Subject: The Brief: Back to the future
From: EurActiv <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2017 16:13:50 +0000

The Brief: Back to the future      subscribe <http://brief.euractiv.eu/>
|  view in browser <http://eurac.tv/75xL?sid=33541> | unsubscribe
<http://brief.euractiv.eu/?subscribe_action=unsubscribe&email=atourret%40assemblee-nationale.fr&unsubscribe_token=QuUp%40IYgg6LY>

    <http://eurac.tv/75q0?sid=33541>    Today's EU policy news,
10.03.2017, 5PM

       = Back to the future =

      === By  James Crisp <http://eurac.tv/75pC?sid=33541> ===

 The EU summit may have a brand  new colourful building
<http://eurac.tv/75wM?sid=33541>. But it was the same old grey story when
EU leaders met in Brussels.

 All roadmaps led to Rome today but the road proved particularly bumpy.
Poland last night threw its toys out the pram after being outvoted 27-1 on
the reappointment of Donald Tusk.

 That soured today’s EU-27 talks on the future of the bloc without
Britain. The plan was to display a united bloc, looking optimistically
forward, before the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.

 A working document backed by the leaders called for “an undivided and
indivisible Union, which acts together wherever possible, at different
paces whenever necessary.”

 Last night the EU  looked pretty divided <http://eurac.tv/75pg?sid=33541>,
even if it was only Poland spoiling the party. You can’t be mostly
united. You either are or you are not, it’s like being pregnant. Talk of
the indivisibility of the Union may also prove optimistic.

 This summit served up nothing new. The same European Council president.
The same earnest talk about migration. The same last minute scramble to
finalise language and jargon.

 The EU served up a bland blancmange of re-heated ideas. The hoary old
chestnut of  multi-speed Europe <http://eurac.tv/75ph?sid=33541> was
discussed. Instead of breaking new ground on the idea, member states opted
to rely on established methods such  as enhanced cooperation
<http://eurac.tv/75wN?sid=33541>.

 Enhanced cooperation allows some countries to press on with initiatives as
a smaller bloc within the EU. But they can do that already, so again there
was nothing new here.

 The  Polish hissy fit <http://eurac.tv/75pi?sid=33541> at Thursday’s
European Council added to the sense of back to the future hanging over the
Space Egg building.

 For all the talk of brave, new, united beginnings, this was a classic
piece of summit theatre.

 Country comes to Brussels to pick a fight so it can tell its domestic
audience  it is fighting <http://eurac.tv/75pj?sid=33541> for the country.

 The Brits were once regular travellers down this well-trodden path, last
night the Poles picked up the baton.

 The more things change, the more things stay the same. Just ask Giuseppe
Tomasi di Lampedusa <http://eurac.tv/75wO?sid=33541>.

      == The Roundup ==

 “I don’t like Brexit because I would like to be in the same boat as
the British,” Jean-Claude  Juncker told reporters
<http://eurac.tv/75wP?sid=33541> at the summit, “The day will come when
the British will re-enter the boat I hope.”

 Guy Verhofstadt told the BBC that Britons should keep their EU  rights
post-Brexit <http://eurac.tv/75q1?sid=33541>.

 Fresh from skewering Geert Wilders, Euronews’ James Franey asked
President Hollande if he’d be voting for Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen
in the second round of the  French presidential election.
<http://eurac.tv/75pk?sid=33541>

 The UN has issued a blistering critique
<http://eurac.tv/75pl?sid=33541> of governments’ failure to stand up to
multinationals over the dangers of pesticides. 200,000 people die each year
from pesticide poisoning.

 Environmentalists had lauded Benoît Hamon’s promise to ban glyphosate
<http://eurac.tv/75pm?sid=33541>, but Europhiles have baulked at his latest
plans for a eurozone parliamentary assembly
<http://eurac.tv/75pn?sid=33541> made up of national MPs.

 Jean-Claude Juncker said yesterday that the EU was “stepping in”
<http://eurac.tv/75po?sid=33541> to the Western Balkans to ease political
tensions and stop the region falling under Russian influence.

 Sigmar Gabriel used his first visit to Moscow
<http://eurac.tv/75pp?sid=33541> as Germany’s foreign minister to warn
Russia of “the danger of a new arms race spiral”. Berlin and Bucharest
have signed a deal that will strengthen  the Romanian army
<http://eurac.tv/75wQ?sid=33541>.

 Angela Merkel again condemned Ankara’s “misplaced Nazi comparisons”
<http://eurac.tv/75pq?sid=33541> but insisted Germany needs Turkey’s
support for the refugee deal.

 Dutch PM Mark Rutte <http://eurac.tv/75pr?sid=33541> told the Turkish
foreign minister not to expect an official welcome if he comes to the
Netherlands to canvas for referendum votes.

 Forest fires will become a much  more common occurrence
<http://eurac.tv/75wR?sid=33541> around the Mediterranean, as climate
change increases the supply of dry fuel.

 The South American Mercosur trade bloc
<http://eurac.tv/75ps?sid=33541> has set out its stall as EU negotiators
head to Argentina to revive free trade talks next week.

 Are plans afoot to set up a Ministry of Truth in  the European Parliament
<http://eurac.tv/75pt?sid=33541>?

 *Samuel White contributed to this Brief.*

      == Look out for… ==

 The European Parliament is  in plenary session
<http://eurac.tv/75qk?sid=33541> next week. Expect much talk about the
future of Europe, the EU summit, and the protection of farm rabbits.

 *Views are the author's.*

 Share on Facebook <http://eurac.tv/75xG?sid=33541> /  Twitter
<http://eurac.tv/75xH?sid=33541> /  LinkedIn
<http://eurac.tv/75xI?sid=33541>

 >> Sign up now <http://eurac.tv/75q2?sid=33541>  - Follow @eaTheBrief
<http://eurac.tv/75q3?sid=33541>  

  

        Efficacité et Transparence des Acteurs Européens | ©
1999-2016. EurActiv.com plc

________________________________________________________________

Ce message a fait l'objet d'un traitement anti-virus.
Il est rappelé que tout message électronique est susceptible
d'altération au cours de son acheminement sur Internet.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Ce message, ainsi que les pièces jointes, sont établis, sous la 
seule responsabilité de l'expéditeur, à l'intention exclusive 
de ses destinataires ; ils peuvent contenir des informations 
confidentielles. Toute publication, utilisation ou diffusion 
doit être autorisée préalablement. 
Ce message a fait l'objet d'un traitement anti-virus.
Il est rappelé que tout message électronique est susceptible 
d'altération au cours de son acheminement sur Internet. 
________________________________________________________________

Vous pouvez consulter le site de l'Assemblée nationale à 
l'adresse suivante : http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr