NIAS Area Studies
PAKISTAN READER
Photo : FMM graphics studio
By Neha George and Ken B Varghese
FRANCE
An overview of the European elections by France24
On 29 May, France 24 reported on the European elections scheduled from 06-09 June. Being the second largest democratic election in the world after India, the elections take place every five years for which voters choose leaders to represent their interests. The EU works with the joint effort of three main bodies which are: the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Union Council. The European Commission is the executive branch concerned with the day-to-day activities of the EU along with trade policies and law and order. The President elected by the Parliament and the European Council holds the most powerful position. The European Parliament which represents the citizens adopts the EU legislation enacted by the Commission and approves the budget. Members of Parliament (MEPs), decide the laws applicable across the EU ranging from environmental regulation to migration policy. The EU Council is divided into two: the Council of the European Union and the European Council. While the former consists of the ministers from the national governments of member states, the latter unites the heads of state or government of member states.
In the scheduled election for June, voters will select 720 members of the Parliament based on the candidates submitted by their respective parties. The country’s representation is based on its population size with most seats allocated to Germany with 96 seats, France with 81, 76 for Italy, 61 for Spain, and 53 for Poland. Once the MEPs are elected, they will join the parliamentary groups according to their ideology. The votes will commence this year on 06 June with the Netherlands, followed by Ireland and Czechia (Czech Republic) after a day. Italy, Latvia, Malta, and Slovakia begin voting on 08 June but the majority of EU member states will vote on 09 June, with results expected later that evening. The elections among the members differ across regions with varying voting age. The voter turnout for the EU elections tends to be very low as voting is compulsory only in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, and Luxembourg. After the MEPs get elected, the first task of the European Parliament is to select the President and appoint its 27 commissioners. The political group which gets the majority in the Parliament will thus decide the future of the EU. (“EU parliament: Four things to know about the European elections,” FRANCE24, 29 May, 2024)
Director of the Europe in the World Programme view on rise of far-right in Europe
On 29 May, FRANCE24 reported on the rise of far-rightism in Europe through the stance of Sven Biscop who is the director of the Europe in the World Programme at the Egmont Institute. In his book ‘This is Not a New World Order,’ he pointed to the fact that the history of geopolitics always had a multipolar world order and that the rise of new powers was more or less inevitable. He believed that the EU had set out the right policies which he termed ‘risking’ which involved taking care of their dependencies. With China not playing according to the rules of the economic game, Europe must stand firm with its policies. According to him, the War in Ukraine made the world understand the importance of geopolitics. He also emphasised the need to provide Ukraine with sufficient arms and ammunition as it has become a border state of the EU. The growing threat of Russia should be curbed by making Ukraine to be part of the EU. He indicated that although the right-wing parties seem to be nationalistic, they tend to be influenced by foreign hostile powers such as Russia which in a way made them traitors. But the democratic parties were expected to secure their position although it was a big challenge. The core task of the new Parliament was to balance the principle of the welfare state and defend themselves from foreign threats. Concerning the youth vote, he mentioned the importance of educating them on the integrity and unity of the European Union which are the building blocks of the EU. (“European elections: Far-right parties 'act as traitors' amid foreign interference,” FRANCE24, 29 May 2024)
French Parties compete for seats in the European elections
On 29 May, FRANCE24 reported that 38 French parties were fielding their candidates for the European parliamentary elections to be conducted on 06-09 June. France which holds 81 out of the 720 seats has their far-right National Rally leading with the polls with more than 30 per cent followed by Macron's Renaissance party and the Socialists. The voters will choose among the candidate lists submitted by the country’s political parties and those hoping to gain victory are known as tetes de list (head of the list). The newly elected MEPs or Members of Parliament will join their respective political affiliations based on their ideology. France’s Socialists, Greens, far-right parties would likely join their counterparts from across Europe. The European Parliament now consists of seven active groups. (“European elections: French parties compete for seats at the EU parliament,” FRANCE24, 29 May 2024)
ICELAND
Volcano Grindavik erupts for the fifth time after December 2023
On 29 May, Iceland's Grindavik volcano erupted for the fifth time since December. Icelandic authorities have declared a state of emergency and have prompts for evacuation. Iceland’s Met Office said that the volcano was shooting about 550 metres high from the fissure which is around one kilometre long. This eruption was just after three weeks from the last eruption. Authorities evacuated nearly 700 to 800 visitors near the Blue Lagoon area. Keflavik airport which is the main international airport for Iceland. It is unclear when this active volcano will go to its dorm stage. This might affect the Reykjanes Peninsula One of the few heavily populated parts of Iceland. (“Iceland: Grindavik volcano eruption prompts new evacuations,” Deutsche Welle, 29 May 2024)
REGIONAL
NATO Secretary General assures to step up aid for Ukraine ahead of Washington summit
On 28 May, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated in a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union with EU Defence Ministers to discuss the support provided to Ukraine and the necessity to increase defence production. “NATO and the European Union have worked very closely together to provide unprecedented military, economic, and financial support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. NATO was planning to coordinate the provision of equipment and training and the promise of financial aid ahead of the Washington summit. He also pointed out the need to prevent any delays and the importance of providing “predictable, accountable support for the long haul,” so that Ukraine could prevail as a sovereign, independent nation. He added that NATO was working closely with the transatlantic industrial base to increase the production to arm Ukraine and its allies. (“NATO Secretary General: Ukraine’s most urgent need is more air defence,” NATO, 29 May 2024)
NATO and Mauritania to tighten their long-standing partnership
On 28 May, Mircea Geoană, Deputy Secretary General met with Hanana Ould Sidi, Defence Minister of Mauritania at NATO Headquarters. The Deputy Secretary-General referred to Mauritania as its “valued partner” and that there were plans to ramp up their partnership in the future, including to strengthen Mauritania’s forces in the fight against terrorism. He also emphasised the importance of NATO’s southern neighbourhood based on a report published by individual experts. The aim was to strengthen the allies’ approach to its southern neighbourhood ahead of the NATO Summit in Washington in July. Mauritania, a long-standing partner of NATO, joined the Alliance’s Mediterranean Dialogue partnership forum in 1995. Since then, their partnership has grown including progress made in several areas such as special operations forces, maritime security intelligence, military career transition programmes, stockpile management regarding small arms and light weapons, and military education. (“NATO reaffirms importance of long-standing partnership with Mauritania,” NATO, 29 May 2024)
EU Algae initiative aims to recover ocean biodiversity loss
On 27 May, due to the decline of fish and marine ecosystem suffering, the EU Algae initiative is expected to help reverse this trend by diversifying into seaweed farming. Across regions, there a new sector offering good income and new jobs for the coastal professionals while providing healthy local seafood and helping to recover the ocean biodiversity. This initiative of regenerative ocean farming forms part of the EU's broader strategy to develop a sustainable and large algae industry with the hope that the European market for seaweed is expected to reach around EUR nine billion by 2030, along with the high demand in cosmetics, energy, food, and pharmaceutical. The EU algae initiative aims to boost the blue economy and to increase sustainable production and consumption in Europe. While addressing 23 different areas like looking into the business environment and helping it improve the situation and create public awareness and consumer awareness (Denis Loctier, “Interview: the EU Algae initiative helps fishers become ocean farmers,” Euronews, 28 May 2024)
EU policy clinches raw materials to deal with Australia
On 28 May, the European Commission announced on forging 13th trade partnership designed to source materials from outside the bloc with Australia. This is based on mutual benefits enabling the EU to diversify supply and the development of Canberra’s domestic critical mineral sector. Austria is one of the largest producers of aluminium, iron, cobalt, copper, lead and rare earth elements like uranium and zinc all of which are needed to build electric vehicles (EVs) this flagship with the EU is under the so-called European Green Deal to decarbonise transport and reduce the carbon dioxide and air pollution level. According to the commission, the trade deal should come into force for over six months and set out cooperation on the integration of sustainable raw materials value chains, research and innovation as well as the promotion of environmental social and governance standards. This will also help us deliver the green and digital transition. The Australian minister reacted to Breton saying that this trade partnership “will encourage investment from the EU into the Australian renewable energy projects' and that the country's minerals would be used for the development of EVs and wind turbines. The EU has been trying to cut deals with Australia since last October which has failed to secure the deal, due to the Bloc’s rule on Geographic indicator which would block the Australian producer from labelling European names such as ‘prosecco’ or ‘feta.’ Divergences among the parties were to overcome with signing trade deals and add Australia to the growing list of countries with whom the EU has created a similar agreement: Argentina, Canada, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Norway, Rwanda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Zambia. (“EU Policy. Commission clinches raw materials deal with Australia,” Euronews, 28 May 2024)