Saturday 1st
EU Leaders Sign Ceuta Emergency Response Letter
The leaders of 22 EU member states have signed a joint letter – sent to the Presidents of the EU Commission and European Council and the Taoiseach of Ireland (Ireland currently hold the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU) – to express their “serious concern” over the border issues within the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the northern Moroccan coast.
They state that the issue is a direct result of the recent ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court over claiming asylum in Spain, and go on to state that they “cannot allow” such events to “create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible”.
The leaders have jointly requested that an urgent meeting of member state interior ministers be convened to agree on a coordinated EU response.
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Friday 31st
UK Prime Minister Burnham Demonstrates Policy Conflict in Viral Video
On Friday evening the new UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, posted a video about devolution of powers onto social media where he states that “what makes sense in one place, clearly doesn’t always necessarily make sense in another”.
This argument is of course demonstrably true, but even more so at a European level – which asks the question why he believes in EU membership when he also believes in a need to devolve powers to local UK regions away from Westminster? If the difference between UK regions is sufficient to require devolution of powers, then the chasm of difference between the UK and other EU member states is almost gargantuan is comparison.
The Prime Minister has so far managed to successfully evade scrutiny from his fellow MPs through a convenience of electoral timings, but we wonder if his many inconsistencies will be able to withstand Parliamentary scrutiny as and when he is required to confront it.
Tuesday 28th
German Chancellor Merz States EU Budget Size “Unacceptable”
At a press event in Ireland on Tuesday, German Chancellor Merz outlined publicly what had already been leaked to the press privately – that the German government would not accept the sheer size of the proposed EU budget for the 2028-2034 period and would need to see significant cuts in order to receive German approval.
The highlights of his speech:
- On behalf of Germany, we do not agree with the current proposals
- Such a broad and extensive expansion of the budget is unacceptable
- We simply cannot afford exorbitant increases in spending in the EU
- It is unacceptable that an additional 2,500 positions are intended for EU institutions
- Need a budget with cuts in all areas, totalling several hundred billion euros
- There must be a fundamental reduction in bureaucracy
- Additional corporate taxation at the EU level is out of the question
We have created a full transcript of his words, both in the original German and the translated English, so that you can read what he said for yourself.
- Read the full transcript of Chancellor Merz speech, in both German and English
- Watch the full speech on YouTube
- Read the Politico article on the contents of the speech from Chancellor Merz
Monday 27th
PM Burnham Pledges More Ukraine Support Ahead of Zelensky Visit
The new UK Prime Minister, former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, has pledged continued and unwavering support to Ukraine ahead of receiving a visit from Ukraine President Zelensky later today. Alongside the pledge to continue support as given by his predecessors, the UK has also offered to provide Ukraine with the IP behind the UK’s “Storm Cloak” jamming technology, which renders small devices such as drones undetectable. The technology has been provided to Ukraine previously, but with this additional offer Ukraine will be able to develop and install the technology themselves without UK involvement.
This visit and further offer of military support comes in the wake of the announcement that the UK will take part in the EU Ukraine loan scheme, where a €60 Billion loan taken out centrally by the EU will be provided to Ukraine to fund purchase of military technology. The UK and EU have agreed that the loan money can be used to purchase UK defence technology, if the UK helps cover the loan interest repayments on a pro-rata basis. The exact terms of this agreement have yet to be released however, which has led to concerns that the terms may include further concessions to the EU thus far uncommunicated.
