EU Lawmakers Call Sibiu Summit 'Pure Propaganda' Ahead Of Election Tussle With Populists

The EU informal summit in the Romanian city of Sibiu, held on Europe Day to discuss the continent's future, was nothing but an unconvincing attempt by traditional parties to paper over the cracks and lack of unity ahead of the decisive European Elections as "populists" are on track to boost their representation in the legislature, EU lawmakers told Sputnik

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2019) The EU informal summit in the Romanian city of Sibiu, held on Europe Day to discuss the continent's future, was nothing but an unconvincing attempt by traditional parties to paper over the cracks and lack of unity ahead of the decisive European Elections as "populists" are on track to boost their representation in the legislature, EU lawmakers told Sputnik.

On Thursday, EU leaders as well as an army of foreign ministers, ministers for Europe and top civil servants gathered to "look ahead to their common future" in the central Romanian city of Sibiu, once recognized among Europe's most idyllic places to live.

"Strength in unity" was announced by the European Commission as the main theme of the summit, which focused on the EU strategic agenda for the period 2019-2024. Meanwhile, never has the European Union seemed more disunited amid Brexit, rows between Italy and France, "pariah" member states such of Hungary and Poland. Still, the official message is clear: strength in unity.

As a result of the summit on Europe Day which marks the delivery of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, a founding document for European Communities, EU leaders adopted the Sibiu Declaration.

In the document, the nations reaffirmed that "a Europe re-united in peace and democracy" was "one of many achievements" of the bloc. They also agreed on ten commitments to "make our Union stronger and our future brighter," including being a "responsible global leader," defending " one Europe from East to West" without a new Iron Curtain and, to this end, "recognizing the European perspective of other European States."

According to Dominique Martin, a European Parliament member from France's National Rally (RN), the Sibiu summit is "pure propaganda" amid a "populist surge" sweeping most EU countries. As an example, he referred to France, where the RN party overtakes President Emmanuel Macron's La Republique En Marche! (LREM) in election polls.

"The French don't believe in Europe anymore. Every day, the 'Renaissance' list of [LREM top candidate] Nathalie Loiseau, defending the colors of Emmanuel Macron, is losing ground. We have now overtaken her list defending the present Europeist dream in the polls," Martin told Sputnik.

The lawmaker maintains that the summit was actually a part of the election campaign by EU traditional political parties.

Like many summits, it, indeed, was much about camera work, showing smiles, handshakes and conversations, preferably between people who usually throw insults at each other, like Macron all smiles with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, or German Chancellor Angela Merkel in small talk with her Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban.

"There is a clear conflict of interest: they use public money for electoral purposes. Unacceptable. And just a detail: Romania last year received some 5 billion euros from Europe, it means from the European taxpayers, and Romania bought the same year for 5 billion euros of American fighter jets. Congratulations and many thanks for the European industry!" Martin argued.

EU citizens, nevertheless, still "feel European" but do not want "the multiculturalist elite" to remove their national borders and national differences, he added.

"We are cousins ... We can work together, French, Spaniards or Italians and Germans, but we have our identity that we don't want to throw away," Martin said.

FIVE YEARS OF 'LAST-CHANCE' COMMISSION

At the Sibiu informal summit, the outgoing EU leadership effectively summed up results of it work. The current strategic agenda was agreed in June 2014 by the European Council and was since shaped into the 10 political priorities of the commission, called by President Jean-Claude Juncker himself the "last-chance" commission.

These priorities included bringing back jobs, growth and investment; strengthening social fairness; managing migration; mitigating security threats; unlocking the potential of the digital and energy transitions; making the EU a stronger global actor; and reinforcing transparency and democratic legitimacy.

Five years on, efforts to deliver on those priorities "have brought tangible results for citizens, despite unpredicted difficulties along the way, which continue to pose serious challenges for our Union," Juncker said at a press conference closing the informal meeting in Romania.

EU lawmaker Martin, however, strongly disagrees with Juncker's evaluation of his commission's work.

"The European economy is lagging behind: they proudly announced in Brussels a growth of 0.4 percent in 2019 while the USA of [Donald] Trump is managing 3.6 percent with full employment. Let's not speak of Greece or the fact that France - again - will not respect the European budget criteria of Brussels. Hypocrisy everywhere. No reason for the Juncker commission to congratulate itself!" he argued.

Aldo Carcaci, a member of the Belgian parliament from the People's Party (PP), joins criticism, pointing to a bunch of unresolved issues, first of all migration.

"Who can be astonished that the European dream does not excite any European citizen anymore? As a Belgian of Italian origin, I am profoundly European, but the ideal of a political 'United States of Europe' is dead. It was never even remotely true. We are an economic union of sovereign states and see that the EU is totally incapable of solving simple issues, yes simple! Like the migration crisis," Carcaci told Sputnik.

He went on to note that "four years of endless and inefficient discussions by the EU and the Commission" failed to tackle the challenge of undocumented migration, classified as number one issue by European citizens in polls.

"[The issue] has been (partly) solved in a few weeks by the Italian minister of interior, Matteo Salvini (Lega). It simply forbade ships to disembark the illegal African and Middle Eastern migrants 'saved' at sea by the leftist NGOs that are destroying Europe every day," Carcaci argued.

Another major EU problem, Carcaci says, is fallacious economic policies and the euro currency.

"It was launched by irresponsible politicians of all the 'traditional parties' who accepted Greece in the club, while there was a NO NO by OLAF [European Anti-Fraud Office], the financial controllers of Europe. OLAF could detect that Greece was lying about its basic figures, with the help of Goldman Sachs, the American bank whose heads in Europe should be in jail. They are not in jail and their toxic work is now helped by the ex-European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso who landed a cozy top job with Goldman Sachs after leaving the Commission position," he opined.

According to the Carcaci, all this "gives an image of corruption and financial greed to Eurocrats that angers the European citizens." As a result of what the lawmaker sees as "the stupidity of the people managing Europe," the year-long Greek economic crisis is "paid for by the Greek citizens and all Europeans."

"No wonder the sovereigntist parties, the so-called 'populists' are winning the hearts of Europeans ahead of the European election," he concluded.

The European elections will be held from May 23-26 and determine the new makeup of the 751-seat legislature. According to the data from the Financial Times' poll tracker, euroskeptic groups are projected to win around 162 seats.