The EU liberals’ ‘unapologetically pro-European’ election manifesto

Good morning. Portugal’s centre-right opposition won yesterday’s parliamentary election but fell short of a majority, as support surged for the far-right Chega party to make it a potential kingmaker.

Today, we bring you details of the liberal Renew group’s European election priorities, and our finance correspondent previews a fresh heave by EU ministers towards a perennial objective: deepening the bloc’s capital market.

Liberal helpings

The EU’s liberal parties will campaign for June’s election with an “unequivocally and unapologetically pro-European” manifesto, that has just enough contrast with their main rivals to compete for votes — but not enough to rule out renewed co-operation.

Context: Renew Europe came third in the 2019 election and voted with the centre-right European People’s party (EPP) and Socialists and Democrats (S&D) to install Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president. They have lost support since then and could come fifth, behind the right and far-right groupings.

Von der Leyen is seeking a second term and will almost certainly need Renew’s support again. But she will also likely need right-wing votes, creating potential policy clashes.

Some elements of the Renew policy priorities are similar to those of their main rivals: increased investment in defence, improving EU industrial competitiveness, support for farmers weighed down by Brussels bureaucracy, and the “implementation” of ambitious green policies, according to the latest draft seen by the Financial Times, which will be finalised today and published on March 20.

But there are divergences, too. Renew goes much further than the EPP in calling to “reform the EU’s treaties”, seeking “only one president at the helm of the EU’s executive” and “get[ting] rid of the vetoes” each country wields.

In a section that does not mention Hungary but makes barely-veiled references to its premier Viktor Orbán, the group says “we are determined to move with the so-called ‘Article 7 procedure’”, the EU’s mechanism for punishing countries deemed by all others to have broken bloc rules. “Neither money, nor voting rights for autocrats.”

Renew condemns “populists using incendiary rhetoric” towards migrants and calls for abortion rights and “recognition of same-sex marriages and rainbow families across Europe”, suggesting they might not join a coalition with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right Brothers of Italy, whose votes von der Leyen could need.

ALDE, the biggest member of the Renew alliance, will today announce Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the outspoken German liberal, to be its lead candidate. The others are expected to fall in behind her, marking a rightward shift for the whole Renew group. 

“The artisans of European disunity are on the rise. They are Putin’s friends,” begins the manifesto in soaring tones. “We, Renew Europe Now, the alliance of centrist, liberal and democratic forces in Europe, stand against them.”

Voting begins in 87 days.

Chart du jour: Hot mess

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, with temperatures rising at roughly twice the global rate. The head of the EU’s environment agency has warned of “higher and higher” risks of systemic financial shocks from climate change.

Capital mistakes

Eurozone finance ministers will today adopt a post-election to-do list on how to further integrate Europe’s capital markets, writes Paola Tamma.

Context: Capital flows in the EU are hindered by 27 different regulatory regimes. As a result, the bloc’s capital market is shallow and fragmented — and less than half in size compared with the US. An overhaul has been in the works for years, but progress has been slow.

“The underdevelopment of a capital markets union is contributing to the medium-term growth ambitions of Europe being lower than we want and need,” eurogroup president Paschal Donohoe told the FT.

That’s why eurozone finance ministers will today adopt a list of actions aimed at “reducing fragmentation, regulatory burden, and high transaction costs”, according to a draft seen by the FT. Examples include a pan-European investment product targeted at young people, and a call on the European Commission to stimulate Europe’s flagging securitisation market.

But some of the most controversial proposals such as centralising supervisory powers with the EU’s markets watchdog Esma, instead of at national level, were struck out due to lack of consensus.

That left some frustrated. “I’m fed up with discussions, I’m fed up with empty statements,” said French finance minister Bruno Le Maire last month. He suggested that countries could go further on a voluntary basis.

Donohoe however said that he wanted “an agreement that everybody is part of”.

But it’s unclear whether the to-do list will translate into tangible results.

“There is political recognition that something needs to be done. Whether they will come to the right solutions, I’m not entirely sure,” said Karel Lannoo, chief executive of the Centre for European Policy Studies.

What to watch today

1. Eurogroup ministers meet in Brussels.

2. EU employment and social affairs ministers meet.

3. European parliament plenary session kicks off in Strasbourg.

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