Juncker - Tilkannas Meeting
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"No, I'm doing it as we speak. No, no one has paid me off. Don't even suggest that." Nuts, all nuts, thought Iras Tilkanas as she hung up on some Istkalenic functionary. They were all the same way, for whatever reason, inventing imaginary conspiracies in their heads, babbling through the days about nonexistent plots and nonexistent corruption. She was not worried; their nonsense never amounted to anything, no one with any power took them seriously.
Nevertheless, she had to get on with the task ahead of her. The Premier Commissioner had called her to a meeting. And in these times, when even a terrorist could come close to that position, it seemed fairly important to discuss things with him. Preparations had to be made, precautions taken; everyone recognized that.
She entered Juncker's office, sighing and putting her phone in her pocket. "My greetings, Premier Commissioner. Thank you for calling me here. Now, what was it you wanted to discuss?"
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"Ms. Tilkannas!" Juncker said, standing up and greeting the European Council Speaker with two kisses, one on each of her cheeks, as he usually did with everyone he met with: "Welcome to my office, thank you very much for coming. How are you feeling today? Is everything alright?", the Premier Commissioner wondered while he guided Iras into his office. "Please, take a seat. Would you like some coffee, tea, pastries... anything at all?" He asked, before sitting.
Jean-Claude then took a seat and took some papers out of a drawer of his desk. He put them over the table, took a pen and started to speak: "you might be wondering why I have called you. When I first ran for this position, I intended to at least begin a process to reform the European Council, or at least considering its reform. I have thought that it would be a good start if you gave me your views as Speaker about the Council functioning, if you think changes should be made or not and also what you think about other matters related with the Council, like its security".
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"Oh, I'm fine. A bit of coffee, I'm a little tired. And thank you very much for the offer."
"You've managed to guess exactly what my main concern is. The Council is very....well, very dangerous. We have seen quite a few...crazed people as Councillors, for lack of another word, and it is very worrying to me, prticularly as the current security systems seem unable to prevent them from, uh, harming people. There needs to be a way, in my opinion, to screen people before they enter the Council; to make sure that they are sane, to make sure that they do not have...criminal intentions. A sort of preapproval. But it is very controversial...."
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Juncker gave a cup of coffee to the Speaker of the European Council and he served the drink for both of them, while listening to what Iras had to say. He then answered to what the Istkalenian Councillor said:
"I do remember that the Council has had some... remarkable incidents that have compromised not only Councillors' security, but also the personnel security. While I believe some action should be taken, we need to be very cautious about how we approach this. Mandating countries how they should elect their Councillors or telling them what conditions they should have does not seem to be very popular indeed, just look at the now repealed EACA... Maybe the Code of Conduct of the chamber should include a mandate for Councillors to undergo security checks before entering the building? I do not know if that's in place yet, but it would be a good starting point".
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"Of course, we can't impose limits on who member-states elect," said Tilkanas, "apart perhaps some age restrictions. We already have security checks, but they are clearly not strong enough; I'd like to see whether we could increase the Council's security budget. There was also something that your counterpart, Commissioner Harland, mentioned, about prohibiting people with criminal records from assuming European office, which I am interested in supporting - what are your thoughts on this?"
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"In my budget draft, that is being discussed on the Council as we speak, I decided to increase the funds allocated to the European Council. I guess you could use that extra budget you will receive to increase the security budget and, therefore, make the Council safer for all. I remember those times when we had an attack every month, and even some Councillors had to wear protective suits in order to avoid going to the hospital after they finished their job, if they got to do that...", Juncker said, with the flaskbacks of the Bauer attacks coming to his mind. He sipped his coffee, in an attempt to forget that.
The Council Speaker then mentioned his colleague on the Internal Affairs Office, Commissioner Harland. The Elthic was great at having ideas, and Jean-Claude acknowledged that, so he was not surprised when he heard who had proposed such a thing: "Mr. Harland is really nice at proposing wide-consensus ideas. I do support that idea too, Ms. Tilkannas, but we would need to clarify which criminal records could leave you out of the Council. Stealing candy when you were five? That is obviously a silly example, but if we are going to impede some citizens from actually running for European positions in their home country, this must be clarified".
Juncker then checked his papers to remember what he wanted Tilkannas to discuss next with him. "Have you got any ideas for a Council political reform, Ms. Speaker? Or, much better, do you consider this as a necessary thing?"; Jean-Claude asked.
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"It's certainly good to hear that the Council will receive some additional funds for security, Commissioner," said Tilkanas.
"Of course, we'll have to exclude minor crimes, such as petty theft, from being disqualifying. But this is something that ought to be discussed, I think, with the rest of the Council as well."
"I don't think the Council needs much political reform, to be honest. We are a long ways from the highly partisan environment of 2021; a good, collegial environment now prevails. But I 'd like to hear your thoughts on this, to be honest."
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"Many have argued the voting system of the European Council needs a revamp, you know, to allow for bigger countries to have more power when taking decisions that affect us all. It is true that we have some countries that feel they get little compared to the huge amount of money they provide to the European Union budget and, therefore, to its institutions. On the other hand, smaller countries that give less because of the criteria the EU established for budget contributions do not wish to lose their power, as they feel they would fall into 'major irrelevance', and they are not wrong either", Juncker said.
"If any political reform would be pushed forward, I believe this should be something to be left out of said reform. However, I believe that writing down our concerns on the Council's Code of Conduct and maybe getting to limit the areas over which the Council can legislate alone, that is, without the European Commission; are two proposals that might find support in the chamber. Keeping the Union alive is my first priority, and therefore we need to avoid a destruction from its institutions while we protect the people that work on said bodies".
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"Personally," said Tilkanas, "I think that weighting votes or making representation proportional is more trouble than it's worth. However, there have been some interesting proposals for a system in which an act would only pass both with a majority of countries and a second 'weighted' majority based on population, though I don't necessarily support them."
"I agree, however, that there need to be more limitations on the legislative competence of the Council, though I am against any veto powers for the Commission, and believe it to be highly unpopular. Do you have any specific ideas in this regard?"
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"The possibility of allowing the European Commission to have veto powers over any act that the European Council passes is completely ruled out", Juncker said.
"My idea was to introduce these limits to the legislative competence of our Union's chamber via a Constitutional amendment before the end of this term. That way, no one would consider this an 'intromission' or 'an attack to the European integration progress', as it would be the Commission proposing to change the Constitution, nothing new by the way; and no one would be able to say that the Commission is acting 'against the sovereignty of member states' as we are technically protecting it", the Commissioner added, before drinking a bit of coffee once again.
"I feel some nostalgia for the old times, when governing this region was much easier than it is nowadays. There was far less complaints about what the European Union did, and if there were, they were actually reasonable. Today, many arguments that take place in the Council are full of what I call 'empty arguments', don't you think, Ms. Tilkanas?", Jean-Claude commented. It was strange to hear the Premier Commissioner giving his opinion on work meetings, but sometimes he needed someone to listen to them. Being neutral publicly was an easy task for Juncker, but he still had his thorughts on everything that happened in Europe.
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"I think the amendment is a good idea,' said Tilkanas. "In the past I might have suggested some sort of Council discussion; however, participation has been so low throughout the past year that I doubt anything would be gained from it."
"To be honest," she continued, "I don't entirely agree with you on the Council. As I've said, there seems to be much less partisanship than before. And while now we have lunatics like Tarek and so going around, in the end, they're harmless. Of course, I've also done my own reading, into old debates and elections; back during your first term as Internal Affairs Commissioner, the political situation seems to have been unimaginably horrible, certainly much, much worse than it is now or even was a year ago. Some nonsense about trains I can't make heads or tails of. As...odd as they may be at times, at least today's Councillors are discussing real issues."
"But yes, you're right in that there is a bit too much...rhetoric, barking rather than biting, so to speak, in the Council. But that's simply the natural consequence of democratic politics, in my opinion, though of course we should always strive for improvements in this regard."
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"Oh yeah, the trains argument between Spain and Reitzmag, and then Mr. Winston blaming me of his country's mess... I wonder where he is right now. Last time I knew something about him, he had been attacked in Eastern Haane with an axe. He did not even bother to write a letter to his old friend and rival, but I guess he is busy preparing for who knows what, maybe running for Prime Minister? You never know with him", Juncker said, laughing a bit. He smiled remembering the old times, that were in some moments dark, in some moments funny.
"Going back to the relevant topics of this meeting, I would love to have a Council discussion, but as you have just mentioned, participation would not be the one this topic would require. That is a sad thing to admit, but it is the reality of our Council. The Commission team will therefore start the redaction of a Constitutional amendment, that will be put forward during April, and I hope that we find enough support for the proposals that we have in mind", Jean-Claude added.
"Well, Ms. Tilkannas, I do not have anything else on my agenda. Do you, as Speaker, consider that we should discuss something else about the Council? Is there something you believe we are forgetting? If not, I must confess you that it has been a huge pleasure to have a coffee and a nice chat with you. I also wanted to congratulate you for your great work as Speaker, and hope that you have an amazing 2023!"
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"I'd like to think that Winston's retired," said Tilkanas, laughing. "He must be very tired, after all his campaigning; he deserves his rest. Though it was rude that he didn't even write you a letter!"
"I look forwards to your amendment. I think there's no more to discuss, but thank you for having me; it was a pleasure to speak to you, too. You have been an excellent Premier, and I hope only the best for you in the new year."
The Kingdom of Spain