This week, EU Council President Charles Michel announced that he would resign to run for a seat in the European Parliament.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to State of the Union.
00:02 I'm Stefan Grobe in Brussels.
00:05 When Ukrainians listen to European leaders talk about their support for the war effort,
00:11 they have all the reason to be irritated by the lack of action.
00:15 If irritated is the right word when you're in a bloody war of attrition with Russia.
00:21 Not only is Hungary still blocking a 50 billion euro package on a European level, it's also
00:27 the individual member states that produce a lot of words but chicken out when it comes
00:33 to concrete commitment.
00:36 This week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rang the alarm bells.
00:40 With 17 billion euro, his country is the second biggest donor of military aid to Ukraine after
00:47 the United States.
00:49 If Europe wants to prevent a Russian victory, his colleagues better step up to the plate,
00:55 he said.
00:56 [German]
01:19 Who was Scholz talking about?
01:22 He didn't name any names, but France, Italy and Spain combined only gave 1.6 billion euro
01:30 in military aid to Ukraine.
01:32 That's less than one tenth of Germany's contribution.
01:37 An embarrassing testimony to European solidarity.
01:41 The man in charge of coordinating EU policy, facilitating decision making and providing
01:47 European solidarity is Charles Michel.
01:51 As president of the European Council representing the national governments, his job is to set
01:56 the agenda, find compromise and unblock stalemates.
02:02 Something he wasn't always successful in.
02:05 Maybe that's the reason why he called it quit.
02:09 This week, the former Belgian prime minister announced that he would resign to run for
02:14 a seat in the European Parliament.
02:17 Official Brussels was stunned.
02:20 Michel himself sees it as an almost natural decision.
02:24 [French]
02:43 I must say I'm confused.
02:46 So you take responsibility by resigning and running for a totally different job in the
02:52 European Parliament.
02:54 Is that what you call accountability?
02:56 What if you win?
02:57 Would you want your old job back?
03:01 I think we need to bring in someone who may have some answers and who knows a thing or
03:06 two about the inner workings of Brussels.
03:09 Joining me now is Doru Frantescu, CEO and founder of the research platform EUmetrics
03:15 and one of the best election watchers in town.
03:18 Welcome to the program.
03:19 Great to see you.
03:20 Great to see you too.
03:21 Thank you very much for the invitation.
03:23 So politicians resign all the time.
03:26 Nothing unusual.
03:28 Why does Jean-Michel's resignation matter?
03:32 In this particular case, this matters because it triggers a whole chain reaction, which
03:39 we have seen has created a lot of agitation in Brussels and elsewhere in European capitals
03:45 because the departure from the post of the president of the Council leaves that position
03:50 open theoretically for about six months at a very difficult time, very complicated times,
03:56 which will be right after the European elections.
03:59 It is when European leaders need to agree on the next composition of the European Commission,
04:06 the next two posts, but also the next legislative agenda, the priorities.
04:11 And in this particular case, the departure of Jean-Michel would also create a sort of
04:17 power vacuum and the legal vacuum, because in the absence of another person that would
04:21 take up the presidency of the Council, by default, the chair would go to the prime minister
04:30 who holds the rotating presidency of the EU, in this case, Mr. Viktor Orban of Hungary,
04:34 which as we know, has had a difficult relation with Brussels over time.
04:39 And this is what concerns some of the EU politicians, which are trying to find a solution for this
04:44 not to happen.
04:45 Michel would be the first EU Council president to resign in order to run for parliament.
04:52 Doesn't that sound an odd signal about the importance of his job?
04:56 Well, in a way, yes, but not necessarily.
05:01 I think the decision to run for the position in the parliament may also come as some sort
05:09 of understanding that it would have been difficult for him to stay longer as president of the
05:14 Council anyway in the next mandate.
05:16 He would have anyways have to have his job put on the table for a potential re-election
05:23 this summer, when all of the positions of power in the EU institutions will be renegotiated
05:28 by the political families and by the European government.
05:32 So it was not certain anyways, or far from certain actually, that Jean-Michel will stay
05:37 on as president of the Council.
05:39 All right.
05:40 A lot of stuff to digest here.
05:41 Duro Frantesco, CEO and founder of EUMatrix.
05:44 Thanks for your insights and for coming on the show today.
05:48 Thank you very much.
05:49 Anytime.
05:50 Of course, we will cover the European elections big time and we will keep an eye on Jean-Michel
05:57 as well, hoping that his transfer to the parliament will not be a trip into the political cold.
06:05 Speaking of cold, do you think you've had enough of winter temperatures this week?
06:10 Well, think again.
06:12 These are pictures of the widest waterfall in Estonia on the Jägala river, about 50
06:18 meters large and 8 meters high.
06:22 The recent frost has frozen most of the waterfall, providing locals with a spectacular opportunity
06:29 to climb behind and between ice columns and walls that normally don't exist.
06:36 At their own risk, of course.
06:39 But as in politics, so in nature.
06:42 You sometimes have to seize the moment when you think it's right.
06:49 That's it for this edition.
06:50 In the meantime, Stefan Grobe, thank you for watching.
06:52 Have an excellent week.
06:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]