In the shadow of the European Parliament, this very secret committee where all compromises are negotiated – L’Express

Spring 2020, in Brussels. Covid is bringing Europe to a standstill. While ministers, commissioners and MEPs are discovering virtual meetings, a few diehards are resisting. In the largest room of the Council of the European Union, the ambassadors of the 27 Member States meet “in real life” for a mission of the highest importance: trying whatever it takes to maintain European cohesion, while the capitals are arguing masks or respirators and borders close. “For lack of heating, we were freezing with cold in an empty building which was extremely reminiscent of the hotel in the film Shining”remembers one of them.

From the start of the pandemic, these experienced diplomats debated at length the possibility of switching to videoconferencing. But some worried: would the European system hold up if they stopped seeing each other in the flesh? The latter won their case: the permanent representatives of the States (and their deputies) are the only ones who have never stopped physically gathering in the European capital throughout the crisis. A very strong symbol which left an impression on everyone in Brussels.

Although it is completely unknown to the general public, the Committee of Permanent Representatives – Coreper, in Brussels jargon – is in reality essential in the European machinery. Behind its always closed doors, most of the compromises between the 27 members of the Union are negotiated. “It’s the box that everyone relies on to solve problems that experts consider insoluble,” summarizes François Roux, former permanent representative of Belgium, now professor at Sciences Po.

An unparalleled system

Far from the media spotlight, focused on the meetings of heads of state and government, the plenary sessions of Parliament in Strasbourg or the presentation of bills by the European Commission, the 27 ambassadors to the EU do not like the light. Their very select club remains discreet, even if the specialists have learned to watch their agendas. Asylum and migration pact, blockage on the Green Deal for the environment, use of the interests of frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine… All the big issues end up on the oval table of these negotiating aces.

“This system of ambassadors who legislate has no equivalent elsewhere,” points out an observer who attends their deliberations. Better, “80% of the decisions said to have been adopted by the European Council of Ministers were in reality negotiated and decided beforehand by Coreper”, adds Marianne Dony, honorary professor of European law at the Free University of Brussels. At a minimum, these ambassadors meet once a week, often much more.

When Europeans jointly finance anti-Covid vaccines in 2020, the European Commission takes care of contracts with pharmaceutical companies, but it is they who then manage unforeseen obstacles when, for example, AstraZeneca does not deliver on time . When Russia invades Ukraine on the night of February 24, 2022, they meet at 9 a.m. to prepare the leaders’ decisions – from the first sanctions against Russia to the reception of refugees. Sleeping little or not, they hardly ever leave each other’s side in the days that follow.

If this body is so sensitive, it is because national and general European interests intertwine there, on a permanent crest line. “Each ambassador has a dual mission: to defend the interests of his country, but also to bring about agreements among 27. And he often has to arbitrate alone,” explains François Roux. The advantage is that the closed-door discussions allow the government’s real red lines to be revealed without any disguise. “The current Hungarian ambassador is very loyal to his authorities, but that does not prevent him from revealing his room for maneuver to his counterparts,” illustrates a diplomat.

Hours spent together

These frank exchanges require unfailing trust – some speak of a form of “fraternity” or “esprit de corps”. “We talk to each other all the time, by text message, on the phone and when necessary, we meet in groups of three or four to find solutions,” says a serving ambassador. Without forgetting more informal moments, some evoking football games or family dinners… And twice a year, the ambassadors go on a trip together to the country which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Without the countless hours spent together by these men and women, European mayonnaise would not take hold. “It’s impressive to see that it works during crises and even in times of war. Often we have deep disagreements, sometimes the tone rises, but in the end we always get somewhere,” says one of these ultra-experienced diplomats.

The central role of Coreper stems largely from its close links with the circle of heads of state and government, another club where words are exchanged without embellishment and where everything is decided unanimously. Ambassadors prepare European summits and are, with leaders, the only ones to have a 360-degree vision of current issues. “It’s the control tower,” summarizes an observer. “It ensures that the decisions of the leaders are followed by effects.” As a result, Coreper partly eclipses the Councils of Ministers (foreign affairs, agriculture, economy, etc.).

Of course, ministers formally adopt laws, but they only come to Brussels occasionally and remain focused on their portfolios. “It is more at the level of permanent representatives that a form of balance can be achieved between the interests of a State on an A file and its interests on a B file,” confirms Marianne Dony, of the Free University of Brussels. Proof of their importance, it was to the ambassadors that the 27 leaders entrusted last April with the finalization of the Capital Markets Union, a crucial subject for investment capacities in Europe, because the finance specialists could not achieve not.

Some criticisms

But this pre-eminence in the debates makes people cringe. NGOs criticize the opacity of the debates and the concentration of power in the hands of unelected senior officials. And the European Parliament is annoyed to see the Commission regularly invoke an “exceptional crisis” to move faster and trigger the article of the European Treaty which precisely allows the States, and therefore their permanent representatives, to decide alone on its proposals, without the approval of deputies. During her mandate, President Ursula von der Leyen used Article 122 both for joint purchases of vaccines and for capping gas prices in the midst of the war in Ukraine.

“The European system was not designed to make decisions quickly,” argues a diplomat. “The separation of powers is not clear: there is a real difficulty in crises when executive power must be exercised effectively.” However, faced with the return of war or the rise of systemic rivals like China, Europeans must more and more regularly make strong choices in limited times. In the immediate future, no one is considering reforming the decision-making processes enshrined in the treaties. In this complex ecosystem where unity is so difficult to find – undoubtedly even more so tomorrow among 30 or 32 countries – the Coreper black box will therefore continue to play a pivotal role. To the point perhaps that the acronym will one day end up being known beyond the European district of Brussels…