European Union general discussion

[CumbrianLefty]

https://www.politico.eu/article/how-charles-michel-lost-the-room-mette-frederiksen-european-council-migration-economy-french-president-emmanuel-macron-joe-biden-former-belgian-prime-minister/

Glad to see Politico take down this useless nepotistic arrogant self-serving obnoxious cowardly c u n t who is paid a salary higher than Biden's.

Even without retrospect, he was always a somewhat risky choice for that position.

[Zinneke]

https://www.politico.eu/article/how-charles-michel-lost-the-room-mette-frederiksen-european-council-migration-economy-french-president-emmanuel-macron-joe-biden-former-belgian-prime-minister/

Glad to see Politico take down this useless nepotistic arrogant self-serving obnoxious cowardly c u n t who is paid a salary higher than Biden's.

Even without retrospect, he was always a somewhat risky choice for that position.

Risky in what sense?

He was put there (by Macron, Merkel and Rutte) precisely because he is an inoffensive Belgian, so he knows how to square circles with bureaucratic goobledigook and Belgian comprimises that don't actually work.

Risky would have been to put a straight talker like Timmermans as head of the EC instead of the living dead Von Der Leyen. Because Timmermans, for all his faults, can actually communicate like a normal human being and not a Brussels Bubble apparatchik.

As they say in the article the Council President is designed to be a guy who just knows how those mudpits work and does all the prep behind the scenes to ensure they become a smooth process. They thought Michel Jr would be no risk but it turns out Michel Jr just cares about his career.

This epitomizes the mediocrity and short sightedness of a European political class, incapable of displaying anything but a lowest common denominator message of peace and flowers and looking to use politics as an instrument to just build their contact book. If the EU elections deliver another grand coalition it'll be the same tepid water messaging and entitlement from a new set of non-entities, who genuinely believe they should not be able to face scrutiny (see VDL over questions about her whatsapp messages with the Pfizer CEO).

Zelensky has saved their bacon in more ways than one.


tldr : Michel was always the safe choice, and that's why he is an utter failure.

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1640799599077085191?s=20

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1641869616593920006?s=20

[Storr]

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1642877610714701829?s=20

[Zinneke]

https://www.politico.eu/article/police-raid-epp-european-peoples-party-offices-brussels/

[Storr]

"Ukraine’s goal is to have the European Commission finally recommend to the EU Council to begin membership negotiations in its annual report, which will be presented in the autumn,"

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1644355600086704128?s=20

[Zinneke]

Macron's comments on Strategic Autonomy confirm to me that he wants a France-dominated Europe and has autocratic designs that are not dissimilar to autocrats that came before him, only adapted to 21st century realities.

He's had years now to construct a democratic Europe, but what he really wants is a France First Europe while he lectured Trump on how nationalism was a Bad Thing. He is also totally out of touch with most of the EU on the issue of American cooperation and security architecture.

He has to be stopped and that may have to be via the disintegration of the current European project in favour of a new one, if only to fire all the arrogant bureaucrats so far up their own arse and ensure we don't have 3 European "Presidents" jet setting around the world litterally fighting over a seat    to take selfies with students and attend orgies.

[NewYorkExpress]

Macron's comments on Strategic Autonomy confirm to me that he wants a France-dominated Europe and has autocratic designs that are not dissimilar to autocrats that came before him, only adapted to 21st century realities.

He's had years now to construct a democratic Europe, but what he really wants is a France First Europe while he lectured Trump on how nationalism was a Bad Thing. He is also totally out of touch with most of the EU on the issue of American cooperation and security architecture.

He has to be stopped and that may have to be via the disintegration of the current European project in favour of a new one, if only to fire all the arrogant bureaucrats so far up their own arse and ensure we don't have 3 European "Presidents" jet setting around the world litterally fighting over a seat    to take selfies with students and attend orgies.

I can't picture Macron taking part in an orgy. On the other hand, I could very much picture, Marine Le Pen taking part in one if she ever gets elected President of France.

[Zinneke]

Macron's comments on Strategic Autonomy confirm to me that he wants a France-dominated Europe and has autocratic designs that are not dissimilar to autocrats that came before him, only adapted to 21st century realities.

He's had years now to construct a democratic Europe, but what he really wants is a France First Europe while he lectured Trump on how nationalism was a Bad Thing. He is also totally out of touch with most of the EU on the issue of American cooperation and security architecture.

He has to be stopped and that may have to be via the disintegration of the current European project in favour of a new one, if only to fire all the arrogant bureaucrats so far up their own arse and ensure we don't have 3 European "Presidents" jet setting around the world litterally fighting over a seat    to take selfies with students and attend orgies.

I can't picture Macron taking part in an orgy. On the other hand, I could very much picture, Marine Le Pen taking part in one if she ever gets elected President of France.

I am referring to EU officials- we have 3 EU Presidents who trapse around in private jets and just do photoshoots with no real impetus and deal making ability. National government officials tend to be too engrossed and busy for such matters as orgies, although Trump has a dossier on Macron's sex life so who knows.

[CumbrianLefty]

Macron's comments on Strategic Autonomy confirm to me that he wants a France-dominated Europe and has autocratic designs that are not dissimilar to autocrats that came before him, only adapted to 21st century realities.

He's had years now to construct a democratic Europe, but what he really wants is a France First Europe while he lectured Trump on how nationalism was a Bad Thing. He is also totally out of touch with most of the EU on the issue of American cooperation and security architecture.

He has to be stopped and that may have to be via the disintegration of the current European project in favour of a new one, if only to fire all the arrogant bureaucrats so far up their own arse and ensure we don't have 3 European "Presidents" jet setting around the world litterally fighting over a seat    to take selfies with students and attend orgies.

I can't picture Macron taking part in an orgy. On the other hand, I could very much picture, Marine Le Pen taking part in one if she ever gets elected President of France.

I am referring to EU officials- we have 3 EU Presidents who trapse around in private jets and just do photoshoots with no real impetus and deal making ability. National government officials tend to be too engrossed and busy for such matters as orgies, although Trump has a dossier on Macron's sex life so who knows.

"Its nowhere near as 'interesting' as mine"?

[Storr]

Oof:

https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1651206161163599875?s=20

[Storr]

Based Meloni (??!?):

https://twitter.com/POLITICOEurope/status/1651254331394383873?s=20

[Antonio the Sixth]

Based Meloni (??!?):

https://twitter.com/POLITICOEurope/status/1651254331394383873?s=20

We truly live in strange times

[Cassius]

It’s not really very surprising given that:

1. Meloni (unlike Salvini or Berlusconi) doesn’t really have significant ties to Putin.
2. The Ukrainian political scene is very right-wing, as is the case in most ex-Warsaw Pact and Soviet countries, where centre-left as it would be recognised in the English speaking world and Western Europe is basically defunct.
3. The addition of Ukraine would further stymie centralisation efforts within the EU (which, of course, is what happened with the entry of the ex-Warsaw Pact nations, which was one of the reasons why the British pushed so hard for expansion back when we were in the EU, even though that ended up boomeranging spectacularly on the domestic side of the equation), which I assume is something that she would be favourable to (Ukraine would likely be an ally of her government, the Poles and the Hungarians in an “anti-Federalist bloc”).

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

It’s not really very surprising given that:

1. Meloni (unlike Salvini or Berlusconi) doesn’t really have significant ties to Putin.
2. The Ukrainian political scene is very right-wing, as is the case in most ex-Warsaw Pact and Soviet countries, where centre-left as it would be recognised in the English speaking world and Western Europe is basically defunct.
3. The addition of Ukraine would further stymie centralisation efforts within the EU (which, of course, is what happened with the entry of the ex-Warsaw Pact nations, which was one of the reasons why the British pushed so hard for expansion back when we were in the EU, even though that ended up boomeranging spectacularly on the domestic side of the equation), which I assume is something that she would be favourable to (Ukraine would likely be an ally of her government, the Poles and the Hungarians in an “anti-Federalist bloc”).

Fair points.

[Zinneke]

The main reason for Meloni's stance is that the CIA have had stay behind agents in neo-fascist networks for years so the  "investments" are finally paying off.

[CumbrianLefty]

It’s not really very surprising given that:

1. Meloni (unlike Salvini or Berlusconi) doesn’t really have significant ties to Putin.
2. The Ukrainian political scene is very right-wing, as is the case in most ex-Warsaw Pact and Soviet countries, where centre-left as it would be recognised in the English speaking world and Western Europe is basically defunct.
3. The addition of Ukraine would further stymie centralisation efforts within the EU (which, of course, is what happened with the entry of the ex-Warsaw Pact nations, which was one of the reasons why the British pushed so hard for expansion back when we were in the EU, even though that ended up boomeranging spectacularly on the domestic side of the equation), which I assume is something that she would be favourable to (Ukraine would likely be an ally of her government, the Poles and the Hungarians in an “anti-Federalist bloc”).

The first is obvious, though it might be worth looking into *why* that is the case.

Second, agreed on the whole.

Third, this may though be a bit too "seven dimensional chess" for a lot of rightwingers.

[Cassius]

It’s not really very surprising given that:

1. Meloni (unlike Salvini or Berlusconi) doesn’t really have significant ties to Putin.
2. The Ukrainian political scene is very right-wing, as is the case in most ex-Warsaw Pact and Soviet countries, where centre-left as it would be recognised in the English speaking world and Western Europe is basically defunct.
3. The addition of Ukraine would further stymie centralisation efforts within the EU (which, of course, is what happened with the entry of the ex-Warsaw Pact nations, which was one of the reasons why the British pushed so hard for expansion back when we were in the EU, even though that ended up boomeranging spectacularly on the domestic side of the equation), which I assume is something that she would be favourable to (Ukraine would likely be an ally of her government, the Poles and the Hungarians in an “anti-Federalist bloc”).

The first is obvious, though it might be worth looking into *why* that is the case.

Second, agreed on the whole.

Third, this may though be a bit too "seven dimensional chess" for a lot of rightwingers.

I mean, with regards number three, coordination is an obvious issue (Poland may well have a liberal and pro-EU government by the end of the year). Nonetheless, the bigger the EU gets and the more conflicting interests that it includes inside it, the harder integration becomes (Walter Hallstein, he of the “Empty Chair Crisis” identified this problem early on with the his ‘intensity versus extensity’ dilemma), which I assume is something that Meloni wants to see happen, since she is a nationalist. A poor, nationalistic and right-wing (the direction of Ukrainian economic policy in the last ten years has decidedly been in favour of heavy liberalisation) Ukraine is an obvious partner for a Meloni led Italian government in any effort to tip the scales against France and Germany (who, in any case, don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot re integration).

[Zinneke]

https://twitter.com/EddyWax/status/1654093883867897859

[Storr]

Oof:

https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1651206161163599875?s=20

Yeah, Georgia is definitely not getting EU candidate status this year. Have fun being in candidate status limbo with Kosovo! It really sucks the Georgian people are stuck with these two faced sellout crooks.

https://twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1663460409301516290?s=20

[Zinneke]

https://twitter.com/daniel_freund/status/1674022275505438721

[Zinneke]

https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-giorgia-meloni-europe-swings-right-and-reshapes-the-eu/


It looks increasingly inevitable that for the first time we will have an EPP-ECR-ID potential coalition to roll back the climate legislation, social rights, and so on. EPP clearly only care about power so it shouldn't be any issue for them to rub shoulders with such a bunch.

[Storr]

European institutions are preparing to admit Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen this year, with visa-free travel by air expected in October, followed by the abolition of land border controls by 1 January, diplomatic sources in Brussels and the Bulgarian parliament and government told EURACTIV.

"Until a month ago, the biggest obstacle to Bulgaria’s entry into Schengen was the opposition of the Netherlands.

Mark Rutte’s government has given informal signals that it appreciates the efforts of the Bulgarian parliament and the last four governments to initiate real judicial reform with the introduction of a mechanism for an independent investigation of the chief prosecutor, which was adopted at the end of May."

[Zinneke]

https://twitter.com/EPPGroup/status/1676864056412745728