New poll shows PASOK steadily holding second place
A poll released on Wednesday shows PASOK steadily in second place ahead of SYRIZA, though still trailing significantly behind New Democracy.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1248790/new-poll-shows-pasok-steadily-holding-second-place
PM Mitsotakis to meet Cyprus President Christodoulides on Thursday
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to meet with the President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, on Thursday.
PASOK: Final agreement on debate terms
PASOK-KINAL leadership candidates have agreed on all terms for their debate, which will take place on September 24 and will be broadcast by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/848842/PASOK-Final-agreement-on-debate-terms
High demand for reissue of 10-year Greek government bond
High demand was recorded for the reissue of a 10-year Greek government bond on Wednesday, with bids that were 3.7 times higher than the asked sum of 250 million euros.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/848762/High-demand-for-reissue-of-10-year-Greek-government-bond
ATHEX: Quiet day in anticipation of Fed news
The Greek stock market was awaiting the evening verdict of the US Fed on interest rates – which proved bold enough with a 50-basis point cut – so while Wednesday’s session at Athinon Avenue proved subdued enough, Thursday’s will likely be more vibrant.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1248795/athex-quiet-day-in-anticipation-of-fed-news
KATHIMERINI: Obligatory detention for relapsing criminals awaiting trial
TA NEA: Israel’s secret plan: This is how they blew up Hezbollah
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Blind terrorism by Israel
RIZOSPASTIS: 50th Youth Festival of the Greek Communist Party: A window open to the future
KONTRA NEWS: Ruling New Democracy MPs ask for Fin Min Hatzidakis to be ousted from the government
DIMOKRATIA: They are now persecuting Christians
NAFTEMPORIKI: Eurostat: Everything changes regarding the calculation of state debt
DRIVING THE DAY
VDL CONSOLIDATES: Complex org charts are flying around as policy experts try to determine the exact power dynamics in the new Commission after Ursula von der Leyen this week reshuffled her team and unveiled a slate of new portfolios.
The power grab is complete: However detailed the org chart, this much is abundantly clear: A president already famed for her top-down, tightly controlled leadership style has ensured she will have unfettered domination over EU politics.
Control freakery? “She will be even more in control of everything,” said one EU official quoted in today’s must-read piece by my colleagues Barbara Moens, Max Griera and Jacopo Barigazzi about the culmination of months of public and private strategizing to remove the dissenting voices from von der Leyen’s first College of Commissioners.
How she did it: Von der Leyen conjured up a fancy job title for France with less responsibility than it had before; leaned on battle-hardened loyalists like Slovakia’s Maroš Šefčovič, Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis and Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra; dispatched critics such as France’s Breton; and diluted key responsibilities between multiple people, as insurance against future pockets of resistance.
At what price? Von der Leyen spent the summer bludgeoning governments into U-turning on their choices for commissioners, offering them bigger jobs if they gave in to her preferences. Now it’s dawning on France that its nominee Stéphane Séjourné has a smaller portfolio than his predecessor; while Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, though he boasts the shiny title of executive vice president and oversees some ECR-friendly topics like farming, only has the middleweight DG REGIO in his direct control. In reality, Germany will retain its grip on Europe’s finances, as my colleagues Gregorio Sorgi and Barbara Moens write.
Also aggrieved: Outgoing Jobs Commissioner Nicolas Schmit bemoaned in a radio interview that he wasn’t renominated by Luxembourg, criticizing von der Leyen as well as his country’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden. Another term for Schmit, the Socialist lead candidate in this year’s EU election, was a key center-left demand. The Commission chief could’ve made the sort of quid-pro-quo deal she did with other countries to keep him. Schmit said von der Leyen offered him a “special envoy” post as a consolation — which he found “absolutely affronting” and “beneath my personal dignity.”
Blame VDL: “My feeling is that von der Leyen was not particularly keen on nominating Schmit, just like she was not eager in having a strong character like Breton at her side,” Marc Angel, a Luxembourgish MEP and Schmit ally, told my colleague Max Griera.
Who’s the most collegial? Remember, Schmit slammed his then-boss on the campaign trail for a lack of “collegiality” and an aloof management style. This week von der Leyen reminded all commissioners about the “spirit of collegiality” they’re meant to have.
HANDY GUIDE: Curious about which directorates-general each commissioner will oversee? Check out this comprehensive table created by EU digital policy expert Max Frey. (It’s almost as good as our own Lucia Mackenzie’s interactive one.)
SLOVENIA’S COMMISSIONER
ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE FACES RUSSIA QUESTIONS: Marta Kos, the Slovenian commissioner nominee who is poised to get the enlargement brief, was approved by a now infamous parliamentary committee that until last night had refused to meet. Slovenian journalist Blaž Mohorčič reports Kos will — finally — be officially nominated by Ljubljana today.
Kos accused of being pro-Russian: During the lengthy committee meeting, a Slovenian MP allied with ex-PM Janez Janša grilled Kos about her past comments that struck a conciliatory tone toward Moscow, such as the ones my colleagues Nicholas Vinocur and Una Hajdari mention in this article about what Europe’s new enlargement czar means for Ukraine.
Defending her record: “The fact is that Russia is the aggressor, and it is violating international law,” Kos said in response. “The fact is that the civilian population is suffering and that Russia is lying about saying that civilian institutions are not targets. Such actions must definitely be condemned.” She said her earlier comments must be understood in context, and told reporters: “I don’t expect everyone to like me, but I don’t want them to spread lies about me.”
THE NEXT BATTLE: PARLIAMENT VS. COMMISSION
INTER-INSTITUTIONAL INFIGHTING: As Playbook reported, there was outrage in some quarters of the Parliament Tuesday when von der Leyen appeared to snub MEPs in the prestigious Conference of Presidents by telling them almost nothing about the new Commission and revealing everything in a press conference minutes later. That sense of rancor bodes ill for the bigger battle looming between the two institutions: the commissioner candidate hearings.
They can’t even see eye to eye on when to start. A senior Commission official briefed journalists Wednesday that on paper, Nov. 1 could still be a possible start date for the new College, depending on how quickly the hearings can happen. But few buy it, and MEPs are pushing back at what some see as an attempt to steamroll them. “We want to use our democratic right which we fought for to really test the designated commissioners,” said Bernd Lange, a German Social Democrat MEP who is closely involved in the Parliament’s planning.
Diary dilemma: Hearings could start on Oct. 14 or Nov. 4, Lange said, but may not happen until Dec. 1. The whole process could be delayed further if commissioners wobble in Parliament. An internal Socialists and Democrats group note about the next steps, dated Monday and seen by Playbook, predicts “we could expect many candidates to have a second hearing and then a full committee vote,” due to the complex political patchwork of the new Parliament, where a two-thirds majority will be hard to reach.
PARLIAMENT SEIZES ITS CHANCE FOR MORE POWER: Behind the scenes, there’s another battle playing out between the Commission and Parliament, with both sides poised to renegotiate the charter that governs their relationship — one of those classic EU documents that pretends to be stuffy and technical but is highly political.
Lessons in leverage: Parliament President Roberta Metsola, one of three negotiators alongside Lange and the EPP’s Sven Simon, wants to do a political deal before the big Parliament vote on von der Leyen’s second Commission, in a clear attempt to gain leverage. Von der Leyen … not so much. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for an outgoing College of Commissioners to sign off on this,” one Commission official said.
What Parliament wants: More info sooner from the Commission, the right to summon people and more scrutiny powers.The Commission is “upset about the Parliament rebalancing the imbalances,” said one Parliament official.
Stop ignoring us: The Commission has been bypassing the Parliament “more often than ever,” according to a draft Parliament report obtained by Playbook under freedom of information laws. On 14 occasions since 2020, the EU executive has invoked a special clause in the EU’s treaties to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, citing emergencies like Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s compared to five times in the decade before 2020.
Give us a say: Metsola wrote a sharply worded letter, seen by Playbook, to von der Leyen in July demanding “equal treatment” by the Commission, saying its “scrutiny powers should be fully respected” when it comes to MOUs signed by the Commission. Parliament is miffed about not being consulted on the big migration deals that von der Leyen has struck with North African autocrats.
What the Commission wants: Proper consultation on parliamentary rule changes that impact the Commission — like, for instance, insisting the president tells them her plans for the Commission before anyone else. Oh, and for MEPs to actually show up to plenary debates with commissioners. Von der Leyen, who doesn’t have a reputation as a fan of Parliament, to say the least, has been at pains to show she cares about the institution this year, promising a “closer partnership” in July and telling commissioners in their mission letters to spend more time with MEPs. For her top team to make it through, she’s going to need ‘em.
HOW TO SPEAK VDL 2.0
Don’t say: Green.
Do say: Clean.
Don’t say: Stovepipes.
Do say: Holistic clusters.
Don’t say: Kids.
Do say: Intergenerational fairness.
Don’t say: Commissioner I made a deal with.
Do say: Executive vice president.
Don’t say: Jobs and social rights.
Do say: Skills.
Don’t say: ECR.
Do say: Italy.
Don’t say: 16 male commissioners.
Do say: 40 percent women.
Don’t say: Tempi train crash.
Do say: Sustainable transport.
Don’t say: Don’t mess with the boss.
Do say: A spirit of collegiality.
Don’t say: Screw you, Viktor Orbán.
Do say: Commissioner for health and animal welfare.
Don’t say: The Draghi Report.
Do say: The Holy Bible.
Do say: All commissioners are equal.
Don’t say: But some are more equal than others.
CORDON SANITAIRE
EPP ACCUSED OF TEAMING UP WITH FAR RIGHT: The European People’s Party is opening itself up to accusations it’s trashing the much-trumpeted cordon santaire against the far right in Parliament for the sake of passing a non-binding text about Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela.
EPP joins the Patriots: MEPs will today vote on the resolution about Venezuela’s dubious election co-signed by the EPP group, the European Conservatives and Reformists group and the far-right Patriots group, which contains MEPs from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz and Spain’s Vox.
Talks between the EPP and groups to its left broke down over whether the Parliament should follow Washington and officially recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, as El País’s Silvia Ayuso reported this week — a move the Socialists argue is precipitous, and which no EU country has yet done. “We should be on the right side of history,” Spanish PP MEP Dolors Montserrat from the EPP argued. The EPP signed a compromise text with ECR and the Patriots, but will probably need the extreme-right AfD to get a majority.
Patriots can’t hold the pen: Spanish Socialist MEP Javier López, a vice president of the Parliament, said “What we don’t accept is we have a writing process [with] the Patriots, accepted by the EPP as partners to build majorities with the three groups of the far right.”
A sign of things to come? “Manfred Weber’s announcement that EPP would only partner with pro-European, pro-Ukraine, pro-rule of law groups apparently collapsed already at the second plenary week,” said the Greens’ Hannah Neumann.
EPPushback: “No, we table our text and they agree to it and they sign. What we could do?” said an EPP spokesperson, who accused left-wing MEPs of quitting negotiations and stirring “shit” instead. The Socialists will vote against it, and Renew’s MEPs won’t even participate in the vote in protest, Playbook’s been told.
FOCUS ON GERMANY
MERZ IN BRUSSELS: Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrat Union (CDU) who will run as the conservative candidate for chancellor in Germany’s next federal election, is expected to attend the EPP’s political assembly in Brussels from Sept. 30-Oct. 1, reports my Berlin Playbook colleague Hans von der Burchard. The trip has yet to be confirmed.
What he could be quizzed about: His plan to suspend EU law to allow Germany to turn away more irregular migrants. That’s worrying European lawyers, as well as Commission boss von der Leyen and the conservative leaders of Poland and Greece, among others. But Merz is undeterred. “He is absolutely determined to take a very offensive stance on the issue,” Hans hears from an CDU official.
When one domino falls … On Wednesday, the Dutch government announced its intention to opt out of EU migration rules, with Hungary quickly following suit. Writing on X, Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka said: “Drastic action is needed to stem illegal migration, the Hungarian government will join the Netherlands in asking for an opt-out from EU asylum and migration rules, if a Treaty amendment allows it.”
Merz’s next stop: After Brussels, Merz plans to visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara in October.
NOW READ THIS: Germany is finally emerging from the first stage of economic grief: denial, writes my colleague Matt Karnitschnig. After years of turning a blind eye and being more concerned about migration and regional conflicts, Germans are slowly coming to terms with the reality that they are in deep economic trouble.
MIDDLE EAST
GERMANY DENIES IT HAS STOPPED WEAPONS EXPORTS TO ISRAEL: The German government has significantly reduced its arms sales to Israel this year — but denied reports of a full-scale export block.
TODAY IN PARIS: Senior diplomats from the U.S., France, Germany, U.K. and Italy meet this evening in Paris for an urgent “quint format” crisis meeting to discuss the tense situation in the Middle East. AFP has more.
MEANWHILE, REGION IS BOILING OVER: Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the war is entering a “new phase,” hours after announcing Israeli troops would be moved to the north of the country and a second wave of explosions rocked Lebanon. The Wall Street Journal has a good tick-tock of the covert attack against Hezbollah.
OTHER NEWS
MACRON’S 9 LIVES: Emmanuel Macron has survived losing an election, dissolving parliament, calling another election, losing it, and triggering chaos and confusion by taking forever to appoint a French prime minister. Clea Caulcutt explores how.
ON THE LAMMY: U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy is in Brussels to discuss the post-Brexit future of Gibraltar. He’ll be negotiating with Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and the European Commission’s Maroš Šefčovič.
Brexit think tank teeters: The U.K. in a Changing Europe think tank at King’s College London, which focused on Britain’s relationship with the EU, is in dire financial straits, Director Anand Menon announced on X.
TRUMP AND DUDA: U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is planning to appear with Polish President Andrzej Duda in the battleground state of Pennsylvania this Sunday, Reuters reports.
Tehran wades in: Iranian hackers sent sensitive information stolen from Team Trump to President Joe Biden’s campaign earlier this summer, U.S. investigators said Wednesday. Our Stateside colleagues have more.
Today’s top listen: Power Play host Anne McElvoy speaks with JD Vance’s political confidants to reveal his surprising Hungarian connection, and to uncover what the U.S. vice presidential candidate’s European links mean for his politics now.