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Euractiv
2 days ago
- Business
- Euractiv
The president who wasn't there
Welcome to the Capitals by Eddy Wax, with Nicoletta Ionta. We welcome feedback and tips here. Sign up here. In today's edition: VDL is safe, and long gone Race to run DG COMP Budget digest Today's edition is powered by CEN and CENELEC Standards support European competitiveness CEN and CENELEC welcome Denmark's Presidency of the EU Council. We are ready to leverage the strength of standards to help Europe complete the Single Market, drive innovation, strengthen competitiveness and ensure effective regulation across strategic sectors. Read more. À la carte Ursula von der Leyen is so chilled about today's motion of censure against her Commission that she's not even here. Rather than wait for a vote that will fail to topple her, von der Leyen left Strasbourg last night for the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome where she will also meet US Senator Lindsey Graham, whose tough sanctions bill against Russia is advancing through Congress. But that wasn't before making two concessions to the Socialists in Parliament, who had been threatening to abstain from today's midday vote. Abstaining would not bring down the Commission but could expose how little support there is for von der Leyen and the EPP in the centre of the political spectrum, and feed a narrative that the German Christian Democrat is losing her grip on the Parliament. Last night, after negotiating directly with von der Leyen, top Socialist MEP Iratxe García said she had got a cast-iron guarantee from the Commission that the European Social Fund+ – an instrument that funds things like job training and social inclusion schemes, and is projected to be worth around €150 billion over the next seven years – will be retained in the next EU budget. Until now, the Commission had been toying with the idea of simply earmarking money as societally friendly, an idea that was a non-starter for the centre-left, according to a Socialist official. Renew Europe will also vote down the motion rather than abstaining, but said in a press release last night that the next key moment will be von der Leyen's annual State of the Union address in September. 'It must mark a shift in leadership style – from unilateralism to partnership,' the liberals said. Fading Support for Ukraine Ukraine opens a high stakes Recovery Conference in Rome today, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy aiming to secure energy deals and defence investment. But Western allies admit options are dwindling, and a €100 billion EU support plan remains blocked by Hungary. A separate summit on security guarantees, chaired by France and the UK today, is also expected to deliver little. The resulting picture, a senior NATO official told Alexandra Brzozowski, is bleak. 'Ukraine continues to show a lot of innovative spirit,' they said. 'But we are in for a stressful and difficult summer.' Parliament backs money laundering watchlist On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved an updated list of high-risk third countries for money laundering and terrorist financing, choosing not to oppose the European Commission's proposal. The revised list removes the UAE, Barbados, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Panama, the Philippines, Senegal, and Uganda. The move marks a shift from last year, when MEPs strongly opposed the Commission's bid to delist Gibraltar, Panama, and the UAE, citing evidence that the countries had failed to curb sanctions circumvention, particularly in relation to Russia. The competition to lead DG COMP The European Commission's powerful competition authority – responsible for slapping Google and Apple with billion-euro fines, probing Big Oil, and reining in corporate power across the EU – is facing a leadership vacuum. Oliver Guersent, the French civil servant who has led DG Competition since 2020, will step down on 31 July, setting off a scramble for one of the EU's most politically sensitive posts. Names like Anthony Whelan – acting economics advisor in von der Leyen's cabinet – and DG Energy chief Ditte Juul Jørgensen are being floated in Brussels corridors, as first reported by the FT. Whelan is seen as almost too qualified for the job. 'The president won't let him go that easily,' one senior EU official told Euractiv. Jørgensen, a former chief of staff to Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, brings the advantage of coming from a smaller member state – a factor that would ease tensions around nationality balance and reduce friction with major capitals. A Frenchman, Guersent's exit also raises questions about the mix of nationalities at the top of the Commission. That also weakens the case for another French contender, Céline Gauer, who runs the Commission's Reform and Investment Task Force. She is widely seen as highly competent, having negotiated the recovery plans with EU capitals. Still, there are signs that the Commission will go for a simpler option: a DG-level reshuffle rather than promoting someone still finding their feet. In that regard, Linsey McCallum is seen as a strong contender. With a proven track record as deputy director-general for antitrust, she's already navigating the most politically charged files in the building. 'She's extremely respected, has the courage to act when needed, and knows how to be political while remaining deeply respectful,' an antitrust economist noted. MFF digest Less than a week before the Commission presents the bulk of its 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, virtually all parts of the proposal have been leaked. Our chief diplomatic correspondent Alexandra Brzozowski writes that the Commission will propose combining different external action programmes and funds into a single 'Global Europe Fund', divided between six regions. It will suggest, for the first time in a budget proposal, to directly link the EU's foreign aid to recipient countries' efforts in preventing migration into the bloc. Another key element of the EU executive's proposal will be a Ukraine fund to be incorporated into the EU budget, to guarantee long-term financing for Kyiv from 2028 to 2034. Likelihood of success on a scale from 1 to Hungary: Unlikely. Read more here. Chief defence correspondent Aurélie Pugnet writes that defence start-ups are to get a specific fund named "DARPA" under the Horizon Europe research programme. DARPA is the name of the US Pentagon's key agency channelling billions of dollars in defence innovation, which does not have an equivalent at EU level. A European DARPA (mimicking the US agency which invests in defence innovation) could help complete the EU defence fund currently marked at €8 billion. Euractiv's Claudie Moreau writes that the Commission is preparing to merge the Creative Europe and Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) funding programmes. The new proposal, obtained by Euractiv, would fund culture, media, audiovisual services, and projects aimed at supporting EU values. This is a hit for cultural industries that rely heavily on Creative Europe and feared combining it with other funding objectives may dilute their own share of the EU budget. Read more. Meanwhile, Euractiv's Jacob Wulff Wold writes that there are few details so far on the two thirds of the budget reserved for farmers and the regions. The latter have been promised a "dedicated" budget with a preserved two pillar structure of direct farmer support and rural development funds. A Monday German parliamentary cable, seen by Euractiv, suggests only the direct payments will be truly ring-fenced within the national partnerships, with the rest of CAP and cohesion subject to 'horizontal flexibility'. But the fight may last until the final whistle on Wednesday. Around the bloc GERMANY | German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged trouble with France over the joint next-generation fighter jet project on Wednesday, but expressed confidence that the aircraft remains needed and will get back on track. Read more. FRANCE | The European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday rejected French far-right leader Marine Le Pen's request to suspend a Paris Criminal Court ruling that bars her from holding public office. The court found that "no imminent risk of irreparable harm to a right protected by the European Convention on Human Rights or its protocols has been established". ITALY | Italy's Tribunal of Ministers is weighing criminal charges against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and top officials over the government's controversial release of a Libyan general wanted by the International Criminal Court. Read more. SPAIN | Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ruled out resignation on Wednesday, unveiling a sweeping anti-graft strategy as his Socialist party faces mounting scrutiny over corruption allegations. Read more. CZECHIA | Czech President Petr Pavel will present a plan for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction at Thursday's international recovery conference in Rome. The plan focuses on stabilising and modernising Ukraine's economy, attracting investment, facilitating the return of refugees, and accelerating Ukraine's EU accession path. Read more. Also on Euractiv
Euractiv
4 days ago
- Business
- Euractiv
Starmer and Macron hit migration headwinds
Welcome to the Capitals by Eddy Wax, with Nicoletta Ionta. We welcome feedback and tips here. Sign up here. In today's edition: Macron's Br-entry Censure motion scorecard Greens rush to 2040 Fire near Schuman Today's edition is powered by CEN and CENELEC Standards support European competitiveness CEN and CENELEC welcome Denmark's Presidency of the EU Council. We are ready to leverage the strength of standards to help Europe complete the Single Market, drive innovation, strengthen competitiveness and ensure effective regulation across strategic sectors. Read more. À la carte Emmanuel Macron arrives in the UK today for a three-day state visit, the first afforded to any EU leader since Brexit. But while Macron and Starmer – both struggling domestically – will hold each other tight, one issue threatens to poison the pomp-filled trip: migration. Read Laurent Geslin's curtain raiser here. Starmer is looking to sign a deal with France this week to decrease the number of small boats crossing the Channel. 'Smashing the gangs' responsible for transporting more than 20,000 people to the UK so far this year is one of Starmer's main stated aims – but he needs French police to make that a reality. The initial proposed agreement would reportedly follow a 'one in, one out' migrant exchange programme, Nicoletta explains. France would take back those who cross the Channel, while the UK would accept more migrants from France with legitimate claims to enter. Talks have run into political and legal hurdles, however, as the deal faces pushback from other EU countries. In a 20 June letter, five southern EU countries, including Italy and Spain, warned the Commission against EU countries signing bilateral migration deals with the UK, fearing others could be left to pick up the slack. Under the EU's migration rules, asylum-seekers returned to France might then be bounced back to the first EU country they arrived in, most often a southern one. EU-US trade latest Ireland's trade minister said in a statement that it's 'likely there will be some form of tariffs going forward,' between the EU and the US, in the surest sign yet that the EU is about to swallow a 10% tariff on its exports to America. Simon Harris said last night his understanding was that the US side's deadline has now slipped to 1 August. Harris said he now hopes for a deal in the 'coming days and weeks'. Trade talks continuing through July is a surprise because tomorrow was for a long time considered the deadline for the EU and US to strike a deal. The EU is still intending to strike a loose so-called framework agreement with Washington soon, which would maintain the 10% tariffs in place, avoid Trump hiking them to 20% or even 50%, and buy the EU some carve-outs for sensitive sectors such as aircraft and alcohol. One EU diplomat, familiar with the briefing ambassadors received from the Commission on Monday, said that the EU executive sees a choice between accepting an unbalanced deal or accepting prolonged unpredictability. But even if the Commission accepts a deal now, there's nothing to stop Donald Trump upping the ante in the future at any time. Socialists swoop on Weber Socialist leader Iratxe García delivered the most compelling speech during Monday's debate with Ursula von der Leyen, as the Commission president faces a motion of censure from the far right. Von der Leyen predictably used her five minutes to rail against the far right and defend her record during the pandemic. García turned the debate into a referendum on Manfred Weber, the EPP parliamentary leader who got von der Leyen elected but has been playing fast and loose with the informal centrist pact ever since. Nicoletta has the whole story here. Polish-German border spat Poland reimposed border checks on vehicles from Germany overnight, escalating a tit-for-tat row with Berlin and dealing a fresh blow to Schengen. The move was originally announced last week. The checks add Poland to the list of 11 Schengen countries reintroducing controls. Delays are expected through early August, just in time to snarl summer holiday traffic and hammer local economies. Business groups are sounding alarms over supply chain and cross-border workforce disruptions. Warsaw says it's retaliating for Berlin's own checks, but travellers are paying the price. Read our analysis. Greens rush for 2040 target After months of blasting the speed with which the 'simplification' of environment laws was rushed through the European Parliament, the Greens want to force a vote of their own on the bloc's 2040 climate target. Why the urgency? EU states have until the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22 to produce an emission reductions target for 2035 as part of global climate talks. And MEPs have no real say without a Parliament-wide agreement. To get there, the Greens argue a fast-track procedure for the climate target is needed. Their plan: agree a position in the environment committee as soon as possible by cutting down on deadline extensions. The Left and S&D support the motion. However, the vote's prospects look glum because the centre-right EPP is unlikely to back it. Even liberal Renew will not lend its support, one source told us yesterday afternoon, preferring to leave the door open to switch camps last minute. Coordinators, who negotiate for their groups in the environment committee, meet this morning for a last sit-down – with a back-up meeting planned for the afternoon. Donohoe holds the Eurogroup Ireland's Paschal Donohoe was re-elected as president of the Eurogroup after Spain's Carlos Cuerpo and Lithuania's Rimantas Šadžius failed to garner enough support and dropped out. Around the bloc FRANCE | A minute's silence was observed yesterday in the National Assembly following the announcement of the sudden death of Les Républicains MP Olivier Marleix. Aged 54, he had served as an adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy before being elected in 2012 to represent the 2nd constituency of Eure-et-Loir. ITALY | According to Italian media reports, the defence ministry is set to fast-track military procurement, allowing urgent purchases of weapons, ammunition and equipment while bypassing the Court of Auditors' standard oversight. Instead, a special commission with representatives from the armed forces and state legal bodies would be created. Opposition parties have vowed to block the move. SPAIN | The Spanish National Court indicted the former president of national railway operator ADIF, Isabel Pardo de Vera, and former director for State Highways, Javier Herrero, for allegedly rigging public works. The corruption probe is investigating a multi-million corruption scheme linking PM Pedro Sánchez's inner circle, former cabinet members, and high-ranking officials with unlawfully granting public awards to private companies in exchange for kickbacks. POLAND | Polish farmers are suspending their protests against EU agriculture policy to support 'citizen' patrols organised by far-right activists on the border, targeting alleged smuggling of illegal migrants from Germany into Poland. Read more. SLOVAKIA | Juraj Cintula, a 72-year-old man accused of shooting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico last year, will stand trial today. Read more. LITHUANIA | Pressure is mounting on Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, with a protest expected today outside the country's parliament, demanding his resignation over recent scandals and the participation of the far right in his coalition. Read more. Also on Euractiv
Euractiv
5 days ago
- Business
- Euractiv
Much ado about censure
Welcome to the Capitals by Eddy Wax, with Nicoletta Ionta. We welcome feedback and tips here. Sign up here. In today's edition: A censure storm in Strasbourg Tariffs latest Sánchez battles on Kaczyński's latest tête-à-tête Today's edition is powered by CEN and CENELEC Standards support European competitiveness CEN and CENELEC welcome Denmark's Presidency of the EU Council. We are ready to leverage the strength of standards to help Europe complete the Single Market, drive innovation, strengthen competitiveness and ensure effective regulation across strategic sectors. Read more. À la carte War is still raging in Ukraine, 50% US tariffs are hanging over EU businesses and the EU has a China summit to prepare. But Ursula von der Leyen is being hauled to the podium in the European Parliament today to answer to a far-right MEP whose boss can't get over having lost the Romanian election. You could get 72 MEPs to agree on just about anything. The ludicrously low bar that the Parliament sets to trigger a motion of censure against the entire European Commission –something that would be an unprecedented crisis for 27 countries – will be on full show in Strasbourg, when MEP Gheorghe Piperea stands up to tout his attempt to blow up Ursula von der Leyen and her team. Even he admits it will fail at the vote on Thursday, largely due to the high bar required for it to pass – two-thirds of the votes cast, representing a majority of all 720 MEPs. Piperea's motion – signed by a rag-tag bunch of Polish nationalists, extreme right MEPs, and homeless Putin sympathisers – focuses on the Pfizergate scandal. It also claims without evidence that the Commission interfered in elections in Romania and Germany, and complains about von der Leyen's circumvention of MEPs on the joint defence loans, which Parliament is already dealing with elsewhere. The timing is ironic. Most of the vitriol being levelled at von der Leyen these past weeks has come not from the far-right fringe but from her traditional centrist allies in Parliament who are enraged about her European People's Party slide to the right. Here's our best bet on von der Leyen's likely pitch when she speaks in the debate this afternoon in front of her "entire" team of commissioners: 'You know me, I'm the person who invented the European Green Deal, I'm pro-climate, I stood up to Viktor Orbán before the Pride festival and I'm backing Ukraine to the hilt, and look at my team: it includes the commissioners you voted for last year. I want to work with you, not the far right.' The centre-left MEPs who elected the Commission last year may be fed up with EPP chief Manfred Weber frequently ditching them to side with further-right groups on everything from bashing NGOs and anti-greenwashing legislation, to divvying up migration bills. But their leverage is limited. The Socialists will not support the censure motion. Nor will Renew or the Greens. After all, it would be absurd to ally with the far right because they are annoyed about the EPP doing so. The EPP isn't exactly keeping calm, however. 'A full EPP presence at this vote [on Thursday] is absolutely compulsory!' screamed an internal EPP group email seen by the Capitals. The real threat to von der Leyen's Commission – if there is one – is her ongoing negotiations on trade with the US. Messing up there will draw ire from member countries who truly hold the whip hand. EU-US talks continue, deadline slips France is increasingly a lone voice calling for retaliation on tariffs, whether there is or isn't a deal with the US. French Finance Minister Eric Lombard raised the prospect of an imminent deal over the weekend – which has not transpired. "If not, Europe will undoubtedly have to respond more vigorously to restore the balance," he said, according to AFP. Emmanuel Macron himself has called for the EU to impose equal tariffs on the US, if any deal leaves the EU with a baseline tariff. The Commission is increasingly looking at a deal that would maintain 10% tariffs on exports to the US in exchange for relief from sensitive sectors. Commission Spokesperson Olof Gill said talks on substance were taking place over the weekend, following progress on an 'agreement in principle' (i.e. a bare-bones deal similar to the one that the US stuck with the UK.) 'We are preparing for the possibility that no satisfactory agreement is reached,' he added. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said over the weekend that the US would now only apply the highest rate of tariffs to trade partners who fail to sign deals with Washington from 1 August. He told CNN that the EU and US sides were 'making very good progress,' raising hopes that a deal can be struck to avoid a general tariff of up to 50%, as threatened by Donald Trump. Feijóo re-elected, Sánchez hangs on Spanish conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo on Sunday refused to rule out future alliances with the far-right Vox party, as he was re-elected for a second term at the Partido Popular's national congress. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was in full damage control mode. At the PSOE federal congress in Madrid, the Socialist leader was unanimously reaffirmed as party general secretary and received a standing ovation, a display of unity amid the party scandal. Just hours before the event, Sánchez's close ally Francisco Salazar resigned before even officially taking up his new post as deputy secretary, amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of power. Trying to turn the page, Sánchez appointed Rebeca Torró as the party's new organisational secretary. But the shadow of corruption still looms: Torró's two predecessors, Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and senior official Santos Cerdán, are both entangled in the widening corruption probe roiling the Socialist ranks. Read the full recap here. Eurozone leadership vote Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is in pole position to win another term as chair of the Eurogroup today. The centre-right politician is facing two challengers for the role steering the group of 20 EU countries who use the euro: Spain's Carlos Cuerpo and Lithuania's Rimantas Šadžius. More details here. Germany leads migration summit Under Germany's initiative, ministers from France, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Czechia, and EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner are heading to a high-altitude huddle on migration at Zugspitze, in the Alps, on 18 July. The goal is to hammer out a joint push for a tougher, faster, more coordinated migration policy across Europe, a spokesperson of Germany's interior ministry told reporters on Friday. Around the bloc FRANCE | To rein in public spending, the government is considering the possibility of a 'standstill year', Foreign Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin confirmed yesterday. The idea would be to carry over the State's 2025 spending levels into 2026, without taking inflation into account. This measure could generate savings of €6 billion — still a long way off the €40 billion in cuts being considered by Prime Minister François Bayrou, who is due to present his initial budgetary guidelines on 15 July. ITALY | Italy's right-wing coalition showed rare public signs of division this weekend as Forza Italia clashed with its allies over a proposal to expand access to citizenship for children of immigrants. Read more. SPAIN | The Spanish opposition People's Party (PP) would not apply a 'cordon sanitaire' to the far-right Vox party, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said on Sunday. Read more. POLAND | The influential leader of Polish opposition party, PiS (ECR), Jarosław Kaczyński, says he met parliamentary speaker Szymon Hołownia from Poland 2050 (Renew) last week to discuss how to 'save' Poland from illegal migrants. Read more. SLOVENIA | Slovenia's liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob said on Friday that he intends to call a consultative referendum on the country's NATO membership, following a surprise defeat in parliament over a related measure on defence spending. Read more. Also on Euractiv
