Dear friends,
spring is in the air here in Strasbourg this week – and that goes for politics as well. Some things have happened this week that make me rather hopeful for the future. And some that feel like we’re still stuck in a dark, cold period. But as always, I try to be as positive and constructive as possible. Here’s what has been happening in Strasbourg, Europe and the World.
HOW LE PEN BECAME A SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY
For someone, this week really didn’t start as planned. Marine Le Pen has to bury her ambitions to become the next French President. The court ruled that she is guilty of massively embezzling millions of public money when she was a Member of the European Parliament. She now faces prison, fines and an immediate ban to run for a public mandate. Amazing news! Not because I personally don’t like Le Pen and her views. Sure, I wouldn’t want to see her anywhere near actual power. But this is about something bigger, it’s about the law.
You can’t just take taxpayer’s money meant to be spent for your work in Brussels and then spend it on your friends back home in France. Seriously, she even hired her personal body guard as a Parliamentary Assistant. Did she really think she would get away with that? Apparently, the far right think that the EU that they hate so much is their personal piggy bank. It is important that the court has condemned her for her actions. They just applied the rules – and they made clear that someone who has misbehaved badly while in public office shouldn’t get the chance to run for such an office again. Keep that in mind when the far right now come wailing that this is a witch hunt and undemocratic. The opposite is true: This is democracy actually at work. I know she will appeal, but let’s hope that the judges stay firm.
WHY FRIEDRICH MERZ IS CHEATING EUROPE
Someone else will soon be legally in power: Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz. His party and the Social Democrats are closing in on a coalition agreement. I’ve seen the drafts. From a European perspective, I’m more than disappointed. Didn’t Merz want to become a European Chancellor? Looks like he’s turning into a Cheating Chancellor instead. Both parties had promised in their campaigns to strengthen Europe, but what they put down on paper reads like they have forgotten all about it.
Their concepts for a stronger and more unified Europe would have been visionary 15 years ago. But they find no proper answers to Europe’s challenges of today. Sure, they mention some sort of treaty change. And they want to work around the constant vetoes in the European Council. But how? There they stop halfway. Europe needs much more, and it needs it fast. If Germany refuses to take the lead on thoroughly reforming the EU, we’re going to be stuck for the next four years. And we really cannot afford that.
HOW TO REACT TO TARIFF-TRUMP
Especially not after America’s so-called “Liberation Day”. Trump is slapping tariffs on everything and everyone that he doesn’t like. 20 % on all EU imports, even 25 % on cars. How should Europe react? We can, of course, respond with similar tariffs and enter into a full-blown trade war. But that’s not how we are. The EU Commission is now preparing more targeted answers, like extra tariffs on certain products – think of Whisky or Harley Davidsons. These are measures that hurt Republican run states the most. I think that’s brilliant, because it lets them taste their own medicine and will put pressure on the governors.
We don’t know where this is going, but it will severely harm free trade and our European economy. This is why it is more important than ever to break free from encrusted structures. Stop protecting the old dinosaur industries, start to fund European innovation! We have to scale up now. And we have to find new partners around the world – let’s team up with Canada, Mexico or the Mercosur countries. We’re all in this together.
TALENT, COME HOME!
I want to end with a positive note. Something good that may come out of this. Have you seen the new billboards in New York, San Francisco and L.A.? Those asking highly skilled professionals and academics to leave the US chaos behind and come back to Europe? They are, of course, not real (yet). It was our stunt for April’s fools.
But the idea behind that is very real indeed: Europe should now try and attract talent from the US. Polls show that 75 % of academics don’t trust the US anymore and think about migrating. This is great news for Europe! We need these talents, and we should do everything we can to welcome them here. If we manage to do this properly, it could indeed become a new spring of hope for Europe!
Yours
Damian
