Today’s European Council opened with an informal meeting between Meloni, Merz and De Wever; in the summit of 27 there were many topics on the table: the military escalation in the Middle East, the consequences in economic and energy terms for Europe and the war in Ukraine.
Today’s was supposed to be a European Council focused on competitiveness and support for Ukraine. The great Middle Eastern war, with the consequent global energy shockhowever, forcedly changed plans.
Informal meeting Meloni-Merz-De Wever
The meeting of the 27 European leaders started early for the prime minister Giorgia Meloniwho held an informal meeting with the German Chancellor on Thursday morning, Friedrich Merzand the Belgian Prime Minister Bart DeWever.
At the center of the meeting there was an “exchange of views in view of the discussion on European competitiveness“, as reported by a note released by Palazzo Chigi, in addition to the “consequences of the conflict in the Middle East on the global market of energy sources and on the possible initiatives to be adopted quickly to contain the increase in energy prices”.
War in the Middle East
On the hottest topic, the Middle Eastern war, European leaders held a meeting together with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
“My message to the United States and Israel,” Guterres said, “is that It’s time to end this war which risks getting totally out of controlwith an impact on the world economy that risks being truly dramatic, especially for developing countries.”
“To Iran I say: stop attacking its Arab neighbors and open the Strait of Hormuz. It is time for diplomacy to prevail, it is time for the force of law to prevail over the law of force,” he added.
However, in the draft text being examined by the leaders during the summit, no military intervention is announced, or no invitation to ask the Atlantic Alliance to do so.
Although the need to prevent attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz was one of the points, the 27 will go no further.
Possible modification of the ETS
Among the measures under consideration is the restructuring of the mechanism “European Union Emissions Trading System” (ETS), which requires companies active in particularly energy-intensive sectors to pay a price for each ton of CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere, through licenses that can be purchased at auction, on secondary markets or assigned free of charge.
There are 11 European governments that they ask for the temporary suspension of the ETSincluding Italy. Sanchez’s Spain leads the opposition, while France and Germany say they are open to slight changes.
Upon his arrival at the Council today, the French President Emmanuel Macron stated: “I believe that the ETS is a good mechanism, and it needs to be preservedbut in the current context we need flexibility to respond to the crisis, but we need to maintain the structure, the philosophy, the approach and not lose sight of what is important for Europeans too”.
War in Ukraine
There is also room for the war in Ukraine, with the president Volodymyr Zelensky who participated via video link.
The issue of the 90 billion loan to Kiev, blocked by Hungary, must be resolved, according to which Ukraine is voluntarily obstructing the flow of oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
Viktor Orban he was very clear upon his arrival in Brussels: “We want to receive the oil that Ukraine is blocking. We will not support any decision in favor of Ukraine until Hungary receives the oil that belongs to it.”
During the leaders’ meeting, as reported by RaiNews, the president Antonio Costa would have defined his behavior as “unacceptable” – and “contrary” to the principle of sincere cooperation envisaged by the treaties. Orban, together with the Slovakian Robert Ficohowever, did not give “any sign of opening”. Without the oil from the Druzhba pipeline, the loan to Ukraine will not be made.
