Good morning and welcome to Europe Express.
The EU is burning fast through its budget to help out Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and its planned 2023 budget, put forward yesterday, sets aside very little for other crises. This suggests that the bloc may need to revisit its seven-year budget sooner than it planned. I’ll fill you in with what the budget commissioner had to say about it and what concerns are being raised in the European parliament.
The parliament today will vote on its negotiating position on eight pieces of climate-related legislation, including a planned ban on petrol-fuelled cars. EU climate vice-president Frans Timmermans yesterday urged MEPs not to vote for a “wishy-washy” position that leaves room for some cars to continue to be built.
The Swedish government may have averted disaster yesterday, but its troubles are not over — as we’ll hear from the MP and former Peshmerga fighter leading the charge against Stockholm bowing to Turkey’s demands over its Nato accession bid.
And in electronics regulatory news, we’ll explore what yesterday’s deal on a single charger means for Big Tech, especially Apple.
Shrinking reserves
Russia’s war in Ukraine is draining the EU’s coffers and a review of the bloc’s seven-year budget is likely to happen “much sooner” than 2024, according to EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn.
Speculation had been rife among EU diplomats in recent weeks that at the rate the EU budget is being reallocated to cope with humanitarian expenditures stemming from the war in Ukraine, a top-up will probably be needed in the coming years.
When presenting the bloc’s 2023 budget in Strasbourg yesterday, Hahn confirmed that a budgetary revision will be brought forward, though no exact timeline has yet been decided.
“Indeed, originally before the pandemic it was foreseen and agreed that the next MFF revision should take place in 2024. And I think it’s not a particular secret that we will probably do it much earlier,” he said.
This year alone, Hahn said there had been 34 reallocations to the EU budget to meet the needs for Ukraine and eleven other changes to cover Moldova. “This shows the dynamic on the budget side,” he said.
The European Commission says it has mobilised over €4bn since the start of the war to support Ukraine’s economy and keep the state apparatus running, as well as for humanitarian support in the country and for the refugees who fled to the EU.
For next year, the commission is proposing an overall budget of €185.6bn which could be topped up some more in the autumn, depending on what Ukraine’s needs are. “By then we’ll be in a better position to evaluate the situation with the view to targeting our support — such as humanitarian aid and our contribution to food security,” Hahn said.
The speed with which the EU is burning through its reserves to cover Ukraine-related expenditures has raised concerns in the European parliament.
According to the lead lawmaker for the 2023 budget, Romanian centrist MEP Nicu Ștefănuță, the draft budget for next year leaves very little money for other emergencies — just €450mn. That’s a fraction of what annual budgets usually have set aside for rainy days (this year that margin was around €1.5bn).
“The Union’s budget is very limited and we need an urgent revision of the seven-year multi-annual financial framework today, not in 2024,” Ștefănuță said.
Chart du jour: Northern Ireland growth
Northern Ireland, which still has access to the EU single market post-Brexit, is the only part of the UK other than London that has seen positive growth compared with pre-pandemic times, according to official statistics released yesterday.
Swedish fighter
Sweden’s Nato bid may be the main loser in the political drama that unfolded in Stockholm, even as the crisis was averted for now, writes Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic correspondent.
The political wrangling revolved around the controversial justice minister Morgan Johansson, who the rightwing opposition wanted to get rid of because of the huge rise in gang shootings and bomb attacks. The Social Democrat government had said they would resign if Johansson lost the vote.
The government survived in the end, enabled by Amineh Kakabaveh, a Kurdish-born, far-left MP who is no fan of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Kakabaveh, a former Peshmerga fighter, saved Johansson by abstaining in yesterday’s voting session. Her de facto support for the ruling Social Democrats came after they reiterated their support for a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey considers a terrorist group.
Many observers thought that in saving itself just three months before national elections, the Social Democrats had worsened the prospects of breaking Erdoğan’s veto on their Nato bid.
Kakabaveh told Europe Express that is what she wishes for too. “I hope so too. Not to be mean, but we are talking about a very conservative country and dictator like Erdoğan. That is why the problem is deeper: it is an attack on our principles, our values,” she said after Tuesday’s vote.
Thousands of Kurds have contacted her to thank her for publicising their cause. “Erdoğan wants to totally demolish our culture, our identity, our name,” she said, highlighting why she has become a major irritant in Turkish-Swedish relations.
Kakabaveh will be out of the parliament in September so she is aiming to use her position to the max before then, with her next possible target being the government’s budget next week. One centre-right leader, Ebba Busch of the Christian Democrats, retorted that Kakabaveh was holding Swedish politics “hostage”. With Turkey waiting for Sweden to compromise, it is unlikely we have heard the last of Kakabaveh.
One charger to rule them all
Negotiators from the European parliament, member states and the EU commission have clinched a deal that will force Big Tech, including Apple, to use a common charger for its smartphones and laptops, writes Javier Espinoza in Brussels.
The new law will come into effect in 2024 and it will affect the 27-nation bloc, which means Apple will have to produce a single charging cord for smartphones and other devices sold in Europe, regulators said.
The deal came after more than a decade of discussions between regulators and industry players as regulators argued such a device was needed to counter electronic waste and curb the number of chargers users own.
Following the agreement, EU single market commissioner Thierry Breton said: “European consumers will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics — an important step to increase convenience and reduce waste.”
Breton estimated that the deal will bring around €250mn of savings to consumers. “It will also allow new technologies such as wireless charging to emerge and to mature without letting innovation become a source of market fragmentation and consumer inconvenience,” he said.
Alex Saliba, the MEP leading the negotiations on behalf of the European parliament, told Europe Express the deal was bad news for Apple. “Proprietary charging solutions for iPhones will not be possible,” he said, adding that it is not just smartphones but 15 categories of products that will fall under the scope of the new law. Earbuds and ereaders are also affected, which is likely to impact other firms such as Huawei, Samsung and others.
Apple has hit back at the move in the past, arguing it will ultimately harm consumers. “The proposal does not allow for the natural phasing out of existing device models,” the company said in November. “Consumers will be deprived of the choice to buy lower-priced older models that are compatible with their existing accessories and chargers,” it added.
What to watch today
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Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin speaks in the European parliament
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European parliament votes on its negotiating position on climate policies, including CO₂ emissions in cars
Notable, Quotable
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Ukraine warning: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the FT yesterday that a stalemate in the war with Russia was “not an option for us” as he once more appealed for western military support to restore his country’s territorial integrity.
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Steel crisis: European manufacturers say Brussels is adding to their supply chain crisis after it rejected requests for a big increase in the amount of steel they can import without paying punitive 25 per cent tariffs.
Europe Express Live: Will Europe’s newfound unity last?
Russia’s war in Ukraine is aggravating the economic challenges Europe faces amid rising inflation and spiking energy and commodity prices. The Russian aggression also led to tectonic shifts in EU defence and energy policies. But while the bloc showed unprecedented unity and resolve in the immediate aftermath of the war, cracks have already started to emerge. Tune in for an FT Live event with Banque of France deputy governor Sylvie Goulard, Sweden’s former Prime Minister Carl Bildt and former EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht, from 1200CET today. Register here for free access.
