Government rejects ministerial inquiry in OPEKEPE probe
The government will reject opposition demands to establish a preliminary investigation committee into ministers Spilios Livanos and Fotini Arabatzi regarding the OPEKEPE/EU‑farm subsidy scandal, spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said, citing a lack of evidence after reviewing the case file.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1302792/government-rejects-ministerial-inquiry
PASOK pushes for phone surveillance inquiry
Opposition PASOK has submitted a proposal to establish a parliamentary inquiry committee into phone surveillance allegations and the role of the National Intelligence Service (EYP), reopening political tensions in Parliament.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1302777/pasok-pushes-for-phone-surveillance-inquiry
Despite slippage, ND still more than twice as popular as PASOK, new poll shows
Main opposition PASOK has slightly narrowed its popularity gap from the governing New Democracy conservatives who, however, still maintain a lead well into the two digits according to a new poll released Monday. The Opinion Poll survey on behalf of Action 24 TV found that were parliamentary elections to be promptly held ND would get 31.2% of the vote – 1.5 percentage points fewer than in March. Socialist PASOK would come second at a distant 14.4%, 1.2 percentage points more than in March but still 16.8 points fewer than ND.
Stournaras: Concern about potential recession in the Eurozone is real and justifie
Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras noted that concerns about a possible recession in the Eurozone is real and justified “given the new negative supply-side shock caused by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East,” according to an interview published on Monday in the Cyprus newspaper “Phileleftheros”.
ATHEX: Reaction by stocks that had declined
Non-bank blue chips reverted the Greek stock market to an upward trajectory after the long weekend, as a number of stocks that had suffered considerable pressure last week rebounded on Monday to put the benchmark back above the 2,200-point level. This ran counter to the international trend of concern due to the partial resumption of hostilities in the Persian Gulf and the raising of some US tariffs on European imports. The holiday in a number of markets, including London and Tokyo, contributed to containing the day’s trading volume.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1302780/athex-reaction-by-stocks-that-had-declined
KATHIMERINI: The economy enters the Strait of Hormuz
TA NEA: New defense dogma: Missiles everywhere if we are attacked
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: The PM’s office votes against the EU Prosecutor
RIZOSPASTIS: The government has no mandate to drag the people into the massacre at the Strait of Hormuz
KONTRA NEWS: Elections alert by the PM’s office in order to rally ruling party MPs
DIMOKRATIA: Not a single word about war reparations by Gerapetritis during his visit in Berlin
NAFTEMPORIKI: Airbag for loans and credit cards
DRIVING THE DAY
EXCLUSIVE — EU’S DIPLOMATIC ARM TO LOSE ITS BOSS: The top civil servant in the EU’s foreign policy branch, Belén Martínez Carbonell, has told colleagues she intends to move on.
So what: The departure from her position as secretary-general of the European External Action Service, that I’m reporting today with my colleagues Gabriel Gavin and Jacopo Barigazzi, would further shake up an institution rattled by budget cuts and institutional clashes with the European Commission. That includes a failed bid by top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas to recruit a deputy for Carbonell last year, which would have downsized the civil servant’s role.
How we know: We spoke to eight EU diplomats and officials, who were all granted anonymity to discuss internal matters. As you can imagine, any staff move, especially of someone so senior, is a sensitive issue.
EU insider: Carbonell, a senior EU official who’s held roles in the EEAS since 2010, the same year the institution was created, was only appointed to this role in February last year. She succeeded the Italian Stefano Sannino, who went from the EEAS to the Commission and late last year was placed under investigation for alleged misuse of EU funds.
Call of the south: Carbonell is set to take a posting with the EU in Latin America, two of the diplomats told us. There’s a representative role in Brazil sitting vacant. Her husband, Raúl Fuentes Milani, is stationed in the region as the EU’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic. No timeline has been given for her departure.
Official comment: “Belén Martínez Carbonell is the Secretary General of the EEAS, currently on mission with the HRVP [Kallas] in Armenia for the EPC [European Political Community] and EU-Armenia summit,” a Commission spokesperson said.
Key context: Last year, Kallas’ team floated the creation of an influential new role that would transfer some of Carbonell’s duties to a deputy, including representing the EEAS at meetings with governments and EU ambassadors. Martin Selmayr, who served as chief of staff to former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, was favored to get it. But the floated nomination triggered an internal outcry that saw him blocked from the competition. In November, Matti Maasikas, an Estonian diplomat, like Kallas, was appointed deputy director-general of the EEAS, a solution an official described as “temporary.”
Chatter: One of the diplomats said Carbonell had had to walk a tightrope between competing priorities in the EEAS and Commission: “She’s doing her best.”
Nothing to see here: A senior EU official said the EEAS was delivering on its mandate thanks to effective teamwork, citing a 20th package of sanctions against Russia, designating the Iran revolutionary guards as a terrorist group and establishing a new EU mission in Armenia.
Takeaway: Carbonell effectively acts as chief operating officer of the EEAS. Her departure would open a big vacancy — and a new scramble for power and influence at the heart of the EU.
BIG AND BREAKING
RUNAWAY TYCOON: Why the troubles of a cryptocurrency firm that sponsored one of America’s flagship conservative gatherings are turning into a major battle between Poland’s president and prime minister.
PROBLEM SOLVING: EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer today in Paris, as transatlantic trade tensions spike over Washington’s latest threats to impose steep tariffs on European cars.
ANOTHER TACTIC: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has offered an unlikely response to harsh words from Washington: Trump is essentially right.
5 TAKEAWAYS: The Commission’s long-awaited fertilizer plan eases climate rules and channels cash to farmers, according to a draft we’ve seen. (For subscribers.)
PARLIAMENT’S €1.5M PROBLEM
EXCLUSIVE ― PARTIES MISSPENT CASH: Political parties and foundations misspent €1.5 million during the 2024 EU election campaign, a series of documents drawn up by external auditors and the European Parliament’s finance department found, Max Griera writes.
Widespread: All parties apart from the Greens and the European Democratic Party and two minor foundations (which are generally think tanks linked to parties) were found to have broken the rules. This could be because of excessive or unnecessary costs, violations of public procurement requirements, or because they used the money to indirectly finance a national political party, according to the DG Finance report. In total, the parties and foundations had €74 million in EU grants at their disposal.
Saved by bureaucracy: Parliament’s finance department keeps the names of the parties and foundations that misspent funds out of the report unless they contested the finding (basically because they pledge to pay the money back).
Look at this: But one standout example among the broader findings of general misspending is that two parties and two foundations went as far as to claim expenses they never actually incurred. They didn’t contest that finding so they remain anonymous.
Criticism: “Among the many reasons for recategorizing the expenses, there could have been an attempt to fraudulently use public money,” said Louis Drounau, founder of European Democracy Consulting, a Brussels-based organization that tracks party donations.
Not the first time: This accounting tactic has been repeatedly mentioned in previous finance department audits. So much so that this year the Parliament’s administration got fed up and begged parties to “discontinue the practice,” according to the report.
Parliament response: “Any suspicion of illegal activity, fraud or corruption must be reported by the authorizing officer to OLAF or the EPPO.” It could not confirm how many cases were referred to authorities for 2024. “Most reclassifications result from administrative or procedural errors.”
Of the parties and foundations that returned our calls … The Socialists are “not concerned by the issues raised and … not involved in the matters described.” The EPP-linked Wilfried Martens Centre said: “This is a matter of annual routine as part of [the finance department’s] oversight procedures. For us, this has always affected a negligible percentage of our budget and 2024 was no different.” The Green Foundation said: “We do think the right to be heard is important and should be applied consistently.” The Socialists-linked FEPS chose not to comment.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
The number of American troops in Germany is around 36,000, and Donald Trump plans to withdraw at least 5,000 of them after a spat with Merz over the war in Iran. But what do these troops actually do? The U.S. bases are logistics hubs for military operations, including wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and, most recently, Iran. They also serve as medical centers for injured troops from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
TALK TO PLAYBOOK: On the Brussels Playbook Podcast, Zoya asked whether you know of any big EU job moves. WhatsApp us on +32 491 050629 — and listen every morning to hear if we give you a shoutout.
COMMISSION DEMANDS MORE STAFF
EXCLUSIVE ― HITTING BACK AT HIRING CRITICISM: The Commission is fiercely defending its plans to hire 2,500 new staffers in the upcoming seven-year EU budgetary period.
We need them: The Commission has written to the frugal EU nations (they’re the ones that don’t like spending money) arguing that additional employees are essential to manage its expanding responsibilities, according to a letter seen by Playbook and POLITICO’s Gregorio Sorgi.
Wind it back: In February, POLITICO revealed that ministers from nine EU governments, including Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, had criticized the staffing plans. The frugals complained that the Commission was expanding while national administrations faced cuts.
They said: “The Commission needs to hear the sign of the times,” their letter to Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin stated (and that’s not a Prince reference).
In his response, dated April 16, Serafin insisted the Commission couldn’t take on more tasks without additional staff. “While redeployments have been used consistently, this continuously expanding list of new tasks and responsibilities is no longer compatible with the principle of stable staffing,” he wrote. Serafin said not hiring could impair the Commission’s ability to implement the EU budget and its political priorities.
Honey, we’ve already shrunk: Serafin noted that the overall workforce at the EU institutions has fallen 3 percent since 2014, while recruitment challenges grow. A diplomat from a frugal country said the group would keep pushing back, saying the reply was exactly what they expected amid budget negotiations.
3 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
DARK CLOUDS: If you thought British PM Keir Starmer was in trouble now, just wait for Thursday’s elections.
DEFENSE GAP: After Trump’s move to cut thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, one of the units likely to go is a specialized force supposed to bring Tomahawk cruise missiles to Europe.
MIDDLE EAST LATEST: The U.S. and Iran traded attacks in the Gulf, testing the limits of their fragile ceasefire, Reuters reports.
DASHBOARD
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FEWER POOR: The Commission will on Wednesday call on EU countries to eradicate poverty, arguing that they can already access the money to act if they use existing EU funds more effectively. The plan, set out in the Commission’s first anti-poverty strategy and seen by POLITICO’s Zoya Sheftalovich, will urge governments to better coordinate national policies, engage young people, support those living paycheck to paycheck and review protections for older and other vulnerable people.
Need to know: The strategy comes without a fresh cash injection.
BRUSSELS CORNER
WEATHER: High 15C, showers. Yes, that’s right: The Brussels summer is officially over.
KICK BACK LIKE A DIPLOMAT: We’re only joking. With the weather getting warmer (or at least we thought so until Sunday), and the temptation to schedule outdoor meetings growing, we’ve got you covered. For the rest of this week, Playbook’s Gabriel Gavin will be reviewing the best — and worst — of the Brussels institutions’ terraces that you need to find a reason to be invited to. Don’t forget the SPF, and a brolly!
Topping the list for a lunchtime break is the spacious balcony on the eighth floor of Sweden’s towering permanent representation to the EU, with commanding views of Square de Meeûs and plenty of afternoon sun. Ambassadors Mikaela Kumlin Granit, Åsa Webber and Ingrid Ask, spokesperson Sara Keusen and other diplomats, officials and lucky visitors can even buy Magnum and Cornetto ice creams in the adjacent cafeteria. Let us know if you know of a better political terrace and we’ll turn the spotlight on it tomorrow.
SPOTTED: As you will have noticed if you’ve been reading Playbook for its entire 11-year history (and if you haven’t been, why haven’t you?), you’ll know that we like nothing more than getting out and about in Brussels and reporting back on where the VIPs, the VPs and the VDLs are showing their faces. So if you’re putting on an event that you’d like to invite our intrepid team of reporters to — so we can tell the world who’s shown up — get in touch with Mari Eccles at meccles@politico.eu.
Gabriel mooched around Schuman yesterday afternoon to see if he could spot many notable people, but only managed to set eyes on EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anitta Hipper having a coffee in Bouche and “a Danish journalist eating an enormous sandwich.” Help us do better!
BUT WE DID SEE THESE FACES IN THE CROWD … at an event last night put on by the lighting company Signify at the trendy Hoxton hotel: President of the European Alliance to Save Energy (and former MEP) Monica Frassoni; Schuman Associates CEO Ruth Estrada Dorronsoro;LightingEurope’s sec-gen Elena Scaroni; and POLITICO’s Elena Giordano.