Technical but important step - for the first time since Croatia joined in 2013, the EU has today started drafting an accession treaty, with Montenegro:

Suspending funds is the EU’s strongest tool to safeguard rule of law. In Hungary, release of frozen EU funds was a key factor in Péter Magyar’s campaign.

The Commission wants to enshrine RoL conditionality in the next MFF. In a new paper, I take a closer look: www.delorscentre.eu/en/publicati...

Cover page of the "Concept for Military Defence" document, featuring radar dishes, an F-35 fighter jet, a submarine, and a Leopard 2 main battle tank.

The German Ministry of Defence released a number of planning and guidance documents today, including Germany's first-ever Military Strategy.

An unclassified summary can be found here (in German): www.bmvg.de/resource/blo...

Nach dem Machtwechsel in Ungarn könnte die EU das Vetorecht in der Außenpolitik abschaffen Nach dem Machtwechsel in Ungarn bietet sich in der EU eine neue Möglichkeit, das Einstimmigkeitsprinzip abzuschaffen, sagt der Politologe Nicolai von Ondarza. .

Entscheidend ist, die 27 EU-Mitglieder zusammenzubringen und eine gemeinsame Position herzustellen. Das schafft man besser, wenn man Mehrheitsentscheidungen hat, als wenn jeder Einzelne ein Vetorecht hat, so
@nvondarza.bsky.social im DLF-Interview (ab Min. 6): www.deutschlandfunk.de/veto-abschaf...

Towards Further Enlargement of the European Union: Legal Pathways to the Gradual Integration of Candidate Countries - European Foreign Affairs Review View Towards Further Enlargement of the European Union: Legal Pathways to the Gradual Integration of Candidate Countries by - European Foreign Affairs Review

Interesting contribution to the debate about further EU enlargement, recognising the importance of gradual integration - on the background of this concept and the legal options under association and accession agreements, see also: kluwerlawonline.com/journalartic...

A very thoughtful analysis of the complex issues around further EU expansion. Well worth your time.

Today, driving from Vienna to Bratislava, you can still see how the EU helped unite Europe.

What used to be the iron curtain is just a bit of a slow down, crossing the border and then continuing your drive in the EU.

Today's FT reports Germany and France are preparing "symbolic" EU membership benefits for Ukraine. In our new @swp-europe.bsky.social Comment, Barbara Lippert, Frauke Seebass and I argue they should go even further: Towards a new type of accession association.

Multipolarities – The World-Order Visions of Others “Multipolarity” has become a central but, at the same time, highly am­biguous point of reference in debates about the future world order. The...

"Multipolarity" has become a central but highly ambiguous point of reference in debates about the future world order. A new SWP Research Paper analyses the ideas and objectives associated with the concept of multipolarity in select countries. www.swp-berlin.org/en/publicati...

EU Member States' representatives set to approve loan to Ukraine this Wednesday - data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document...
(see point 41, after point 33)
Ministers would then formally adopt the law by written procedure shortly afterwards

Here is the @financialtimes.com report on Franco-German official thinking, going very much in the same direction: No to a quick membership, but significant upgrade of Ukraine's status on the path to the EU:

On defence: willing member states plus the UK as a nuclear power could work with Kyiv on European defence structures linked to EU, a Europeanised NATO and help operationalise Article 42(7) TEU.

But don't forget: none of this removes the need for EU-27 reform.

Instead, we suggest a new type of accession association on two pillars:

1. Full use of gradual integration pre-accession: Single Market, reconstruction investment, observer roles, building on the existing EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

2. A substantial security & defence partnership.

Ukraine is the special case.

Reverse enlargement - nominal accession with reduced rights - would solve neither Kyiv's security concerns nor the EU's reform needs assosciated with enlargement, and risks creating second-class membership. It is a non-starter.

Our core argument: the Western Balkans should remain the norm: regular accession process, strengthened gradual integration, clear conditionality.

Montenegro's case in particular is a chance to show that full membership via the established method still works, with transitional arrangements.

Today's FT reports Germany and France are preparing "symbolic" EU membership benefits for Ukraine. In our new @swp-europe.bsky.social Comment, Barbara Lippert, Frauke Seebass and I argue they should go even further: Towards a new type of accession association.

In Germany a minister once had to resign over private use of publicly aquired airlines miles, maybe a story like that is the origin? (It was called 'Bonusmeilenaffäre', the most prominent politicians mostly recovered afterwards)

Most un-French like language about a trade deal, and even partnerships in general. Obviously helpful that the quantities of beef in the Australia FTA are not that great, but equally some signs of a long overdue recognition that the EU needs to be open.

Watched from a far, the Mandelson affair really looks like both a fundamental f'up in the system reflecting very badly on the system around the PM, and an enormous distraction from the real-world problems facing the UK while so much in the world is burning.

a man playing a guitar and another man playing drums with the words i tried so hard and got so far below them Alt: Snippet from Linkin Park's 'In the end' music video

'In the end', and the whole funeral gathering is screaming.

I'm a broken record on this but the radicalisation and brain rot of Gen X/boomers is a massively under-appreciated problem

Has Italian football declined? I asked Claude to make a figure of the number of semi-finalists in the 3 European competitions over past 10 years:
Eng: dominant (4 in most years)
Ita: 22-23 peak an outlier
Spa: never below 1, but rarely above 2-3
Ger: volatile (0 to 3)
Fra: steady 1-2 (usually PSG)

| Brand new Starterpack |

Members of European Parliament who joined @eurosky.social

go.bsky.app/Mw4uF6P

NB: We had to bend the rules a little to comply with the starter pack guidelines.
@europarl.europa.eu

EU and Japan hold first-ever defence dialogue focusing on supply chains | Euractiv European and Indo-Pacific security were becoming “more and more indivisible”, Japan's Defence Minister said

As part of implementing its Security and Defence Partnerships, the EU and Japan held their first ever defence dialogue. Slowly but surely the EU is expanding upon its defence cooperations:

Irish colleagues such as @bentonra.bsky.social would need to weigh in, but joining Schengen could be a referendum issue in Ireland. Not sure the government would want that on its plate, but who knows in such a hypothetical scenario

Good point, thanks for the reminder. Then it would be good to assume that the Schengen opt-out would remain.

The only legitimate part of the special UK status could be the rebate in the budget given the UK's structure of the economy (getting much less CAP funding), but even that would be a rather difficult debate. But of course this is getting ahead of ourselves.

An important test case will be the opt-outs. I do not see a reason the EU should grant a UK wishing to rejoin any of its previous opt-outs on Schengen, the Euro or Justice and Home Affairs nor any of the stuff Cameron negotiated in 2015/16.

Here I was, not taking the Franco-British initiative serious, and just after the meeting in Paris the Iranian suddenly declare the strait of Hormuz open. Now if that is not European diplomatic power

[In seriousness, it probably had little to do with the Iranian decision]

Though from his history in the Brexit negotiations and other positions, Olly Robbins is not a civil servant characterised as a 'yes man' anywhere before.