EU summits swap huddles and wine for muted mics and Pringles pop art
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Version 0 of 1. Virtual meetings bring technical problems, differences in decor and questions of trust An unguarded remark over a microphone, the irritating noise of shuffling papers and clinking glasses: the pitfalls of conference calls are well known. So the first time EU leaders held a summit by videolink, a clear red warning was emblazoned across the screen: “Please mute your microphone.” On Thursday European leaders were holding their fourth virtual meeting in seven weeks. It is a format far removed from the norm, where prime ministers and presidents hole up in the modern oak and glass Europa building in Brussels for the best part of 24 hours, and political rows and textual wrangles are accompanied by gourmet dinners and fine wine. A virtual summit means none of the air kissing and back-slapping that usually happens when leaders get together in person. It also makes the meetings shorter, although finance ministers got bogged down on a video call for 16 hours this month as they failed to agree on an economic rescue plan. (They resolved their differences on a separate call two days later.) The video conference does provide a glimpse into the chancelleries and presidential palaces of Europe. For most leaders, the conventional backdrop is the national and European flag side by side. An image of the first video summit showed that only Hungary’s Viktor Orbán did not have the blue and gold-starred flag in shot. Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, has the most eye-catching decor – a large pop art painting of the beaming face of the Pringles logo, by the Luxembourger artist Milli Schlesser. The work is part of Bettel’s private collection, which also includes images of Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol and a ceramic bust of Tintin (sadly not in shot). The summits are not broadcast, so any technical glitches disappear into the encrypted ether. It’s a different story at the European parliament, which has been running virtually since the pandemic took hold. One recent meeting between the parliament’s civil liberties committee and two Greek ministers showed how painful video-conferencing can be. “Señor Chrisochoïdis, are you there? Can you speak please,” the committee’s Spanish vice-chair, Maite Pagazaurtundúa, asked Michális Chrisochoïdis, the Greek minister for citizen protection, who was due on the line. “Please just press the button, that way you can speak. Press the button and then you can speak please.” The problem was not immediately resolved. “Please press the speak button and try again.” Meeting by video conference poses more than just technical problems. Luuk van Middelaar, a former adviser to the European council president and a scholar of EU crises, thinks the format makes it impossible to build trust in difficult moments. “The recipe of EU decision-making at summit level is that [leaders] are meeting in person. They can look each other in the eye, they can speak de vive voix [personally]. It’s not about states meeting, it’s about people meeting,” he told the Guardian. Current insiders tend to agree. “It’s not like you can work something out in the margins of the council – and that is where the real music plays,” one EU diplomat said. “Some of the leaders, some of the advisers get together and try to sketch a way forward, but this is not possible in a video conference, at least not in the same way.” When things get difficult at a regular summit, leaders and their most trusted advisers gather around tables in small groups or huddle in corridors, searching for common ground or writing and rewriting text – diplomatic heavy lifting captured in a rare photograph in March 2019. Some sources think it will be near impossible to agree one of the most contentious items on the EU agenda, the next seven-year budget, without a face-to-face meeting. The exercise will involve reconciling spenders with savers in the middle of a major economic downturn. “When you talk about this huge negotiation, it is going to be difficult to do this by video conference,” a senior official said. “At one point, in the endgame, maybe a physical meeting will be needed.” But for now, leaders will have to dial in for compromise. |