German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday urged EU partners to work “with all our strength” on completing a reform of the bloc’s migration rules before next year’s European election, while also calling for a swift conclusion of new trade deals.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the occasion of Europe Day on May 9, Scholz lauded a recent agreement that lawmakers had reached, which revises the EU’s asylum and migration pact. He “urgently” advocated that all EU institutions now reach a joint agreement before the European Parliament’s election in spring next year.
This would also open up economic opportunities for EU countries, Germany’s chancellor added.
“We can take advantage of one thing even more than before: In many parts of Europe, we now urgently need workers, also from third countries,” Scholz said.
Scholz’s remarks come against the backdrop of a growing influx of irregular migrants into the EU, as well as the challenge that many countries like Morocco are reluctant to take back citizens whose demands for asylum have been rejected in Europe.
During his Strasbourg speech, Scholz also warned that China is “without any doubt” increasingly becoming a competitor and rival for the EU, and called for a “swift” conclusion of EU trade deals with Mercosur, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Australia and Kenya.
The EU must not continue negotiations “for years without results,” or other countries like China would set future global environmental and social standards, Scholz stressed. Those remarks were particularly directed at the agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, which has been under negotiation for nearly 25 years, and which countries like Germany are keen to finally adopt later this year.
In a swipe against China, Scholz said that he wants EU trade deals to be “fair,” meaning that the processing of raw materials should happen in the countries of origin, so that their local economies also benefit from the trade, “and not in China or elsewhere.”
During a debate in Parliament that followed Scholz’s speech, some EU lawmakers slammed the chancellor, criticizing the German government’s stance on various positions it’s recently taken.
“There are doubts about the role of the German government as a reliable partner in Europe,” said German MEP Terry Reintke, co-president of the Greens.
Referring to Germany’s recent attempt to block an EU ban on the combustion engine, Reintke said, “The chancellor does nothing and hides behind the coalition parties who’ve wasted the trust of European partners.” The Greens are a part of the governing coalition in Germany, along with Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats and the business-oriented Free Democrats.
“We need a German chancellor who thinks and acts in a European way.”
Manfred Weber, leader of the center-left European Peoples’ Party group in Parliament, also had sharp words, particularly on Germany’s delay in supplying weapons, particularly battle tanks, to Ukraine. “Many positions your government comes to, come too late and have too little ambition — Europe needs clear signs from Berlin.”
Eddy Wax contributed reporting from Strasbourg, France.
