As Belgium takes over the EU Council Presidency, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and Foreign Minister Haja Rabib say Belgium’s experience in overcoming political hurdles will guide them through the many challenges of the next six months of election campaigning. He said it would be.
Belgium took a record 16 months of negotiations to form a government, butAt the initiative of current Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, seven different political parties representing the division of territory between France and Flanders reached an agreement in September 2020.
this ‘Berge’s Compromise“No matter how difficult the starting point, finding a compromise is essential before the European elections in June,” Belgian Foreign Minister Haja Rabib told reporters, including Euractic, on Monday during the kickoff of the presidential inauguration. “This is what the EU needs for six months of stability.” At Egmont Palace.
“We Belgians always find solutions,” Rabib insists.
But this time Belgium has just three months to close many of the 150 pending files before the last plenary session of the European Parliament in April.
“We’re used to it, we’re used to working on a lot of things in a limited amount of time, and that happens a lot in national politics and in local politics,” Decroo told reporters.
Belgium has a complex multi-level governance system, with the three regional governments of Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders overseen by more than ten political parties with representation in the federal government and federal parliament. In addition to that, there is also a government for German-speaking and French-speaking communities.
It operates and is managed in three official languages: Flemish, French and German.
De Croo and Rabib argue that this territorial and linguistic diversity makes Belgium the perfect EU broker.
The Belgian federal government introduced its complex territorial realities in the following ways. Including local ministers Listed on the list of council chairs.
The environmental file is headed by Regional Minister Alain Maron in Brussels, with Wallonia’s minister responsible for the territorial planning, housing, tourism and research and development agenda, and Flemish minister responsible for industry, fisheries, culture, youth and media. do.
Ministers have a lot of work to do, starting with key Green Deal files such as the Net Zero Industry Bill and Packaging Waste Regulations, through the mid-term amendments to the EU budget, to reforming the EU’s disparaging fiscal rules. .
Prime Minister’s personnel changes and the Orbán issue
Even if the EU Council Presidency’s ministers are able to find political agreement on the pending legislation, further challenges remain.
Belgium’s presidency may also have to endure senior government officials relinquishing their positions and trying to secure their political futures.
To date, at least 6 European Commissioners European Council President Charles Michel recently announced that he would step down from his top job to run in the EU elections.
However, De Croo appears to be taking the following steps.“This is what politicians do, participate in elections,” he said when asked about Mr. Michel’s announcement.
Michel’s decision raised concerns among Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. can be taken over as President of the European Council He is at odds with other EU leaders over the bloc’s stance on Ukraine in a bid to block further financial aid to the country.
Still, Decroo is confident that his Belgian political skills will help bring the 27 leaders to an agreement.
“Do you have any message for Viktor Orbán? Yes, but I’m going to give it directly to him and not to the press, because when there’s too much communication and open letters and things like that, it makes things very difficult. Because I think it’s one of the issues of becoming,” De Croo added.
Belgium’s future vision
After April, the Belgian president has plenty of time to focus on building up his priorities for the next legislative cycle, which begins after the EU elections, and the Belgian side should focus on the green transition and strengthening the competitiveness of European industry. claims.
“Climate and industry are too often pitted against each other, and I don’t think that’s the right approach. To meet global climate goals, it’s best to keep particularly heavy-duty and energy-intensive industries in Europe. It’s important,” he added.
He said the next parliament’s priorities include the need to reform the EU in light of enlargement, as well as discussions on the EU’s future priorities, governance models and funding.
De Croo also said he aimed to increase the EU’s influence in world affairs and “lead the debate”, as European countries often pay the price for international crises.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
