State of the Union: End of the mandate, enlargement and revolution
The 9th legislature of the European Parliament has come to an end. We recap the scandals that marred the mandate, but also preview the debate around the 20th anniversary of the EU's biggest enlargement.
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00:00Welcome to the State of the Union, from Brussels.
00:08Over five years, the European Parliament shaped much of the legislation, with a direct impact
00:14on the lives of 450 million Europeans.
00:18And I would even say that many millions from outside the EU, because the measures also
00:23affect political, economic and cultural relations with other countries.
00:28In the last plenary session before the European elections in June, there was a marathon of
00:34votes, no less than 89 legislative texts and seven resolutions in four days.
00:41At the opening of the session, the Parliament's President summarized her assessment of the
00:46mandate.
00:47We have listened, we have learned, we have burst through the Brussels and Strasbourg
00:52bubbles to engage with and reach out to people across member states.
00:57We have worked hard to ensure that this House is more efficient, more effective and fit
01:02for purpose.
01:03We have made it more open and more independent.
01:07We have negotiated and balanced budgets.
01:09We have ensured that this is a place of work that people feel proud and feel safe at.
01:15We have done all of this together.
01:17However, this very last plenary session was marked by yet more allegations of foreign
01:23interference.
01:24I remind you that at the end of 2022, the so-called Qatar Gate broke out, with corruption
01:30allegations involving some MEPs and payments from the governments of Qatar and also Morocco
01:36and Mauritania.
01:37Following this, Russia Gate emerged in March, the case in which parliamentarians are suspected
01:43of having received money from an entity with links to the Russian government to disseminate
01:48anti-European propaganda.
01:51And then this week, China Gate broke out following police allegations that an adviser
01:55to a far-right German MEP from the AfD could be spying for China.
02:01One of the leaders of the Greens list for the elections issued a warning.
02:06After Russia Gate, now there are new suspicions of espionage for China, also from assistance
02:12from this parliament.
02:14And it has become absolutely clear, these people on the far right, they are not patriots,
02:19they are not serving the interests of the European citizens, but the interests of dictatorships
02:24and autocracies.
02:26And this makes it even more important, colleagues, to build strong pro-European constructive
02:32majorities in the next European Parliament.
02:35In this programme, we recall what stood out most on the European political agenda of the
02:40week.
02:41But this time, we will also anticipate an event from next week, referring to a moment
02:46in the past.
02:47I will explain.
02:49May 1st marks the 20th anniversary of the so-called Big Bang enlargement of the EU,
02:55where the bloc went from 15 to 25 member states.
03:00There will be many celebrations and debates about the impact of countries joining, especially
03:05from the east of the bloc.
03:07At the beginning of the week, I had the opportunity to reflect on the topic with a former Hungarian
03:12European Commissioner, who is now Secretary General of the Foundation for European Progressive
03:17Studies, Laszlo Andor.
03:20In a somehow telegraphic way, how would you describe the most positive and the most negative
03:26impact of the big enlargement in 2004, both for the Union and for the newcomers at the
03:32time?
03:33Well, 20 years is a short time in history, but I think we can already say that the overwhelming
03:38experience is very positive for the accession countries after joining the European Union.
03:44If you want to sum up in a nutshell what it means, it's stability and prosperity.
03:50Most of these countries, for most of the time, experienced very dynamic economic growth,
03:55which in the long run can lead to a sustainable convergence with the Western European countries.
04:02And the less positive aspects?
04:04Yes, this also came with some imbalances, right?
04:07So we talk about imbalances when capital flows, labour flows are not really balancing out
04:12each other, and it's quite clear that for most of the time, capital comes from West
04:17to East, and it results in a feeling that the locals are not entirely in charge of their
04:23own economy, because many decisions are taken by transnational companies or in locations
04:30elsewhere in Europe or elsewhere in the world.
04:33At the same time, the labour flows are also very, very interesting, because the East Central
04:39European countries have lost a large part of their workforce, in many cases 5-6%.
04:46So that's an important lesson, but what other reforms should the European Union do in order
04:50to accommodate more countries that want to be part of the Union?
04:55Well, indeed, the future of cohesion policy is an absolutely important topic, and we need
05:02to draw lessons from the past experience and prepare these policies for the future
05:06at the same time.
05:09We can discuss the effectiveness of cohesion, to what extent the local players, the national
05:13players can really take advantage of these EU financial instruments.
05:19But in terms of the volume, there is also a need for reflection, because if more countries
05:24join in the next, let's say, 10 years, then the Western Balkans or Eastern Europe will
05:31require more resources.
05:33How realistic is it that Ukraine, now at war, will one day become a member of the European
05:39Union and other countries in that region?
05:42It might be true that in 2013 the association, not a membership but just an association,
05:49was already seen as controversial, but now Ukraine is an associated country, together
05:55with Moldova they are a candidate country, so this needs to be taken seriously.
06:01And the EU should help implementing further reforms, whether they are economic ones or
06:07other type.
06:08Maslow, Handor, thank you very much for your contribution.
06:11Thank you.
06:12Let's end the program with another small history lesson, in this case about Portugal.
06:18This member state of the Union has lived in democracy for 50 years, after overthrowing
06:24one of the longest fascist dictatorships in Europe.
06:28On April 25th what became known as the Carnation Revolution is celebrated, because a flower
06:34seller offered them to soldiers.
06:36In addition to the traditional military parades and political speech, the celebration is also
06:42marked by several cultural events.
06:45The military coup was practically violence-free, with the death of four civilians.
06:51The slogan that is still repeated today is Long Live Freedom.
06:56This concludes our edition, thank you for watching.