Two opposing camps at European Union Summit

This time the meeting is at the birthplace of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg, Austria, under the shadow of the alpes. Mozart's music was cystic in style, but full of contradictions (the music that has two or more lines of melody) and at the Salzburg summit EU leaders will once again face the “melodical lines” pushing each other, but without the composer's ability to group them in general harmony.

Two opposing camps, one headed by France's President Emmanuel Macron, will face in Salzburg, which will lobby for ambitious reforms to promote integration among member states and centralise economic governance. The other group is headed by Hungary's President Viktor Orban and leaders with similar trends from Austria, Italy and Poland, who seek to end immigration from abroad to Europe, insisting on greater flexibility for the governments of individual states so that Brussels will have as little interference with them as possible.

As a shadow over the meeting will remain the shameful findings, that former European politicians -- including a former Austrian cancerist and a former Italian prime minister -- had been recruited after leaving former President Donald Trump's campaign chief, Paul Manafort -- to lobby secretly in the United States on behalf of Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of Ukraine supported by the Kremlin, before a popular uprising ousted him from power. This grouping of European politicians has become known as the “Opensburg Group”. Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to guilt a few days ago on two criminal charges filed against him by Special Prosecutor Rober Mueller.

Volunteer efforts have become part of Mr. Mueller's legal case against former President Donald Trump's campaign chief, but also raise questions in Europe about the integrity of what some analysts describe as the ruling <x0-class”, characterised by the willingness of some of its members, to take advantage of the positions they previously held and to fill their pockets, through lobbiation on behalf of the interests they opposed when in office, affecting the populist disdain for the EU.

Britons are hoping that the summit in Salzburg will unblock efforts for Brexit and secure an EU exit agreement for Prime Minister Theresa May to satisfy its divided conservative party and the Parliament's Lower Chamber.

The dispute has characterised long and often blocked negotiations for Brex, but in recent days, European negotiators seem to have softened the tones, in what looks like a support for Mrs. May, just a few days before a conference of British conservatives, where it could plant the seed of challenge to its leadership, including its former foreign minister, Boris Johnson.

European chief negotiator Michel Barnier has hinted at the possibility of an agreement within two months, while it has expressed in a non-clear way, how opponents of negotiations are 80 per cent in agreement with each other.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker avoided the rhetoric on Brex in his speech to the European Parliament this month on the bloc's situation. Angela Merkel is reportedly ready for an agreement on Brex, so that the EU will focus on issues that could be more dangerous for the bloc's cohesion, such as disputes over migration policies and challenges for rule of law, which have been raised by populist leaders in Italy, Hungary and Poland.

On Monday, Poland was barred from participating in the works of an EU body representing the justice institutions of member states. Poland is accused of erosion in independence of the judiciary, following changes submitted by the party's right government “Law and Justice”.

Brussels has threatened with further sanctions over what it calls “systematic threats to the rule of law in Poland, following a Supreme Court sweep through the forced retirement of a third of the judges. Polish President Andreze Duda dismissed the bloc's threats, telling his supporters this week during a rally in southern Poland that, “a should stay away from us and let us fix Poland. ”

According to a statement by German and Austrian officials, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria discussed Monday, prior to the summit, the importance of Britain's immediate departure from the EU, without reaching a trade agreement. Leaving without agreement, they said, would hurt Britain the most, but would have a negative impact on some of the bloc's states. “We share the same attitude, that we must do everything to avoid Brex without agreement”, the Austrian Chancellor said.

The British hope that European leaders will ease the guidelines for the stalled negotiating team to make concessions to the British prime minister's “Plant Chequers”. Its plan envisions that British firms have free access to the bloc's markets for goods, but not for services. In exchange, Britain would accept certain decisions by the European Court of Justice, as well as common standards and production regulators.

But there is still considerable resistance from Brussels to the British prime minister's plan, agreed on by her cabinet at the residence of the prime minister in the village, dubbed “Crues”. The bloc's officials and member states view its proposal as an election for benefits only to the British, which can serve as an example for other member states to follow this example. They worry Britain can become a tempting country when non-European companies, mainly from Asia, are established, driven by low tax deals and have privileged access to the bloc.

Officially, the summit in Salzburg is an informal meeting of the bloc's leaders without legal power to make binding decisions. By holding a meeting to address the issues, leaders hope that disputes over migration, the future of the bloc and Brexi will not be seen as steps back to the EU.

“Takim offers the opportunity to clarify things and speak more sincerely, without expectations”, a bloc official told Voice of America. Any decision taken unofficially could be formalised at another official meeting expected to take place next month, he added.

No one expects progress on the migration issue. Every time the bloc's leaders debate migration policy, the disagreements seem to deepen.

Recent proposals, including plans for the “controlled” within the bloc, to examine migrants' cases, as well as the creation of the “platform regional exhumation” for migrants to North Africa, have been criticised by both populists and liberals.

Populists argue that centres should be isolated, because if the camps are open, immigrants can leave. Liberals fear that closed camps can become victims of abuse. They take, for example, the centers operating on the Greek islands, where the severe condition of immigrants has been condemned by human rights groups and by the United Nations.

The European Union Commission is also seeking the creation of a genuine “border force”, and in June proposed strengthening the Border Agency and the maritime line established in 2016, with a staff of 10,000 guards. Critics say the bloc's border is too big to ensure efficiency. Some member states disagree that EU police take control of the border, preferring the states themselves to do so without Brussels' intervention.

Mozart's most famous piece of bow quartet No.19, known as “desonence”, due to the very slow opening of the piece. This part has not been chosen to play at official meetings during the summit in Salzburg. / VoA