European defense can be learned

Klaus Welle is a household name for anyone who is a little bit familiar with the Brussels bubble. The now 60-year-old German Christian Democrat, a graduate economist, has been hanging around the European Parliament since the turn of the century. First as Secretary General of the European People's Party (EPP), then as Director General of the Internal Policies Department and then as Chief of Staff to President Hans-Gert Pöttering.

He gained most fame with his thirteen-year role as Secretary General of the European Parliament. 'I am a kind of go-between between politics and administration', he himself said about this position as the highest civil servant of this EU institution.

As Secretary General, Welle was explicitly involved in the real estate around the Brussels parliament. He saw that there were quite a few 'neglected gems' around the parliament and decided that they should be given a different purpose. This led, among other things, to the House of European History.

Before that, Welle had already appeared on the radar of the Brussels press. In 2007, Politico wrote a profile of him under the unflattering headline 'Prince of Darkness'. In the article, he also received praise. For example, one of the cited sources called him 'the most talented political strategist I have ever encountered'.

Fine. But does Welle also know something about defence? That question is opportune now that Welle is back in the spotlight, this time because Lithuanian European Commissioner Andius Kubilius (who is responsible for the super-current topic of defence in Brussels) has appointed him as his 'special advisor'. 'I look forward to working with this great strategist and thinker', Kubilius stated when announcing the appointment.

On the basis of which competences was this decided, a journalist asked the European Commission last Friday? He did not hesitate to add subtly that nothing on Welle's CV betrays any connection to defence, but that Kubilius is also an EPP member and therefore belongs to the same political family as the German.

An implicit suggestion of nepotism, which was also evident in the fierce tweet by Cristina Vanberghen of the European University Institute in Florence. She stated: 'It is frustrating that individuals with political connections rather than expertise continue to exert influence on EU policy. Very disappointing.'

A European Commission spokesman gave a statement that is far from reassuring because of its vagueness: 'We appoint advisers when we need a certain expertise that is not available within our institution. We want to have access to their knowledge and be able to rely on their previous political connections.'

2. Visit to Moscow goes wrong

The European Parliament has launched an investigation into five members who were in Moscow on 9 May to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. At least, that is what one of them, Cypriot influencer Fidias Panayiotou, who sits in the parliament as an independent, claims.

He was accompanied that day by two members of Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, a radical left-wing German party, and representatives of SMER, the party of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. The five MEPs met several Russian politicians in Moscow, including Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.

Panayiotou calls the Russians "brothers" and refers to the religious and moral values ​​that he believes they share with the Greeks. He believes that the EU should stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and instead focus on peace negotiations, which is the line that pro-Russian politicians such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán are taking. Panayiotou's diplomatic overtures to Russia "did not go down well with the European Parliament at all," he admitted on X.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov was quick to condemn the investigation, which has not yet been formally confirmed. "This once again confirms that the current situation in Europe is far from the democracy they claim to uphold," he told state news agency Tass. "This shows how 'freedom of speech' works in the West. They have established a 'rule of law' and are now punishing their own MPs, who supposedly live in a free country."

3. Chemistry says the clock is ticking, in Germany the alarm goes off

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall and Industrial Strategy Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné met top executives from the European chemical industry last week for a strategic dialogue . The European Consumer Organisation (Beuc) and the Etuc (trade unions) were also present, but environmental organisations were not, the European Environmental Bureau noted frugally . Roswall was to speak for them.

Monday's meeting should lead to an action plan for the chemical industry, including an approach to long-standing complaints about excessively high energy prices in Europe and too much bureaucracy. 'It's already past midnight', warned President Ilham Kadri of chemical umbrella organisation Cefic in March, during an earlier meeting .

The dialogue should also provide more clarity on how to proceed with the European registration rules for chemical substances (Reach), and how the EU deals with PFAS, hardly biodegradable chemical compounds that accumulate in the environment ( read more about it here ). But the sector has already raised the alarm: the chemical industry in the Union is in need, and Brussels must take action.

That need is certainly visible in Germany, where the American chemical company Dow is considering shutting down or closing branches in Saxony ( Böhlen ) and Saxony-Anhalt (Schkopau). At the end of January, the company announced that it would cut 1,500 jobs worldwide, 132 of which would be in Terneuzen , Dow's largest European branch. At the end of April, when the figures for the first quarter were published, new measures were added to that.

These potentially hit Germany hard. The new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has already been in contact with CEO Jim Fitterling of Dow to talk about the situation. Dow Germany employs 3,600 people. Merz's government is committed to lowering energy prices for industry.

The situation is vague: at the beginning of May, Dow said at a meeting that the Schkopau site will not close . The company is looking for partners there.

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What should we pay attention to this week?

• The first summit between the EU and the United Kingdom will take place in London on Monday . Will Brussels and London strengthen their ties again? Read more here and here .

• US President Donald Trump says he will call his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday regarding the talks between Russia and Ukraine .

• Also on Monday: the European Commission presents its economic growth expectations for the EU countries in the so-called Spring Forecast .

• EU defence and foreign ministers will meet jointly in Brussels on Tuesday for talks on Ukraine and the follow-up to the Russian-Ukrainian talks last Friday.

• On Wednesday , the European Commission will present a strategy for the internal market. In the evening, Prime Minister Dick Schoof will have a 'working dinner' with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

• Also on Wednesday, a summit meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Union and the African Union will take place in Brussels.

• Cars will be the focus of a meeting of EU economic ministers on Thursday , when they will discuss the action plan for the European car industry.

• The Court of Justice of the EU will decide on Thursday whether the Netherlands will be fined €4 million because the government does not comply with this directive on government information . According to Brussels, the Netherlands is preventing companies from gaining access to data.

Want to read (and listen) more?

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Europamania is written by FD-Brussels residents Daan Ballegeer and Mathijs Schiffers , plus Han Dirk Hekking . Do you have any comments or news? Let us know via [email protected] .