Gathered in Brussels, the heads of state and government, on the other hand, have reached an agreement on a ninth package of sanctions against Russia.
by Virginie Malingre (Brussels, European office) and Philippe Jacqué (Brussels, European office)
“We must manage to show that we are united,” warned Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, before joining the European Heads of State and Government, Thursday, December 15. Ten months after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, while the recession threatens and inflation flies away, the twenty-seven must, more than ever, display a united front against Moscow. But, even if before the summit, they had tried to settle all the angry subjects, the case did not look so simple.
Because he opposed the establishment of a minimum tax of 15 % on multinationals, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has indeed threatened to bring down the legislative package which had been adopted with this text, of which the aid of 18 billion euros in Ukraine in 2023 and the validation of the Hungarian recovery plan. For Warsaw, very close to kyiv and Budapest, “it was rather counter-intuitive”, comments a diplomat. The intervention of Volodymyr Zelensky in videoconferencing, at the start of the council, was clearly reasoned with the reluctance of Poland. Mateusz Morawiecki raised his veto. Relief around the table.
Second thorny file: the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, which provides for new restrictive measures for nearly 200 entities and personalities, including ministers and deputies of Duma, the prohibition of exports of drones to Russia , the placement of three additional banks on black list and the end of new investments in the mining sector in Russia. But Poland and Lithuania refused the exemptions planned for the food industry and fertilizers. Europeans do not want to be accused of being responsible for future famines in Africa or elsewhere because they would prevent Russia and Belarus from exporting their products they need so much. Finally, Warsaw and Vilnius raised their objections.
urgency to act
Finally, discussions on the competitiveness of European industry – endangered by the differential of energy prices between Europe and the rest of the world on the one hand and the massive plan (369 billion dollars ) Green technologies subsidies made in USA of Joe Biden – could also derail. Because if the twenty-seven share the observation that there is an urgency to act, on how to do it, on the other hand, they diverge very largely.
On the question of the price of gas, which flew since the start of the war in Ukraine, they avoided getting to the heart of the matter, as they know that he can lead them to the end of the night. For the time being, therefore, there is still no agreement on the level of the cap – between 160 and 200 euros per megawatt hour – and the case will have to be treated at the Council of Energy Ministers of December 19.
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