No, these weren’t the concluding remarks in David Cameron’s presentation to the summit on his renegotiation plans, but the reaction of Italian PM Matteo Renzi to the Council’s lack of solidarity on the increasingly toxic issue of migration – and having been one of the unfortunate few to have become snarled up in the delays at Calais this week, I saw first hand the desperation with which people were trying to board lorries: scenes that quite simply had to be seen to be believed.
When the last surviving member of Velvet Underground, John Cale, said, “time plays a role in almost every decision. And some decisions define your attitude about time”, little did everyone know that he may be talking about a European summit: Having run on until 3am, Juncker in his post-match press conference started off by commenting on how difficult it is to make good decisions at that time of the morning.
What does it all come down to?
The issue of solidarity. An issue that lies right at the heart of the European project, and that is being stretched to its limits by the main challenges facing the 28 Member Union right now – Russia, migration, Greece, UK. All issues on which the EU’s economic and political future effectively hinge. If solidarity, solidarietà, solidarność, solidaridad cannot be found it raises fundamental questions about what the “ever closer union” that David Cameron seeks to remove the UK from, really means. As Donald Tusk said: “solidarity without sacrifice is pure hypocrisy”, and although the headline is that leaders reached an agreement to a mandatory relocation of 40,000 migrants… accepting those migrants is voluntary. As ever the devil is in the detail.
A fractious meeting it certainly seems to have been, so much so that David Cameron’s opening salvo in the battle to renegotiate the UK’s terms of membership was taken, according to Bruno Waterfield on Twitter as an item to have a “break from an emotional debate”. Cameron didn’t secure anything, or tell anyone anything they didn’t already know, but was reportedly ‘delighted’ with the outcome – with the No.10 spin machine in full flow I imagine we will hear little more than delight with how things progress over the coming months.
Though it wasn’t all good news for the UK...
The long awaited reshuffle of DGs within the Commission was announced this week. Robert Madelin, the UK DG and extraordinary intellect that was at the helm of DG CNECT has been sidelined as an adviser on innovation to Juncker. For those who follow this closely, there are more conspiracy theories than an Oliver Stone film. One of these theories is that the fingerprints of Martin Selmayr, Juncker’s Chief of Staff, are all over it. Madelin was long tipped as the person to fill Catherine Day’s sizable shoes, but the fact that Selmayr and Madelin don’t see eye-to-eye is no secret. Selmayr’s influence is also shown elsewhere as fellow German Christian Democrat, Johannes Laitenberger, was appointed as DG for Competition. Both Laitenberger and Selmayr’s careers have overlapped considerably, and many think that this is Selmayr’s repayment for Laitenberger’s help elsewhere throughout the years. In some places, it seems, solidarity is alive and well.