The European Union (EU) has committed itself to the Green Deal and actually wants to protect the climate.
But EU Council President Charles Michel (47) isn’t taking the whole thing seriously, squandering hundreds of thousands of euros on private jets in 2022!
What climate hypocrisy!
► The list of the French “Le Monde” shows: last year Michel spent at least (!) 700,000 euros on private jets from the company “Luxaviation”.
Blast: Even on air routes within Europe best served by commercial providers, the EU Council president wants to board a private jet.
- 26.1.2022 – Vienna, meeting with Chancellor Carl Nehmer
Round trip: 20 533 euros - 9.2.2022 – Meeting with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholes, Berlin
Round trip: 37 500 euros - 16.2.2022 – Paris, Dinner (Theme: Terror in the Sahel)
Round trip: 35 750 euros - 2022 – 5 flights from Strasbourg to the European Parliament (12,250 to 35,000 Euro)
- November 2022 – Climate Summit (!) “COP27”, Egypt:
Outbound flight with Ursula van der Leyen: €103,632 Return flight: €50,550 - 1.12.2022 – Beijing, Trefen Mit Xi Jinping
Round trip: 460 000 euros
► Michael justified his very expensive trip to China with the corona measures still in place in the People’s Republic. “Due to Covid regulations in China, the President and his delegation were quarantined for two weeks upon arrival and were unable to book a commercial flight,” the council said.
The visit displeased many European capitals, including Paris and Berlin, who considered it unnecessary at the time.
A private jet is better than a train
Michael also traveled to Brest, France for an Ocean Summit, a meeting to protect the oceans. However, the EU Council President preferred flying by jet to traveling by train.
► In addition to his numerous private jet trips, Michael only traveled by train three times in 2022. Even for trips to Paris – an hour and twenty minutes by train – the EU Council President prefers to take a car with a driver.
The EU’s claim to be climate-neutral by 2050 is hard to justify even within our own ranks.
In addition, Michael rarely travels alone and always brings large delegations to international meetings and summits. For the Versailles summit on March 10 and 11, 2022 alone, he traveled with 22 staff members and his wife.
Charles Michael wants more money for his travels
Also: Charles Michel wants more money for his trips, reports “Politico” an EU document from March 1 of this year.
► Accordingly, the budget for the EU Council Presidency for 2024 will increase by 27.5 percent to 2.6 million euros. The reason: the war in Ukraine and the resulting “intense international action”.
Because: “We need to explain our sanctions against Moscow to third countries and fight back against Putin’s claim that they are responsible for inflation,” the Politico document quoted him as saying.
About 1.985 million euros are estimated for the trips of Michael and his delegation alone – a third more than this year’s budget.
In comparison: his predecessors Hermann van Rompuy (2010-2014) and Donald Tusk (2014-2019) did not exceed 500,000 euros as EU Council President, while the budget was less than a million euros.
The EU Council President suspects a campaign against him
As reported by Le Monde, Charles Michel suspects a campaign against him.
“There may be an attempt at destabilization or intimidation towards me on the one hand and the congregation on the other. “I believe that the increased role of the Council and the EU on the international stage will worry many actors,” Michel told French newspaper La Libre.
Also: “I cannot rule out that some are already trying to get high positions (…).”
Charles Michel cannot stand for re-election in the 2024 European Council elections and his presidency is limited to 5 years.
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