European Union Geopolitical Watch Team: Yanis Kourrad, Audrey Moisan, Etienne Mathieu
10/17/2022: Brussels considers phasing out the slaughter of male chicks in the European Union. -Yanis Kourrad-
The slaughter of male chicks in the laying hen industry was discussed at the meeting of EU agriculture ministers on Monday 17 October.
Indeed, the thousands of male chicks killed after hatching because they are unsuitable for meat production is now an issue that the European Commission wishes to address. Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, has reiterated her desire to “gradually abolish this practice“, reports the online daily Euractiv. This debate has resurfaced because animal welfare advocates denounce the suffering conditions in which chicks are slaughtered, i.e. by gassing or crushing.
Although a majority of EU Member States approved the proposal, Dutch and Hungarian representatives nevertheless stressed the importance of “including all products on the European market, including imported products” as reported by Agence France Presse. Other ministers, such as the Croatian Marija Vučković, believe that this proposal must be accompanied by additional funding at the European level, given the economic loss of these practices.
While some animal rights activists welcome the EU’s attention to the issue, other stakeholders such as the European poultry association AVEC have remained silent since the proposal was announced.
10/18/2022- REPowerEU: Commission finalizes Europe’s energy shield- Audrey Moisan
This Tuesday, October 18, 2022, the European Commission presented its new energy plan, in response to the energy crisis that is looming for the winter of 2022. This plan, presented by the President of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, aims to create a “Europe of energy“, including the establishment of a ceiling on certain prices to avoid competition and the common purchase of gas. For this last action, the Commission also foresees 40 billion euros from the cohesion funds to be spent on this purchase, taken from the unused funds of the 2014-2020 period.
The gas price cap is intended to be “dynamic” (Euractiv, European Commission, Toutel’Europe) in order to guarantee an average price in the European Union. It is intended to be temporary, while the Union puts in place another LNG price index. The objective is also to ensure that Europe has a certain gas stock for the winter of 2023.
However, the Commission confirmed on Tuesday that although the measures have been decided, the European states have not yet reached a consensus on how they will proceed, and should express themselves on this subject in the coming weeks (European Commission).
18/10/2022 : The Estonian Parliament condemns the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia. -Etienne Mathieu-
The Parliament of Estonia has adopted a declaration condemning the annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts by the Russian Federation. The Armenian online newspaper Hetq points out that this declaration also qualifies the Russian state as a government supporting acts of terrorism. This qualification echoes that of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which took place a week earlier and was reported by the Georgian NGO Civil.
Estonia supports the investigation conducted by the International Criminal Court and calls for the creation of a special international tribunal to judge the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Estonian Parliament asks the UN Security Council to exclude Russia as a criminal state and dangerous for international law. A procedure that is not provided for by the UN Charter, as TF1 points out, since any decision of the Security Council requires unanimity … so the vote of Russia itself.
Estonia is the third country to call the Russian Federation a “terrorist” or terrorism-supporting regime, after Lithuania in May 2022 and Latvia the following August, as Hetq reports – not counting the declaration of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 13 October 2022. The Armenian online newspaper points out, however, that U.S. President Joe Biden has refused to use this terminology against Moscow.
10/20/2022: British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns. -Etienne Mathieu-
On October 20, 2022, Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. As Swiss Info notes, her 44-day term is the shortest in British history – the previous record, dating from the 19th century, was 119 days.
Le Figaro notes that Conservative MPs in the House of Commons are again calling for the departure of their leader, two months after the “putsch” against Boris Johnson. He is among the favorites to succeed Liz Truss, the first head of government of His Majesty Charles III.
According to France Info, the Conservative party has limited the number of possible candidates to three, and plans to announce the name of the new Prime Minister on October 28.
