Europe’s far-right firewall melts as Socialists topple Romania’s PM

 

Europe’s far-right firewall melts as Socialists topple Romania’s PM

 

               https://www.ft.com/content/0d5dd64c-8cfe-4ed5-904d-6a0bee3b01f3?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Henry Foy

Published4 HOURS AGO

 

Good morning. News to start: Brussels has warned that the Venice Biennale would breach EU sanctions if it allows a Russian government-owned pavilion to participate in the annual cultural gala that opens this week, in letters to the event’s organisers and the Italian government seen by the FT.

 

Today, Mari and our Balkans correspondent explain the ramifications of Romania’s social democrats teaming up with ultranationalists to topple the country’s government, and our energy correspondent reports on EU plans to boost the circular economy of critical raw materials.

 

When the levee breaks

The collapse of Romania’s government has shattered one of Europe’s last informal firewalls against the far right, after the country’s social democrats teamed up with ultranationalist Eurosceptics to topple Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, writes Mari Novik and Marton Dunai.

 

Context: Romania’s pro-EU government had been under pressure to rein in a budget deficit of more than 9 per cent of GDP. Bolojan’s austerity push prompted the Social Democratic Party (PSD) to quit the coalition earlier this month. PSD then backed a no-confidence vote alongside the far-right AUR, which they won yesterday.

 

Many European parliaments have established a cordon sanitaire to keep far-right parties from power. In recent years, however, mainly centre-right parties have begun forming governing coalitions or striking deals to gain their support to pass votes.

 

Until yesterday, the pan-EU centre-left coalition Party of European Socialists (PES), with the exception of Slovakia’s SMER, had prided themselves on not crossing that red line.

 

Therefore, PSD’s involvement with the far-right in Romania would have “huge repercussions” across the European continent, said Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet professor of EU law at HEC Paris.

 

“What happened in Bucharest is a political first: the last great taboo of European politics is gone,” he said. “The Chinese wall is smashed, and the Overton window is wide open. What comes through it next is the real question for Europe’s politics.”

 

PES said yesterday they continued to support their Romanian member party, while their grouping in the European parliament — the Socialists and Democrats — called on pro-European forces to form a credible government quickly to “deliver on the reforms that Romanians need”.

 

Both PSD and AUR said the vote was a one-off alignment and they had no intention of forming a government together. But Siegfried Mureșan, a Romanian vice-chair of the European People’s Party, warned that the co-operation between the two parties was “long in the making”.

 

“For Europe as a whole the credible wall towards the extreme right is falling apart,” he said. “Every journey starts with a first step.”

 

The European Green Party called on the PES to help PSD clean up what they said deepened political uncertainty across Europe.

 

“Power-hungry parts of the conservatives are trying to cross all lines,” said Terry Reintke, co-president of the European parliament’s Green group. “By choosing power over democracy the Social Democrats in Romania have crossed a red line . . . the European Socialists must react.”

 

Magic roundabout

European commissioners will discuss today how to boost the reuse and recycling of more critical raw materials, as Brussels seeks to bolster supplies of key components for the clean energy transition, writes Ian Johnston.

 

Context: The EU is developing a circular economy act this year to increase recycling of critical raw materials and reduce reliance on imports, particularly from China.

 

European commissioners will hold a discussion on preliminary plans for a circular economy package led by environment commissioner Jessika Roswall, in an orientation debate today.

 

The strategy focuses on building out Europe’s resilience by strengthening secondary supplies of critical raw materials that go into everything from wind turbines to electric vehicles. 

 

It will also seek to reduce single-market barriers, strengthen demand for recycled materials and lower dependence on “virgin critical” raw materials, according to a document seen by the FT.

 

One area that may face industry pressure is plans for makers of electronic and other goods rich in raw materials to be made more responsible for how their products are disposed of at the end of their life cycle, including through “strong economic incentives”. 

 

The Commission could also make it easier to move waste around the bloc — a longstanding sticking point in the internal market that has held back recycling.

 

Commissioners will also discuss how to strengthen demand for recycled materials, which is weak because primary materials are often cheaper. Until that changes, making recycled rare earths and other materials more attractive is a tough ask.