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New Analysis: opinions still divided on eve of EU summit in Brussels

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The long debate among the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), who were meeting for a plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, exacerbated internal divisions and their disagreements with representatives of the European Commission and the European Council on issues of migration, security, Brexit, Syria, Turkey, the economy.

The opinion divisions remained even as European Union (EU) leaders are set to meet Thursday in Brussels for a new summit, which many are counting on to give a fresh wind to a union sliding into internal crisis at the risk of paralysis.

The European Council summit in Bratislava, last September, held after the political earthquake provoked by Brexit, should have been the one for renewal.

But three months later, the EU appears to be worse off.

The debate at the European Parliament, Wednesday morning, only confirmed the observation widely shared and illustrated the weakness of the EU to confront the critical stakes linked to the rise of growing instability at its heart and on its frontiers.

The surprise election of Donald Trump in the United States, the fall of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after the referendum of Dec. 4, the uncertainties regarding the negotiation strategies between Brussels and London, the incapacity of the EU to play an effective diplomatic role in the Syrian conflict, an endemic economic crisis, the rise of populisms, all these factors have plunged the European Parliament into a state of tension and European citizens into disarray.

The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has invited European leaders to a shorter meeting than usual in Brussels on Thursday.

The traditional European Council meeting at the end of the year will only last a day, while it is normally held over 48 hours. It will close with a dinner at which the British Prime Minister Theresa May has not been invited, due to the Brexit vote.

This meeting must, in particular, definite the manner in which the EU of 27 member states will manage the Brexit process following the notification by the United Kingdom that it is triggering article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, before March 31, 2017, a question that which remains surrounded by ambiguity and anxiety.

Theresa May will remain a full member of the European Council after the triggering of article 50, until the end of negotiations over the "divorce" between London and Brussels.

EU heads of state and government can nevertheless officially meet as 27 from the official activation of article 50, though uniquely in order to discuss questions linked to Brexit.

Implementation of the EU-Turkey declaration on the migratory problem, reform of the shared European asylum policy, cooperation within the EU regarding external security and defense, the economy and youth, and external relations (notably with Russia) all figure equally on the summit menu for EU leaders.

They are themes, however, on which MEPs have not shown more consensus in the Strasbourg hemicycle, during a pre-summit debate.

In light of internal divisions at the European Parliament and schisms which separate parliamentarians and the European executive, this meeting will manifestly not open under an auspicious sign.

Certainly, the European border guard has begun to deploy itself and the border check system on the external borders of the Union for all persons, European or not, is being installed.

More powers have been given to Europol as part of the fight against terrorism, but the issue of security and the defense of the EU, debated Tuesday afternoon in the Strasbourg hemicycle, remains the object of certain controversies.

On the economic situation, the Juncker plan to restart investment should be doubled, passing from 315 to 630 billion euros in 2022. The European Council should also put in motion the creation of a European solidarity corps, a civic engagement platform for youth.

The summit will begin at 11:30 a.m. Thursday and will finish with a press conference from the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister of Slovakia, the country who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, at 6:30 p.m. Endit