๐After Sebastian Kurz's broadsides against the EU and demands for a vaccine correction mechanism, the EU is now considering ways to send extra vaccines to hard hit countries - excluding Austria ft.com/content/f0e74aโฆ
Germany leading a plan to redistribute portion of 10m additional Pfizer vaccines to countries hardest hit. Contenders include ๐จ๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ท๐ฑ๐ป๐ช๐ช but not ๐ฆ๐น. EU diplomats says Kurz tactics mean he won't get "one jab more". They also point out that ๐ฆ๐นnot facing immediate vaccine squeeze
Austrians saying they will block any redistribution of the 10m if they are not given any additional doses. The veto would also then mean that other countries demanding help would not be given emergency doses
Internal EU negotiations over how to redistribute part of 10m additional vaccines stuck over who should be in line for emergency help. Austria - which has been excluded in some plans as punishment - wants 18 countries to receive all 10m, excluding the likes of ๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ซ๐ท
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EU leaders had a 16 min discussion on rule of law #MFF tonight #euco. Orban gave a concise and to the point expalanation of Hungary's stance. There were no fireworks or emotive pleas from the rest, including Merkel. One diplomat describes it as "stage managed" to avoid a bust up
Merkel kicked off #euco proceedings with a technical intervention about need to get a dealHungary, Slovenia, and Poland all took the floor at. Diplomats don't think Polish veto is as solid as the Hungarian one (for now) while Jansa is playing for a domestic crowd.
Rule of Law spat was never going to be solved at #euco tonight. Relatively short and drama-free interventions - including from Orban - indicator that a possible deal is in the works. Silence in Brussels is usually the sound of a fudge brewing
EU officials still hoping that Project Fear will bite on Hungary and Poland who face huge financial losses if there is no budget agreement this year, forcing Brussels to fall back on a "provisional twelfths" budget for the first time since 1988 ft.com/content/dd8c23โฆ
Dec 7 marks the formal end of the "conciliation" period between MEPs and the council to agree a new budget for 2021. If there is no deal at this point, the EU's emergency austerity budget automatically kicks in from Jan 1 based on extending the budget ceilings from 2020.
But contrary to some hopes of MEPs, rolling over the 2020 budget ceilings doesn't mean the EU has a more "generous" 2021 budget. Under the 12ths, new cohesion money disappears - as do all the newly agreed priorities on research, science, climate (Just Transition Fund)
Pushed by ๐ซ๐ท ๐ฆ๐น, ๐ฉ๐ช EU presidency wants #euco to sign off on push against Islamic radicalism and terrorism. Draft text connects radicalisation/terrorism with migration and integration, calling for sanctions for a "refusal to integrate" like removing funding from NGOs
Anti-terror draft says migrants must make active effort to "successfully integrate" and prove adherence to EU values. Reference to children captures French discomfort at alleged "separatism" not of migrants but 2nd/3rd generation French Muslim citizens who are not immigrants.
Merkel, Macron, Kurz due to discuss the text and possible endorsement at video-conference of EU leaders next week. Unclear how Poland and Hungary feel about the compulsory education of EU values like human rights, freedom of religion, and equal rights of men and women
French Muslims must be pretty flattered that in a middle of global pandemic and even a European Council, Emmanuel Macron has taken the time out to tell them all how they should stop becoming Islamist separatists.
Macron says "Islam is a religion which is experiencing a crisis throughout the world". I'm waiting for him to call us a brain-dead #Separatisme
There doesn't seem to be much behind Macron's anti-separatism bill which makes his decision to stand up and make the country's Muslims a target a suspicion for their everyday activity (school, work) an even more cycnical and desperate attempt to court the far-right
EU summit stuck on Turkey. #Euco draft text tabled an hour ago:
- repeats EU solidarity with Greece, CY
- calls for halting of TR gas activity
- says if constructive efforts are made in E Med, the council will "launch a positive EU Turkey agenda" and "renergising" with TR
Language as it stands seems to be getting nowhere with Cyprus. Diplomats say the discussion has been further complicated by French push to condemn Turkey's role in Nagorno-Karabakh #euco
For those who have been frustrated by linkage between Belarus sanctions and the Eastern Med situation, wait til you here about
Nagorno-Karabakh #euco
Seven member states - including Poland Hungary, the Frugal Four (plus ๐ซ๐ฎ) reject council draft text on the rule of law. ๐ง๐ช๐ฑ๐บ also raise objections. Council goes ahead with mandate to open negotiations with the Parliament
To make things easier from here on the EU's "Rule of Law Friends" (๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐น๐ง๐ช๐ฑ๐บ) will be known as ROLF
Senior diplomat from ROLF says German text goes against EU leaders July deal as it "limits" the powers of the commission to start legal action against a MS for breaching rule of law. Points out that EU 6 founding members are now fundamentally divided on this question