European Union

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for the EU and Africa to step up efforts on food production, including via innovative farming techniques such as precision farming, in light of the war in Ukraine.

Germany has said it will deliver armoured vehicles to Greece, enabling Greece to send Soviet-era ones to Ukraine. "We will provide Greece with German infantry fighting vehicles," German chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the summit in Brussels Tuesday, Reuters reports. "The defence ministries will work out the details and quickly implement this agreement," he added. Germany has faced criticism for stalling on its own weapons shipments to Ukraine.

Citizens often send messages to the President of the European Parliament (or to the institution’s public portal) expressing their views on current issues and/or requesting action from the Parliament. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) looks into these issues and replies to the messages, which may sometimes be identical as part of wider public campaigns.

The President of the European Parliament has recently received a large number of messages calling on the EU to recognise Georgia’s progress towards accession. Citizens first began to write to the President on this subject in May 2022. In February 2022, in a non-binding resolution, the European Parliament underlined that Georgia could start its accession process to the EU provided that it guarantees democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.  The European Parliament also called for the EU and its Member States to recognise Georgia’s European perspective. 

Please find below the main points of the reply sent to citizens who took the time to write to the President of the European Parliament on this matter.

Main points made in the reply

When asked about Georgia obtaining candidate status to join the EU at a press point with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the European Parliament on 28 April 2022, President Metsola stated: ‘This Parliament has always welcomed any country that looks to Europe as its home, that that should be the step that is taken. […] We are in constant contact with our Georgian partners and also representatives of the Georgian parliament in order to make sure that when that step happens, that you mentioned, we are ready to make our commitment and this parliament has never shied away from it.’ (Transcript)

On 17 February 2022, just before Russia’s most recent aggression against Ukraine began, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on the annual report on the implementation of the EU’s common foreign and security policy. In this resolution, the European Parliament underlines that Georgia (and Ukraine) could start their accession process to the EU provided that they guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities – known as the ‘Copenhagen criteria‘.

Furthermore, the European Parliament resolution calls for the EU and its Member States to recognise Georgia’s (and Ukraine’s) European perspective, which is considered vitally important for the countries’ security and stability, as well as a driver for their continued implementation of internal reforms. 

Previous debate and resolution

On 9 March 2021, the European Parliament held a plenary debate in Brussels on the current political situation in Georgia (part 1, (video) part 2 (video) and part 3 (video)).

The European Parliament had previously adopted a non-binding resolution, on 16 September 2020, on the implementation of the EU Association Agreement with Georgia. The Parliament welcomed the continued deepening of EU-Georgia relations and the firm support that Georgia’s chosen path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration enjoys across the political spectrum and in European society. Parliament also recalled that enhanced cooperation and EU assistance are based on the ‘more for more’ principle and are conditional on continued reform progress on, in particular, democracy and the rule of law, including checks and balances in the institutions, independence of the judiciary and electoral reform.

Accession to the EU

As to Georgia’s request for accession to the EU, the European Parliament’s formal decision-making role is limited. The European Parliament must give its consent (approve or reject but not amend) to any new accession to the EU. The decision to open membership negotiations has to be taken by the EU governments unanimously. More information on EU enlargement and the European Parliament’s role is available in this EP Factsheet. 

Finally, the European Parliament has a Delegation for relations with the South Caucasus (DSCA) where Members of the European Parliament regularly discuss Georgia-EU relations with Members of Parliament from Georgia.

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A joint-investigation team set up by Eurojust has expanded and now includes prosecutors from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and the International Criminal Court.

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The EU and the African Union have agreed on a united message on food security which places the blame for disruptions to food supply squarely on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s shoulders amid warnings of a “catastrophic” famine.

EU leaders agreed on Tuesday that filling of European gas storage facilities should be accelerated after Russia cut supplies to five member states. Under the REPowerEU, the bloc committed to filling gas storage facilities up to at least 80 percent of their capacity before next winter. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said current storage is at 41-percent capacity — five percent higher than at this time last year.

France's insurance sector is growing again while banks have seen a "return to normal" after the COVID-19 crisis, the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau,  said on Monday (30 May).

Russia's Gazprom turned off supply to major Dutch trader GasTerra on Tuesday, escalating the economic battle between Moscow and Europe, Reuters reported. The move comes a day after Denmark flagged a potential end to its Russian gas supply. GasTerra, which buys gas on behalf of the Dutch government, said it had contracted elsewhere for the 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) it had expected to receive from Gazprom until October.

Latvian prime minister Krisjanis Karins said Tuesday he does not see the point of talking to Russian president Vladimir Putin after French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz held another phone call with the Russian leader. "I don't see the point of talking with someone who is committing genocide in a neighbouring country. Putin will talk when he feels that he is losing," Karins told Bloomberg.

If the international community cannot fulfil its promises in Bosnia — given it's in the very heart of Europe, the leverage the EU and Nato possess, and the massive money invested — prospects for international state-building elsewhere are extremely grim.

The French parliamentary elections are around the corner and, as always, I find it difficult to explain to my fellow journalists and foreign friends how democracy works in my country.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has been in the spotlight following the eruption of violent clashes outside the Stade de France during the Champions League final on Saturday night (28 May). EURACTIV France reports.

The EU flag is nowhere to be seen, when Danish voters head to the polls on Wednesday — in the ninth referendum on the country's relationship to the European Union since 1972.

In an interview with EURACTIV, Witold Waszczykowski, the former foreign minister of Poland and a leading lawmaker in the European Parliament, gave a less than optimistic account of the extraordinary EU summit on Ukraine held on 30-31 May.