbed an “arm of the Kremlin”.

 It may be surprising that relations between the EU Commission and Gazprom
are so healthy. But the fact that the EU executive yesterday struck a
behind-closed-doors deal with the Russian monopolist, speaks volumes.

 The Commission’s  Gazprom probe <http://eurac.tv/7a7o?sid=33541> has
been a sword of Damocles hanging over EU-Russia relations since 2011.
Brussels suspected – rightly so – that Gazprom bullied the EU’s
eastern countries to advance its interests and increase Russian influence.

 But in an unexpected turn of events, the Commission has agreed to forgive
Gazprom’s past misdeeds and accepted the company’s assurances to behave
well in future.

 Bulgaria, the EU country where Gazprom’s – and Russia’s –
ambitions are strongest, even landed a bonus
<http://eurac.tv/7a7p?sid=33541>, as the Russian company agreed not to
seek damages from its Bulgarian partners following the termination of the
South Stream pipeline.

 Now, it even  looks “highly likely”
<http://eurac.tv/7a7q?sid=33541> that the Commission will approve the Nord
Stream 2 pipeline. The project aims to bring additional Russian gas
directly to Germany through the Baltic Sea, circumventing Ukraine and
central and eastern EU countries.

 Gas-hungry Germany is pushing hard to get a green light for the pipeline
to make up for lost megawatts from its *Energiewende*, which foresees the
phasing out of the country’s entire fleet of nuclear reactors.

 Germany may have nothing against importing nuclear energy from
neighbouring countries, hence the Commission’s  very accommodating
attitude <http://eurac.tv/7a7r?sid=33541> towards Hungary and its plans
for the Paks II nuclear power station.

 It’s no surprise that German Commissioner Günther Oettinger
boarded the  now infamous plane
<http://eurac.tv/7a7s?sid=33541> belonging to a lobbyist with alleged
Kremlin ties, to arrive on time for a dinner with Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orbán.

 No matter which portfolio he has, Oettinger won’t work against
Germany’s interests.

 By the way, France also backs Paks II because national champions Areva and
Alstom are building the new plant’s most sophisticated (and expensive)
machinery, in cooperation with Rosatom.

 It's no surprise either that the Commission has not made the slightest
effort to enforce its own legislation stipulating that EU countries with
Russian nuclear stations should use fuel from other countries.

 Ukraine is not an EU member but it is the only country to  apply this
policy <http://eurac.tv/7a7t?sid=33541>. It learned the hard way.

      == The Roundup ==

 Turkey has suspended top-level ties
<http://eurac.tv/7a7F?sid=33541> with the Netherlands as part of an
ongoing dispute about holding rallies abroad ahead of a crucial referendum
on constitutional reform. But do oranges really have to pay the price
<http://eurac.tv/7a7G?sid=33541>?

 The European Commission is “seriously concerned” about
<http://eurac.tv/7a7H?sid=33541> the proposed changes and one prominent
Turkish author warned they would seriously undermine democracy
<http://eurac.tv/7a7I?sid=33541>.

 The UK parliament gave Prime Minister Theresa May approval to trigger
Article 50 <http://eurac.tv/7a7J?sid=33541> but there is speculation that
it may be delayed until after the Rome summit on 25 March. Or it could
happen tomorrow, who knows.

 Scotland’s Brexit minister told Matt Tempest that a second  bid for
independence <http://eurac.tv/7a7K?sid=33541> is meant to “give people a
choice”. Former Catalan leader Artur Mas was banned for holding public
office for two years for staging an informal independence referendum
<http://eurac.tv/7a7L?sid=33541> in 2014.

 LuxLeaks went largely unnoticed <http://eurac.tv/7a7M?sid=33541> in
Central and Eastern Europe. One tax campaigner sees tax evasion as an area
where the EU can show it is more effective than national governments.

 Angela Merkel postponed her Washington trip
<http://eurac.tv/7a7N?sid=33541>, where she was due to meet Donald Trump,
due to massive winter storms. She may fly out on Friday instead. Trump will
probably be keen to discuss Germany’s trade surplus.

 A prominent economist told EURACTIV.fr that cutting it and trying to
restore economic balance could restore public confidence
<http://eurac.tv/7a7O?sid=33541> in the European project.

 Energy Commissioner Maros Sefcovic debriefed the Brussels press corps
about his stateside visit <http://eurac.tv/7a7P?sid=33541>.

 The EU is unhappy with Bolivia about its decision to increase the
amount of coca leaf <http://eurac.tv/7a7Q?sid=33541> (the main ingredient
of cocaine) that can be produced and MEPs believe “multifunctional
women” can help save the EU’s rural areas
<http://eurac.tv/7a7R?sid=33541>.

 Headscarves and other religious symbols can be banned in the workplace,
the EU’s top court ruled <http://eurac.tv/7a7S?sid=33541>. The ECJ said
businesses should have the freedom to present a neutral image.

 The Commission has granted the alcohol industry an extra year to come up
with  a “self-regulatory” proposal <http://eurac.tv/7a7T?sid=33541> on
providing information on what is used to make certain beverages.

 Brits are now drinking so much gin that the UK’s Office for National
Statistics is including it in a typical “basket of goods” that is
used to calculate inflation <http://eurac.tv/7a7U?sid=33541>.

 *Sam Morgan contributed to this Brief.*

      == Look out for… ==

 Dutch voters go to the polls tomorrow and a result is expected early
Thursday morning. The two frontrunners, incumbent PM Mark Rutte and
far-right leader Geert Wilders, faced off in an intense TV debate
<http://eurac.tv/7a7V?sid=33541> last night.

 *Views are the author's, not our sponsor's.*

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