Bratislava: A summit to ‘save’ Europe | Policy Review | Policy and networking for the digital age

Bratislava: A summit to ‘save’ Europe

The EU summit on Friday in Bratislava is meant to give a new boost to the European Union after the pro-Brexit vote, media widely report. The Bratislava summit is set to focus on the migration policy, the issue of a European army vs. military cooperation, and the issue of more union vs. the primacy of nation states, Magyar Nemzet reports. The absolute priority, Le Figaro adds, is to address the feeling of insecurity expressed by many EU citizens regarding unemployment, the refugee crisis, terrorist threat and wars in neighbouring states.

A source close to the French president is quoted by La Croix as saying, that the 27 heads of states plan to reach an agreement on three priority concerns – security, growth, and youth – in order to produce a “concrete roadmap” for action over the next few months. Although there have been many “last chance” summits, the label applies “with undeniable accuracy” to today’s meeting in Bratislava, La Croix notes.

Insiders however, claim that significant decisions are not expected, FAZ reports. Le Figaro also says no practical decisions are to be expected from the Bratislava summit, and France and Germany are therefore pushing forward the European defence agenda, one of the few consensual issues “now that the British veto has been evacuated”.

The summit is to be a sort of self-examination, amid divisions over almost every subject, Beda Romano notes in Il Sole 24 Ore. Because the UK is absent from the summit, the decisions to be made there, will not be binding; accordingly, it is not set to result in major decisions, it will be a review of the possibilities regarding the future of the EU, Magyar Nemzet reports.

The absence of British PM May is a token of the “first break-up” and an illustration of the fact the EU is “no longer safe from shrinking or disintegrating,” Le Figaro comments. The East is openly challenging “the diktats of Brussels”; the South is barely functional after years of austerity; and the North has lost its passion for a European project deemed “technocratic and self-centred” Le Figaro highlights.

Since the British referendum, the divide between those who think salvation will come from more EU and those who are in favour of increased national prerogatives, has been widening to such an extent, that the capacity of any EU head of state to “defend European construction” and bring the member states back together is questioned. In Brussels, this divide is apparent in the relationship between Commission President Juncker and Council President Tusk, Le Figaro further notes. Mr Tusk is reportedly attempting to strengthen his role through intergovernmental operation among EU leaders, while Mr Juncker is trying to ensure greater responsibilities for the EU institutions and the Commission in particular, Politis further says.

“We must demonstrate to our citizens that we are willing and able to protect them from a repeat of the chaos of 2015″, European Council President Donald Tusk is quoted as saying by Die Presse. Mr Tusk is hoping to resolve issues between member states after Luxembourg’s foreign affairs minister called for Hungary to be thrown out of the EU for allegedly treating asylum seekers “worse than wild animals,” The Guardian reports. “We haven’t come to Bratislava to comfort each other or even worse to deny the real challenges we face in this particular moment in the history of our community after the vote in the UK,” Mr Tusk said.

For the Financial Times, the EU also has to deal with the growing challenge from populist movements demanding a drastic overhaul of the EU institutions. With national elections looming in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, calls for a drastic overhaul of EU institutions are growing louder, the British newspaper claims. In an interview with Pravda in connection with today’s EU summit in Bratislava, Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico stresses, that the EU has overestimated itself and needs interventions in its functioning. At the same time, it is important to persuade people that there is no alternative to the EU, Mr Fico adds.

What is more, Mr Juncker’s statements are continuing to garner media attention. Beyond his State of the Union speech, which echo24.cz considered unusually moderate, the EC President’s statements made in reply to three young You-Tubers are also receiving coverage. When asked by the You-Tubers to list three reasons why the EU is important, he chose peace, the future and the necessity for Europeans to stand together against their rivals. During this interview Mr Juncker recalled what he had said about Mr Barroso’s Goldman Sachs role, Le Quotidien, and some other media, note: “I do not have a problem with him working for a private bank, but not this one,” Mr Juncker is quoted.

Concerning Brexit, Mr Juncker is quoted by the British media as saying: “Of course Brexit means that something is wrong in Europe. But Brexit means also that something was wrong in Britain.” Mr Juncker, The Daily Mail reports, claimed that British voters were brainwashed with 40 years of “lies” about the European Union. In other institutional news media report, that the European Parliament has endorsed the appointment of Sir Julian King as European Security Commissioner. Mr King was backed by 394 votes to 161, with 83 abstentions.