#SOTEU: It often takes a good lunch to digest EU blah blah, so here we go
There was substance, on health especially. Any push by the Commission to wrest away national powers is notable. Von der Leyen was explicit: dealing with future crises will need the EU empowered more
On that same note, mention of 'own resources' revenues was notable in its absence. The Commission is not banging the drum for tax-collecting power yet, while the EP is desperate for it. UVDL mentioned the possible sources (border tax etc) but not that explicit link
Climate, of course, got a target: 55%. More meat on the bones tomorrow on how to achieve that, so best to hold off until there's official confirmation of what the Comm plan is. UVDL says 55% is 1.5 degrees Paris-compliant, while others will tell you it is not
Will Nord Stream 2 survive? A very wise EU official once told me the Juncker Commission will be remembered internally as the executive that allowed it to happen. Will UVDL's right that "wrong"? This will of course be a member state (Germany) decision, but she can exert pressure
No mention of R&D's reduced budget. No surprise, given UVDL did not address it after the Council brokered an agreement
Verhofstadt, of all people, hit the nail on the head. Most of the initiatives UVDL mentioned are or will be blocked in Council. 'You should repeat your speech to them'
As Michael Roth frankly put it, a lot of what UVDL proposes will not get support in Council. There are good intentions on show today but the very nature of the EU process will lead to compromise and fudge.
What about the concept itself, the #SOTEU? Quick glance at twitter feeds of EUCO leaders shows few acknowledging the speech
Busy men and women, of course. But when Italy & Malta are among the few taking note of the speech, it's clear a European demos etc still needs work/time
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🧀 CHEESE WAR UPDATE:
EU court says Denmark is breaking the law by allowing its cheesemakers to sell products called 'feta'. Feta is a protected foodstuff that can only be made in certain areas of Greece
Denmark had claimed that its 'feta' was only for sale in non-EU countries, so no rules were broken. The court confirms that this is bogus and protected food norms still apply
Still no statement by Danish @Statsmin Fette Medriksen
If this isn’t a resigning matter I don’t know what is
💶 Auditors say the EU Commission overstated its climate spending by *€72BN* between 2014-2020. The watchdog fears that this discrepancy could be repeated for the current period [...]
The Commission said €216bn - 20% of the budget - had gone toward climate action. But spending was often overstated according to a new report. The main sector where the figure is overblown? Agriculture, by some *€60BN* [...]
By applying "more reasonable coefficients" the auditors say that just 13% (€144bn) was spent on climate action in that budgetary period [...]
🇫🇮 Finland aims to be carbon-neutral by 2035. But nurturing nature (~75% of the country is forest) and exploiting it at the same time is proving to be a difficult or even impossible ask
🌲 New data suggests Finland’s forests emitted more CO2 than they absorbed last year. Logging and slow tree growth probable causes. You can’t build climate targets on carbon sinks if your sinks aren’t doing their job
🌳 This is what happened to the Amazon last year. There, a mixture of logging and fires (deliberately set to clear land for farming) are the causes
🌱 THREAD on the cartoon/comic world’s climate change progress.
1. Tintin. Massive carbon footprint. Constantly travelling via inefficient means, just look at that plane tech. Also is potentially in the pocket of petrostate officials
2. Asterix. All-boar diet isn’t great and the Gauls are always chopping down trees to make palisades. The village arguably delays the Roman industrialisation of agriculture though. More progress needed
3. Flintstones. Mobility is pretty sustainable but Fred’s job at the quarry suggests heavy industry emissions and I don’t see any CCS tech deployment in Bedrock