The European Union (EU) loves its acronyms and now it has another one to add to the list.
It’s called EPC, or European Political Community, and you could be forgiven for admitting to not knowing much, if anything, about it yet.
It was actually French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea to create the European Political Community. He suggested the opening of such a forum in his speech at the closing ceremony of the Future Conference at the European Parliament on May 9, 2022.
It was officially launched following Russian aggression against Ukraine in May 2022.
The objective is to create “a new space for cooperation” and to contribute to peace and security.
With the recent and particularly bloody outbreak of violence in the Middle East, most people might agree that there is no harm in fostering closer international cooperation.
But what exactly is EPC and what can we really hope to achieve?
According to the EPC itself, the objective is to:
- promote political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common interest and
- strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent.
Some have maliciously suggested that the EPC would replace the EU, but those behind the initiative insist that it is a platform for policy coordination and does not replace no existing organization, structure or process.
Nor does it aim to create new ones “at this stage”.
Its members include each of the 27 EU Member States, candidates for EU membership (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine) and potential candidates for membership of the EU (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo).
Other members on board include Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
So far, the European Political Community has met three times. At the first meeting, in October 2022, the leaders mainly discussed peace and security issues, including Russia’s war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.
After the inaugural meeting in Prague, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “The entire European community has come together here on an equal footing to exchange views on the important issues of our time, including security. , energy supply, climate and the economy, and to expand our collaboration. Those whose voices are not often heard have also joined the table. It is also a consequence of this era of change.
At the next meeting in June 2023, the leaders discussed joint efforts towards peace and security, energy resilience, connectivity and mobility in Europe.
The third meeting took place recently in Granada, Spain, attended by no less than 44 heads of state and government. The event also took place in the presence of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
The leaders discussed the EU’s broader strategy as well as the bloc’s enlargement.
But both the meeting and the EPC general assembly have met with a mixed response so far.
Even the Europhiles are lukewarm.
Take, for example, Claude Moraes, former MEP and chairman of the European Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee.
Speaking to this website, the British politician said the recent EPC “summit” in southern Spain was “an imminent failure”.
Moraes added: “Because it was ‘informal,’ he was guaranteed not to make any major decisions, or even to make any decisions at all.
“On the key issues – enlargement, Ukraine and migration, as well as the elephants in the room – climate, the energy crisis and Europe’s cost of living crisis – the summit actually helped to increase divisions.
“The substantial ‘side talks’ on migration are a good example of indiscipline at the summit.”
Moraes says that “solutions at the European level will require broad consensus, but the summit allowed far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Italian Prime Minister) to continue her international efforts to implement a tough national pledge on stop migration and gather allies for his vision. »
Concerning Ukraine and enlargement, he believes that “a heavy ‘informal’ summit has only served to highlight the divisions between EU member states, motivated either by fears of Russia, or by those who propose a more neutral attitude towards Russia (for example, Hungary and Poland). and European Union member states concerned about the major economic implications of Ukraine’s EU membership.”
This is not very resounding support for President Macron’s pet project.
At the recent EPC meeting in Granada, leaders clashed with Hungary after the country’s Polish-backed Prime Minister Viktor Orban insisted he would not support the projects of migration law. Instead, they adopted a “Grenada Declaration” on other issues, including the bloc’s overall strategy in the coming years, with European Council President Charles Michel issuing a separate “President’s Statement” reaffirming the EU’s commitment to the proposed migration laws. .
Another former British MEP, Andrew Duff, echoed Moraes’ concerns, saying that the EPC “as conceived by Macron should be under the EU umbrella.”
But he says the UK – a member of the EPC, indeed the EU – “takes the opposite view”.
It should be noted that responsibility for hosting the next EPC meeting (which will meet two to three times a year) now shifts from Spain to the UK.
Duff, a renowned expert on constitutional affairs, says: “So, under these circumstances, the EPC experiment was always going to fail to produce concrete results. »
He continues: “I suspect that Ursula von der Leyen, if she gets a second term as president of the European Commission, will take over the whole show. »
His verdict? “The conference will become an old-fashioned place for discussion involving the UK and Azerbaijan – but will not be part of the European Union’s decision-making process. »
Denis Macshane, who served as Britain’s Europe minister under Tony Blair, is also unimpressed, saying the EPC “is just a place for discussion to allow prime ministers Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo, which could easily join the EU at the same time. with more problematic states like Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, to sit down with EU heads of government and feel part of the show.
Some might find it curious that the UK has signed the new EPC, but MacShane is not included.
When the EPC was first announced, Macshane urged the UK to join it “as it would be a modest reconnection after Brexit”.
He told this site: “To my surprise, Liz Truss (then British Prime Minister) did so and Sunak was clearly persuaded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to stay. »
Despite some reservations, David McAllister, a centre-right member of the European Parliament, is much more optimistic, saying that EPC offers real “long-term benefits for everyone involved”.
The German MEP, chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said the forum offers “another opportunity” for informal exchange between “vital” actors, at a time of several serious conflicts in Ukraine, in the Western Balkans and the Caucasus.
This gives leaders “time to openly exchange views without the added pressure of a busy agenda or the need to issue a final communiqué.”
The MEP added: “The opportunity to engage with a wider range of partners than usual can offer serious long-term benefits for everyone involved. »
The third CEP meeting also “highlighted the potentially crucial role” the forum could play with regard to EU enlargement.
The heads of government have sent an “implicit, but clear” signal that the European Union wants to develop, he believes.
According to McAllister, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Ukraine all have serious chances of eventually becoming EU member states.
“But before that happens, serious reforms are needed on both sides: candidate countries must prepare for the EU and the EU must adapt its institutions to the new member states. »
He believes that the EPC is “no alternative” to EU membership and “cannot become a waiting room for aspiring members either”.
Many agree that the EU could do with an injection of fresh, innovative ideas to navigate the still choppy post-Brexit waters. It remains to be seen whether the European Political Community can provide such impetus.
