Our Franco-German report on EU institutional reforms to prepare for enlargement is out since yesterday:

A thread highlighting some of the recommendations from my point of view: auswaertiges-amt.de/blob/2617206/4…
1/ In January, against the backdrop of the renewed commitment by European leaders to enlargement, we were tasked by @AnnaLuehrmann and @LaurenceBoone as an independent expert group to develop institutional reform proposals to prepare the EU for enlargement.

This morning, German chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a speech on the future of Europe in the @Europarl_EN, as a follow-up to his Prague speech in August last year.

A thread on his points on EU institutional reforms, also in comparison to his Prague speech: 1/ Overall, today’s speech was much shorter and more vague than last August. EU must change, Scholz says, and become 1) geopolitical, 2) enlarged and reformed, and 3) open to the future. For all three aspects, he considers EP to be a driving force and partner

Dieser Artikel in der @faznet über die BVerfG-Entscheidung zu NGEU steht exemplarisch dafür, was in Teilen der deutschen Berichterstattung zu Europa schief geht.

Ein Thread:
faz.net/aktuell/politi… 1/ Es geht los mit der Aussage, dass das BVerfG dringend in Europa gebraucht würde, denn "Europa soll kein Staat werden". Dabei wird suggeriert, dass solch ein Ziel durch den EuGH und die anderen EU-Institutionen gegen den Willen der Mitgliedsstaaten verfolgt werde.

The German Constitutional Court today rejected the constitutional complaints against the German ratification of the EU Own Resources Decision (ORD), despite some obvious scepticism as to the legality of NGEU: bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Ent…

A first take with @Martijn_vdBrink: 1/ The BVerfG considered two main questions: First, whether the ORD was outside of the EU’s competences (ultra vires) and second, whether it affects the constitutional identity of the German Basic Law.

On the second question, a thread by @Martijn_vdBrink will follow.

This morning, German chancellor Olaf Scholz gave a keynote address on his vision for🇪🇺at Charles University, Prague, entitled "Europe is our future".

Some of his points on EU institutional reforms: 1/ On Treaty reforms: EU Treaties not set in stone, where necessary they should be changed, Scholz says. Abstract debates on Treaty reforms not useful but starting point should be question of what concrete changes are needed - "form follows function"

Der Europäische Gerichtshof hat Polen zu Strafzahlungen in Höhe von €1 Mio. für jeden Tag, an dem das Land das EuGH-Urteil zu seiner Disziplinarkammer nicht umsetzt, verurteilt.

Ein Thread mit einer kurzen Einordnung zu der Höhe dieser Summe: 1/ First things first, wie werden Strafzahlungen in Vertragsverletzungsverfahren eigentlich berechnet? Finanzielle Sanktionen müssen durch die EU-Kommission beantragt werden, die eine eigene, unverbindliche Methode zur Berechnung von Zwangsgeldern entwickelt hat.

The @EU_Commission is bringing an infringement procedure against Germany because of the BVerfG's PSPP judgment of May last year.

A thread on why I think this makes a lot of sense: 1/ Reminder: On 5 May 2020 the German Federal Constitutional Court put Europe in a turmoil when, for the first time in its history, it declared a ruling by the European Court of Justice ultra vires, and therefore not legally binding on Germany.