Horst Seehofer intervenes in the Brexit strategy – Letter to the European Commission



[ad_1]




Shortly? At the end of the text, there is a summary.


The asylum dispute between the CDU and the CSU reached its peak: Until the early morning of June 27, the Coalition Committee met in Berlin, without result. He threatened the break-up of the federal government and the Union – and all this one day before the EU summit in Brussels. In fact, one would think that Horst Seehofer would have had his hands full.

But of course, the Interior Minister of the CSU still found time to open a second front against Chancellor Angela Merkel: He wrote a sealed letter to the Commission of the EU , which was not concerned with refugee and migration policy, but by the exit of the UK from the EU.

The security of EU citizens must take precedence over all other bargaining issues. SPIEGEL is dated June 27th. The tough negotiating line of the European Commission threatens to undermine the EU's security architecture, warns Mr Seehofer. In order to effectively combat cross-border terrorism, the EU must continue to work "fully" with Britain in the future.

The letter was not discussed with the Chancery, according to information provided by Berlin's government circles. Apparently, Seehofer did not even inaugurate his own people in Brussels. For example, Manfred Weber, Vice President of the CSU and Leader of the Christian Democrat EPP Group in the European Parliament, said the letter was not yet available, as has been said in the EPP circles.

Seehofer requests that the UK government also receive full access to EU databases after the Brexit, for example on the Schengen Information System, on the pbadenger data of the EU. EU and on the Schengen Information System. Criminal Records Information System Write. Otherwise, according to Mr Seehofer, the federal government should erase all British data from its badets.

million. Seehofer also criticizes the European Council's Brexit negotiating directives in the letter originally published by the Financial Times. Their content suggested a future relationship with Britain, "which inevitably means a disadvantage in the context of security cooperation." However, as Minister of the Interior of a state of the EU, it helps to emphasize that "the safety of citizens must also be a top priority in the European Union". Therefore, "all the security architecture of the EU" must be transformed into a new partnership with London.

In Brussels, people do not like reading this. Brexit's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, ruled out full British access to the EU's databases if London did not move away from its previous red lines. Thus, the British government categorically refuses to submit to the Brexit of jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. But this is seen in the Barnier team as a prerequisite for comprehensive security cooperation, as imagined by Seehofer. Merkel has so far supported the clear negotiating line of the Commission – and repeatedly stressed the importance of the unity of the other 27 EU Member States.

Irritation among the other EU states

Among them, the letter of Seehofer, according to diplomats, provoked an irritation. A minister of the interior can not claim to question the negotiating directives agreed by 27 heads of state and government, he added. In addition, Seehofer's letter discusses future relations between the EU and the UK, but they do not yet speak in London. They will not be traded until the fall.

The letter is nonetheless a gift for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who wants to present a new Brexit plan to his squabbling firm on Friday during a special meeting at Checkers. Since the start of negotiations with the EU, the British government is trying to use security cooperation as a currency of exchange – even if it officially rejects it.

Up to now, this strategy has had little success. Nevertheless, in the coming weeks, Mays will experience new attempts to act according to the motto "divide and conquer," according to the commission. It is suspected, according to a Brussels official, that May spoke directly to Seehofer and influenced him in his favor.

Merkel wants to avoid a new quarrel

Jean-Claude Juncker, however, was not impressed by Seehofer's interference. "We adhere to the directives of the European Council," said the President of the European Commission at a press conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna. We will stick to it at the agreed time. "And if you enter difficult negotiations, you do not necessarily have to follow all the national political reflexes."

Meanwhile, Merkel apparently wants to avoid further trouble with Seehofer. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin Friday that the Chancellor was also interested in close security cooperation with Britain. "In that sense, it's their concern."



In summary: Horst Seehofer is directly involved in the Brexit negotiations of the European Commission. The current strategy threatens to weaken EU security, Mr Seehofer criticized in a letter to the Brussels authority and wants to give the British, after Brexit, full access to all EU security databases. In Brussels, we are indignant.

[ad_2]
Source link