Every week, Moritz Koch, head of the Handelsblatt office in Brussels, analyzes trends and conflicts, regulatory projects and strategic concepts from the inner workings of the EU, alternating with other Brussels correspondents. Because anyone interested in business needs to know what’s going on in Brussels. You can reach him at: [email protected]
The shock of the corruption scandal in the EU Parliament has turned into a bidding war. Whoever demands the harshest consequences wins – at least from the point of view of the attention economy.
Stricter transparency obligations, all well and good, but why not immediately ban Qatari representatives from the house? Stop planned visa facilitation for the emirate? Of course! But wouldn’t it also be necessary to withdraw landing rights from Qatar Airways?
MEPs want to prove they are not sitting idle in the face of the scandal. The allegations are outrageous, no question. Eva Kaili, a vice president of parliament, is in custody. Suitcases full of cash were secured, Qatar is suspected to be the mastermind. Much is at stake: the reputation of Parliament, perhaps even of the EU as a whole.
But sanctions brainstorming is of no use to anyone. The EU has already adopted the best anti-corruption program in the world: decarbonization.
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It is the billions that Europe transfers to authoritarian states for the import of oil and gas that flow back into the EU in the form of bribes and influence campaigns. Like climate change, petrodictatorships are a by-product of the fuel era, and their power stems from our greed for fossil fuels.
Strict lobby rules only treat symptoms
The problem is that decarbonization is a generational task. The transition to a climate-neutral economy powered solely by renewables will take decades. During the transitional period, the EU will continue to subsidize the democracy-destroying agenda of the commodity autocrats with its energy imports.
Europe must not allow itself to be infiltrated by the “enemies of democracy”, warns the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. But that’s exactly what happens.
The President of the European Parliament can do little if states continue to tie themselves to the world’s energy-rich autocracies.
(Photo: AP)
Suitcases full of cash are not absolutely necessary, as Germany’s “energy partnership” with Russia has shown. It is enough to seduce political and economic elites with win-win legends.
Stricter lobbying rules won’t change anything about this system, they treat symptoms. The causes can only be combated with an energy transition that deserves its name.
The rapid expansion of renewables is of central importance, and the EU has already undertaken this with its Repower program. Nevertheless, the striving for energy independence remains strangely half-hearted, especially in Germany.
Anyone who wants to reach them as quickly as possible must also be willing to revise the nuclear phase-out and to get into fracking where it is geologically justifiable. These are the debates that the EU should have, but dare not have.
More: Longer lifespans for German nuclear reactors – EU Commissioner admonishes federal government