European leaders took time to stop and reflect on the future of the continent in Bratislava last week at a meeting of the heads of 27 EU governments – without the UK. Tagged as an ‘informal’ summit, the gathering was nevertheless seen as an opportunity to set the EU on a new path, in response to the refugee crisis, the UK referendum and growing nationalism.
On the leaders’ agenda, during a dinner cruise on the Danube, was migration, defence and restoring Europeans’ confidence in the EU. With no seat at the table, Theresa May’s government had no voice.
But the outcome: the ‘Bratislava Declaration’ and a ‘roadmap’ for the future, while calling for “clear and honest language” and a “focus on citizens’ expectations”, did little more than cover existing ground. The leader of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament Gianni Pittella described them as “a lot of words”, adding: “What matters now is seeing them turned into real action.” Brexit, he protested, was “the elephant in the room”.
Two leaders, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Italy’s Matteo Renzi, made little attempt to maintain the impression of unity. “At Bratislava we had a nice cruise on the Danube,” Renzi told Italian media, “but I hoped for answers to the crisis caused by Brexit, not just to go on a boat trip.”
Beforehand, an unprecedented coalition of 177 trade union and civil society organisations, ranging from environmental lobbyists to human rights activists, published a joint statement calling for a “better Europe” prioritising greater equality and inclusion, good jobs and living conditions, and tougher action on climate change.
They called on EU leaders and elected representatives to “listen and engage actively with citizens” – especially young people – in order “to understand and respond better to people’s concerns and propose a new, positive vision of Europe”.
Six months away from the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, new figures show that since last year, hostility to the EU has risen in every Member State except Austria and Cyprus.
The EU is struggling to move forward while the Brexit ‘phoney war’ continues. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union address in the European Parliament last Wednesday urged the UK Government to trigger EU exit talks “as quickly as possible”.
But Labour MEP Richard Corbett counselled against hasty decisions. “The list of issues that need to be settled is huge, and every day new problems are discovered that were never mentioned by Brexit supporters in the referendum campaign,” he argued.
“The British government has not triggered Article 50, because it still has no clue as to what it wants to achieve on most of these issues. Brexit is not a settled issue, neither at European level, nor in Britain, where calls for a re-think of the issue will continue to grow.”
President Juncker’s speech ranged widely over the problems confronting the EU in 2016. Admitting that the Union is undergoing an “existential crisis”, he pointed to high unemployment, social inequality, “mountains of public debt” and the challenge of integrating refugees.
“We Europeans can never accept Polish workers being harassed, beaten up or even murdered on the streets of Harlow,” he declared, singling out the UK for criticism. But highlighting defence and security, trade, financial systems and the digital economy, the speech seemed to be pitched at governments rather than the public, with little to reassure ordinary EU citizens, even though Juncker praised “solidarity” as “the glue that keeps our Union together”.
The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, welcomed Juncker’s doubling of investment money and the extension of the Youth Guarantee to help young people into work. But he added: “I am disappointed he did not announce any new action to tackle low wages, precarious work or the exploitation of migrant workers.”
There was little solidarity among MEPs as they went on to discuss the speech. French far-right French Front National leader Marine Le Pen described it as “like a funeral for the EU”, while UK Conservative Syed Kamall dismissed it as “the same mantra” of “more, more, more” Europe.