At their congress in Berlin, the European Social Democrats are focusing on the 2024 European elections. Chancellor Scholz is thinking even further ahead.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has once again advocated reforms of the European Union to make it fit for the admission of new members. Speaking to nearly 300 delegates of the Party of European Socialists (PES) on Saturday, he advocated gradually abolishing the principle of unanimity for decisions in foreign policy, but also in other areas such as tax policy. “I know that we still have a lot of convincing to do there,” the SPD politician said. “But I also say clearly: if a geopolitical Europe is our aspiration, then majority decisions are a gain and not a loss of sovereignty.”
He said the EU has its say with the candidate countries, which include several Balkan states, as well as Ukraine and Moldova. “A united European Union of 27, 30, 36 states, with then more than 500 million free and equal citizens, can bring its weight to bear even more strongly in this world,” he stressed. At the same time, the concerns of the smaller member states in particular should not be lost sight of. “In the future, too, every country must have its concerns heard; anything else would be a betrayal of the European idea.”
Scholz advocated greater EU autonomy – including military autonomy. He called for coordinated procurement of weapons and equipment, an EU rapid reaction force by 2025 and a genuine EU headquarters for European armed forces. “We must confidently advance joint, European defense efforts.”
Scholz also called on the EU member states to resolve conflicts in financial and migration policy. Migration must be managed with foresight, he said. This also means reducing irregular migration and at the same time enabling legal migration and the influx of skilled workers from abroad.
Social democrats take aim at European elections
The PES is made up of 33 European parties. Already on Friday evening, the congress had elected former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven as its new chairman. 255 of 262 delegates voted for the 65-year-old, who thus replaces the Bulgarian Sergei Stanishev after eleven years. There were seven abstentions and no votes against.
Löfven, Scholz and SPD leader Lars Klingbeil announced at the congress that the election goal for the 2024 European elections is for the Social Democrats to once again become the strongest group in the EU Parliament. Currently, the conservative European People’s Party is the strongest force in the European Parliament, ahead of the Group of Socialists and Democrats.
In a resolution, the Congress advocated, among other things, continued support – including military – for Ukraine and further sanctions against Russia. “The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is not only an attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty, but also on the European peace order and European values,” the resolution said. The congress ended with a show of solidarity with women in Iran protesting against oppression by the state apparatus.
