Last week I wrote about the proposal issued by the European Commission termed ReArm Europe. A special European Council ensued, and European Council Conclusions were also agreed. The European Council Conclusions state that the European Commission must now operationalise the proposal under the direction of the agreed text in the European Council. Needless to say, Malta ascertained to have safeguards in place with the wording of the European Council to not affect the architecture of the security of neutral member states. There is not the exact wording of neutrality in the text, but an indirect reference to it through the security architecture of certain member states was included. It is enough at a political level because scrutiny of proposals comes at a lower level, that is, PSC and COREPER II.
Needless to say the topic in Malta was not what was agreed at EU Council level, but who said what, with the discussion centring around what Dr Robert Abela and Dr Roberta Metsola said. The leader of the Opposition is completely disregarded, as if he is not in the equation. It is truly surreal and in my honest opinion pitiful to descend to this level. People on social media were kind of hysterical. Meanwhile, nobody understood anything. And the mainstream media is AWOL. They are either having it good through EU funds, because I see from time to time that articles are covered by such funds, or else they are living up to what they are being paid for. It is an intelligent way to push the mainstream media to sing from the same hymn sheet of the EU, without any critical analysis, even though they are being thieves with the truth. Well, it is a disservice to Europeans, as well as a dereliction of duty.
Lately, the EU, as well as the mainstream media, changed strategy. The pictures that they are choosing when they write about President Zelenskyy are different, depicting the human side of him by selecting specific photos showing him around people and embracing children. The reason is psychological, as they need to depict President Zelenskyy as a normal leader rather than a fighter in a war. From a media and public relations perspective it must have been this way from the outset. They just realised that they were doing a mistake and risk him being overthrown. Certainly, I am glad that a ceasefire agreement was brokered by the US. By the time of writing this article, it seems that Ukraine accepted a 30-day ceasefire. The ball is now in Vladimir Putin’s court. Also, the US said that the restriction on military aid, as well as intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, will be lifted. If Russia accepts a ceasefire, it would the first one since 2022.
Also, it seems that the Dutch Parliament voted against the proposal of the European Commission. The Dutch prime minister was asked to reject the EU Commission’s proposal to ReArm Europe. Knowing the Dutch’s stand in the Budget Committee, and how frugal they get, no wonder they did so. Not sure why the President of the European Commission is not getting it. ReArm Europe sends a wrong message to the electorate. I understand that the President of the EU Commission’s background is defence, as she served as defence minister of the largest EU member state. However, those around her must talk to her, always if she allows them, to tone the narrative down. The way that Ursula von der Leyen has been behaving in the past years is a recipe for disaster for the peace project. Those pushing her to do these things must really get a break, as they are perhaps frustrated as much as the President is. Else, they are not fit for purpose.
First, they choked everyone with regulations. It was not just regulations, though. What kind of regulations. They asked everyone to start investing in green technology with EIB guarantees and an expediated process to reach faster renewable energy production for cleaner air. Fine, by this. The concept makes sense. The problem is that those writing proposals are utterly incompetent more than their own boss who permanently resides in the Berlaymont building. The level of granularity that they descended to, is akin to a controlled system in a command economy. No wonder Mario Draghi was hitting his head against the sharpest corner when writing the competitiveness report. The wording he chose, as a penholder of that report, resonates his frustration.
The system that von der Leyen created, is simply unrealistic, and unsustainable. The level of scrutiny, and screening is tyrant, and draconian. Whereas in the USSR’s time, in a command economy, bureaucrats dictated what sectors, markets and quantities must achieve, including rationing, the equivalent is true by using a carbon shadow price to dictate the way markets behave, including the sectors that are to be financed, and the quantities needed in an economy, leaving room for abuse across industry. Simply, it is just not working out. I am in favour of having pragmatic systems in place that pushes the market to invest in better technology, cleaner air, as well as fostering a healthier environment. However, the strategy is completely flawed. They choked everyone with disclosures to the point of undoing the EU’s competitiveness. We need a competitiveness report on banks. Else, the Draghi report will be left on the shelf.
Now, it is not green technology, and ESG anymore. It is about defence. And it is about asking the EIB to widen the list of eligible sectors, including the financing of additional defence products. I already said that this is a flagrant treaty breach. Nadia Calvino, who is serving as President of the EIB, and whom I remember in my role as technical attaché working on the OMNBUS regulation in 2017, knows, and knows quite well that this is a problem. Article 41(2) TEU is clear. Indirectly or not the budget guarantees are on balance sheet of the EU Budget. And the guarantees will be financing defence. This is the proposal of von der Leyen for ReArm Europe. And she keeps on pushing in this direction. I am not sure why, but these occurrences are reminding me of the messy people, who screw other people’s lives simply because they have a personality disorder, who often have a complete disregard to tolerating distress and emotions, and who constantly act impulsively. I remember a few students at school, as well as colleagues in my preceding post. They just affect the quality of life of everyone.
In hindsight, what we are witnessing with ReArm Europe is the EU’s Global Strategy written in 2018. Whatever the requirements, we need to have some sanity in the EU. ReArm Europe will not work, just like RePower EU did not work. There are too many things going on, with no specific focus. The objectives of the EU shifts from one quarter to another. It is a total charade. And the main actor is none other than Ursula. Tsk tsk!
