PM to meet retail sector on price reduction plan
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to host a meeting on Monday with key representatives of Greece’s retail and food supply sectors, in talks focused on efforts to curb rising prices. The discussions are expected to center on a proposed price-control agreement under which businesses would reduce prices on basic goods, effectively absorbing part of their income and profit margins, in exchange for a more flexible regulatory environment and the removal of caps on gross profit margins.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1308049/pm-to-meet-retail-sector-on-price-reduction-plan
Coalition math after next election
Greece could face a prolonged period of political uncertainty after the next national election if no party secures a parliamentary majority and coalition talks fail, according to current polling trends and party positions. While the risk of an extended election cycle lasting beyond three months remains limited, it cannot be ruled out. Current data suggest that more than two electoral contests may be required if a government cannot be formed even after a second vote. New Democracy remains well short of a clear path to self-sufficiency. Although polls place the party around 30%, it does not appear to have enough support to easily reach the 35-36% threshold that may be needed for a majority, depending on how many parties enter parliament.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1307930/coalition-math-after-next-election
Run-off elections scrapped under new local government code
Run-off elections for mayors and regional governors have been abolished following Parliament’s approval of a new local government code on Friday. Under the previous system, a second round of voting was held one week later if no candidate for mayor or regional governor secured more than 42% of the vote in the first round. The new law introduces a preferential voting system, allowing voters to indicate a second-choice candidate on the same ballot. If no candidate reaches the 42% threshold in the initial count, the second-preference votes cast by supporters of eliminated candidates will be redistributed to the two leading contenders to determine the winner, eliminating the need for a separate run-off election.
Tsipras urges ‘change in politics’ at first National Council conference of newly-formed ELAS
Former premier Alexis Tsipras on Saturday addressed the first National Council conference of his newly formed Greek Left Alliance (ELAS) party, stressing that the key choice in the next elections will be between “corruption and integrity, between stagnation or a change in politics”. “The real question is not who can best handle the current situation. The real question is whether Greece will continue to live as it does today or whether it will open up a new path,” he added.
ATHEX: Slight drop for bourse last week
The Greek bourse benchmark extended its losing streak to a fourth day on Friday, although it was on the mild side and without pointing to a long-term slide that would undo the recent growth that signaled highs unseen since late 2009. Traders appear resigned to instability on the geopolitical and technological fronts, so even some apparently positive or negative developments in either direction can hardly sway them significantly.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1307931/athex-slight-drop-for-bourse-this-week
SUNDAY PAPERS
KATHIMERINI: The cost for those responsible for wildfires
TO VIMA: Arm wrestling regarding the handouts to be announced at the upcoming TIF
REAL NEWS: New haircut in the taxation of rents collected
PROTO THEMA: Overhaul regarding University entry procedures
MONDAY PAPERS:
TA NEA: Inheritance of real estate assets: 13 key-solutions to… avoid trouble
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Only the PM’s office saw the miracle [of New Democracy’s positive 7-year tenure]
KONTRA NEWS: Rage at the PM’s office due to Guilfoyle’s meeting with former PM Samaras
DIMOKRATIA: 10 billion euro are going to be lost from the RRF and taxpayers will ultimately pay for them
NAFTEMPORIKI: The model for extra budgetary space
DRIVING THE DAY
BATTLE OVER THE EEAS: The EU’s diplomatic branch, headed by Kaja Kallas, is fighting for survival amid squeezed budgets and a protracted turf war with Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission, Jacopo Barigazzi and I report.
Game of Thrones: The winner of this battle will shape how the EU tackles global challenges in the coming decades — either through an increasingly powerful European Commission or a diplomatic service fully empowered by member capitals. Our story is the first in a series running this week.
Foreign policy without the firepower: While Kallas and von der Leyen have a complex dynamic, the main problem for the EEAS, launched in 2011, is that it lacks the policy tools and financial firepower to assert itself in a far more brutal global environment, according to 10 current and former officials and diplomats. Most were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about leadership dynamics in public.
Their diagnosis: The Commission is steadily chipping away at the EEAS by poaching top staff, duplicating functions and boosting von der Leyen’s global profile.
The EEAS, in contrast, is struggling to compete with its limited policy toolbox in a world where trade, tech, defense and migration dominate.
Memory lane: This mismatch dates back to the EEAS’s creation via a “messy compromise at 3 in the morning,” recalls France’s former EU Ambassador Pierre Sellal. Today, with Donald Trump upending traditional diplomacy, that compromise is unraveling.
“A foreign policy defined by statements on one hand and sanctions on the other is not a foreign policy,” he said.
The EEAS is trying to hold its ground: As EU countries debate the diplomatic service’s future, Kallas is pushing back with a new leadership structure including Secretary-General Kajsa Ollongren, the former Dutch defense minister. More changes are expected after summer.
Yet many officials remain skeptical that staffing tweaks can resolve the deeper structural problems. “We’ve probably destabilized the system with all these institutional changes since Nice and Lisbon,” Sellal said.
The bottom line: The EEAS is unlikely to be shut down soon, but a reckoning is under way that will redefine where real power sits in Europe.
BIG AND BREAKING
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: The U.S. and Iran agreed to stop attacking each other and to let ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a Trump administration official said, after days of hostilities raised fresh doubts about their provisional deal to end the war. CNN has the latest.
MACRON ORDERS SEARCH FOR NEW EU RESOURCES: French President Emmanuel Macron has instructed his administration to find new EU-wide taxes to finance the bloc’s next €2 trillion budget, according to five officials familiar with the discussions.
EU-CHINA TALKS: EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič hosts China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels today, armed with a mandate from EU leaders to strengthen the bloc’s trade defenses against soaring Chinese exports.
ATTACK OF THE KILLER PUFFERFISH: Greek fishermen are seeking government support to fight off an invasion of toxic razor-toothed pufferfish that are endangering Mediterranean ecosystems.
GERMANY’S COMBAT SYSTEM: Germany is quietly building a national system linking combat aircraft, drones, satellites and sensors after killing a joint project with France and Spain to build a sixth-generation fighter jet.
WINTER-PROOFING UKRAINE
READY FOR THE COLD: After months of frantic repairs and a fundamental rethink of how Ukraine’s electricity network is built, officials and energy industry leaders say they are entering the next heating season in a far stronger position than a year ago, Playbook’s Zoya Sheftalovich reports.
Cautious optimism: Ukraine is better placed because it has spent months patching, financing and rethinking its energy system at wartime speed. Maksym Timchenko, CEO of Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK, said his company is “ahead of our plan” in restoring capacity lost to Russian strikes and expects to have enough electricity generation available to meet Ukraine’s winter needs.
One caveat: Timchenko added “a big, big disclaimer about further attacks.” The biggest uncertainty, he told Zoya on the sidelines of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, is whether Ukraine will have sufficient air defenses available.
The goal is not just to fix what Russia destroys. Ukraine is replacing vulnerable mega-plants with wind farms, battery storage, modular heating and distributed generation that are much harder to disable with a single strike. “The whole country now, one or another way, is investing in the energy sector,” Timchenko said.
Arvid Tuerkner, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s managing director for Ukraine and Moldova, told Zoya the EBRD’s wartime energy financing has evolved from emergency liquidity to keep utilities afloat, to repairing damaged infrastructure and now financing decentralized energy generation that’s harder to knock out. Since the full-scale invasion, the EBRD has sent Ukraine €3.5 billion for energy security.
Paying dividends: Tuerkner said EBRD-financed projects are expected to bring around 700 megawatts of new electricity generation and 400 megawatts of heating capacity online this winter. That won’t erase Ukraine’s power deficit, but it will narrow the gap. The broader lesson, he said, is that decentralized renewable energy is inherently more resilient: “It’s very hard to knock it out with drones and missiles entirely.”
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into pharma company Sanofi over a communication campaign about flu vaccines. But how do these competition investigations work? It could start with a complaint, or the Commission could initiate a probe on its own, which may kick off with a dawn raid. If it finds that there has been wrongdoing, the Commission issues a formal statement and the company or companies get a chance to respond. If found guilty, a company can be fined up to 10 percent of its global annual turnover (or it can agree to make changes to its behavior).
JULY FOURTH BASH
AMERICA TURNS 250: Brussels’ Cinquantenaire Park was decked out in red, white and blue on Sunday night as thousands showed up for the U.S. Embassy’s lavish Fourth of July party — and President Donald Trump even made an appearance of sorts, Sebastian Starcevic writes. POLITICO was on the ground in force.
Party inside, protests outside: As dozens of protesters chanted “Hands off Cinquantenaire” at nearby Schuman roundabout (POLITICO covered the controversy about the party in depth here), they were no match for the country music blaring through the park, courtesy of FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend, the country singer Alexis Wilkins, and the headlining Zac Brown Band.
Stars, stripes and steaks: The event’s guests were treated to a feast of corn dogs, Texas BBQ, milkshakes, lobster rolls (which quickly sold out), American flag cupcakes and Philly cheesesteaks, along with spectacles such as a flyover of historic aircraft and a drone show that spelled out FREEDOM and took the shape of the White House. There was also a mechanical bull ride, cheerleaders lifting guests into the air and a bunch of free swag, including totes, baseball caps and, somewhat randomly, Duracell batteries (which flew off the shelves).
Audio snafu: As Wilkins sang the national anthem, beamed onto giant screens between Cinquantenaire’s stone arches, her microphone appeared not to be working. She looked at it in confusion and continued soundlessly until the camera cut away. Later in the evening, she was given a do-over and performed it again, this time with sound.
Metsola’s marriage metaphor: Among the many (many) speeches was one by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the only leader of an EU institution among the guests in the roped-off VIP section (see our Spotted lower down the email). She highlighted the cultural ties between the U.S. and Europe, from watching “Friends” to listening to U2, and vowed that Europe will always stand up for its own interests when it is attacked.
“Like in any marriage, we have disagreements,” Metsola said. “And sometimes there’s also real criticism or reproach. Some fair, some less so … And where it is less fair, we say so unapologetically, as friends do.”
Karma’s a bitch: U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White, in a distinctly Trump-style speech, said there were 8,850 people in attendance, and hit out at critics who questioned closing the entire park. “Why does it have to be so big?” he said. “Because we’re the United States of America!” He also lashed out at one notable absentee: pop singer Katy Perry, who was asked to perform but declined due to contractual obligations. “Who cares,” he said. “Karma is a bitch.”
He put a ring on it: In one of several memorable moments, White hailed Antwerp’s diamond craftsmen as among the finest in the world before announcing he had organized a suitably gaudy gold ring with a jeweled T on the side as a gift for the gold-loving president.
Presidential cameo: Trump himself gave a prerecorded speech from the Oval Office, projected between the arches of Cinquantenaire, in which he spoke about the American soldiers who died fighting for freedom in Europe. “I know the people of Belgium have never forgotten,” he said, before wishing the crowd a “happy Independence Day” and “a great celebration.”
The evening climaxed just before midnight with a riotous half-hour fireworks show. As embers rained down from the sky and Old Glory was beamed onto the arches, chants of “USA!” erupted in the crowd.
DASHBOARD
EU LIMITS UKRAINE REFUGEE SCHEME: More than 4 million people who fled Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion receive temporary protection in an EU country. With the status due to expire next year, the Commission last week proposed extending it until March 2028 — but it would exclude men aged 25 to 60, who are of conscription age, and men aged 23 to 25, who are on the military reserve list. The limitation wouldn’t apply to men who received temporary protection before the new rules take effect.
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3 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
VATICAN ACCUSES EU OF DOUBLE STANDARD: The Catholic Church’s doctrinal chief says the European Union applies international law selectively by imposing sanctions in response to some military invasions but not others.
BRITAIN SEARCHES FOR A NEW ECONOMIC BOSS: Westminster is watching to see who Andy Burnham chooses as chancellor, the face of his economic vision — and the person who’ll take the blame if his government fails to turn things around.
IRELAND IN THE CLIMATE HOT SEAT: Dublin is poised to be the go-between in a major ideological clash as the EU’s most important climate policy, the Emissions Trading System, comes up for review this summer.