Greece plans social media ban for under-15s
The government presented a bill on Monday providing for an age limit on minors’ access to social media, with implementation set to begin on January 1, 2027, as part of an initiative to protect children from the risks of the digital environment. Under the proposed legislation, children under the age of 15 will be barred from accessing social media, with platforms responsible for verifying users’ ages, State Minister Akis Skertsos, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence Minister Dimitris Papastergiou announced at an interministerial press conference at the Bodossaki Foundation building.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/1030391/Greece-plans-social-media-ban-for-under-15s
Trump says he is considering firing US ambassador to Greece
President Donald Trump said Monday he is “looking at” firing US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens. “Well, we’re looking at it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’re not happy.” His comments came a day after The Associated Press, citing a senior US official, reported that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and will likely decide on her future this week. In a series of stories dating to late last month, The Wall Street Journal has reported questionable conduct by Guilfoyle, including making an alleged threat to a host country official, accepting improper gifts and services and offering to use her influence inside the administration in return for the payment of a large credit card bill.
PASOK’s leader unveils plans to support SMEs
Main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis on Monday presented his party’s plan for “comprehensive measures” on taxation, private debt, financing and business operating costs, addressing the 1st SMEs International Conference of Athens. He announced that PASOK will submit a comprehensive legislative proposal to Parliament in the coming days, setting out measures to restructure private debt and provide substantive support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On tax fairness, Androulakis reiterated his commitments to abolishing presumptive taxation and restoring taxation based on actual income, raising the VAT exemption threshold to € 20,000 to reduce the tax and administrative burden on thousands of small business owners, abolishing the business tax levy in full without geographical exceptions, and gradually cutting the advance tax payment to 50% over four years.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/1030386/PASOKs-leader-unveils-plans-to-support-SMEs
IMF forecasts Greek economy to grow 1.8% in ’27
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting steady growth of 1.8% for the Greek economy in both 2026 and 2027, according to its World Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday. The forecast for 2026 is unchanged from the Fund’s previous report in April, while the projection for 2027 has been revised slightly upwards from 1.7%. In both years, Greece’s GDP growth is expected to be significantly higher than that of the eurozone, where growth is projected at 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/1030576/IMF-forecasts-Greek-economy-to-grow-18-in-27
ATHEX: Stocks cover some of the ground lost
The Euronext Athens (ATHEX) general index closed Monday at 2,594.52 points, adding 1.38% to Friday’s 2,559.18 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 1.42% to end at 6,639.97 points.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1317958/athex-stocks-cover-some-of-the-ground-lost
KATHIMERINI: Big gastronomic celebration: awards for the guardians of taste and tradition
TA NEA: Social media ban for minors: intentions may be good but the asterisks are too many
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Metro construction: They ignored the alert 4 times
RIZOSPASTIS: Joint action with the Greek Communist Party so that workers and peoples win
KONTRA NEWS: Price hikes in hundreds of products sold in supermarkets
DIMOKRATIA: “Gale” in parliament against Culture Minister Mendoni about the stolen artefacts
NAFTEMPORIKI: Fuel measures are being finalized
DRIVING THE DAY
SPLIT OVER UKRAINE WIDENS AHEAD OF U.S. MIDTERMS: European leaders are set to call for renewed pressure on Russia via sanctions and measures targeting Moscow’s energy revenues when they gather in Brussels later this week, according to officials, statements from leaders and draft conclusions of the summit seen by POLITICO.
Transatlantic chasm: The chorus of leaders seeking to strangle Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war economy, on the heels of the EU’s largest-ever package of individual sanctions listings being approved in Luxembourg yesterday, shows a widening gulf between the two sides of the Atlantic ahead of U.S. midterm elections in November.
While Ukraine’s European allies harden their tone, U.S. President Donald Trump is going the other way by announcing a deal with Russia on diesel. “There was a sense that the last few days … are like Oval Office Part 2,” said an EU official, referring to the infamous February 2025 episode, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was humiliated at the White House.
Who’s in? Heavyweight leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk are leading the charge ahead of a European Council starting Thursday, which will otherwise focus on the bloc’s long-term budget, energy costs and EU enlargement plans. “Following Moscow’s reckless attacks on Ukraine’s civilian energy supply, we must tighten [sanctions] even further,” Merz said.
Everyone but Washington: The tough line is also being echoed by Ukraine’s allies outside the EU. Norway’s Defense Minister Tore O. Sandvik told Laura Kayali that it’s necessary to “close loopholes” in the sanctions, while U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham vowed to “maintain pressure on Russia through the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed,” according to his spokesperson.
In private, EU officials say Trump’s embrace of a diesel deal with Russia — as well as his verbal attacks on Zelenskyy and claims to have brokered an energy truce between Moscow and Kyiv — are mainly driven by political concerns ahead of the midterms. That’s the “broadly held view,” a senior EU official, granted anonymity to speak about the private mood, told Zoya Sheftalovich.
Zelenskyy’s predicament: Trump’s diesel move couldn’t have come at a worse time for Ukrainians, as they brace for a bleak winter, and it has left Zelenskyy to weigh up just how angry he can afford to get, as Jamie Dettmer explains.
Wider view: Trump’s Republican Party is at risk of losing control of Congress and the president, having promised during his 2024 campaign to bring gasoline prices under $2 per gallon, now hopes the release of an additional 4.8 million tons of Russian diesel onto global markets in coming months will push down prices.
But that’s unlikely to work, argue EU officials and lawmakers. “This [deal] is purely an election-campaign measure by Donald Trump,” Norbert Röttgen, deputy chair of the center-right CDU/CSU group in Germany’s Bundestag, told Rixa Fürsen. “We have no influence over it and it will not change fuel prices in the United States.”
The bottom line: While they lament the U.S. not joining forces with Europe to pressure Russia, EU leaders are holding their fire against Trump — lining up behind Kyiv and quietly hoping POTUS will switch gears after the midterm elections.
MEANWHILE, AT NATO HQ … Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Alexus Grynkewich says the military alliance has a three-part blueprint to block, blunt and break any Russian attack — and will fight back even if American forces are engaged elsewhere. Grynkewich laid out NATO’s new “Theory of Victory” at the Warsaw Security Forum yesterday, Victor Jack reports.
BIG AND BREAKING
CEUTA’S LONG SHADOW: A majority of Spaniards believe that tensions between Spain and Morocco over Ceuta and Melilla could spiral into an armed conflict within the next decade, according to a POLITICO poll.
Read about that and more in Madrid Playbook, POLITICO’s first Spanish-language Playbook, which launches today with the inside line on the personalities and power plays shaping Spanish politics. It’ll be essential daily reading as the country prepares to head to the polls on Nov. 29. The inaugural edition will drop here shortly and you can sign up here for future editions.
SQUEEZING OUT STARLINK: French President Emmanuel Macron is urging Europe’s top satellite players to forge an alliance to take on Elon Musk’s Starlink.
AFD CHIEF TO JOIN STRASBOURG PLENARY: Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel will be in Strasbourg next Wednesday to set out “her perspectives on the future of European cooperation” at an event titled “Our New Deal for Europe,” according to an email circulated among lawmakers seen by Max Griera. She’ll appear alongside Europe of Sovereign Nations Chair René Aust and MEP Alexander Sell, president of the ESN foundation.
IN THE FIRING LINE: Donald Trump told reporters last night he’s thinking about dismissing U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle following reports that she urged a Republican donor to pay off a six-figure credit card bill.
SOCIAL MEDIA OVERLOAD
EXCLUSIVE — INFLUENCER OVERLOAD? European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was all smiles for the selfies at her State of the Union speech last month. But behind the scenes, her social media chief thought it was all a bit much, two EU officials told Playbook’s Sebastian Starcevic and Gerardo Fortuna.
Around 70 content creators descended on Strasbourg for the speech — far too many, according to Sophie Dupin de Saint-Cyr, von der Leyen’s head of social media, who gave officials at the Commission’s communications department a dressing-down at an internal meeting, the two officials said. They were granted anonymity to discuss the confidential meeting.
The sheer number of influencers was overwhelming and distracting for von der Leyen on one of her biggest days of the year, one official said Dupin de Saint-Cyr complained, adding that the president simply couldn’t find time for them all. Another EU official said von der Leyen “was very displeased.” Dupin de Saint-Cyr didn’t respond to Playbook’s request for comment.
Not so fast: The Commission disputed this account, saying von der Leyen “enjoyed the discussions so much that she stayed longer than planned to continue engaging with the young participants.” The Commission declined to comment on the internal meeting.
Down with the kids? The spat comes as Brussels tries to crack the Gen Z code, using social media to reach younger Europeans and counter disinformation. Youth Commissioner Glenn Micallef has even hired influencers to advise on his comms.
An echo chamber? A third official questioned the value of inviting EU-focused influencers to major events when their followers are presumably already sold on Brussels.
Going offline: There are no influencers at this week’s European Council, Mari Eccles reported. The EU’s leaders, it seems, are sticking to their own generation.
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
EU leaders will later this week discuss the One Europe, One Market roadmap … but what’s that? It’s a plan intended to revamp the single market to boost the bloc’s competitiveness (drawing on the recommendations of former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi). The plan aims to complete a revamp of everything, from the rules on founding companies to public procurement, by the end of 2027.
FRANCE’S EU BUDGET FIX
LET GOOGLE PAY: France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad will push Brussels to use a €4.6 billion EU fine imposed on Google to fund the bloc’s budget and reduce national contributions to Brussels, Gregorio Sorgi reports.
“The real debate is whether the European Commission will use this revenue to fund additional spending or take the opportunity to reduce member countries’ contributions,” Haddad told reporters. He will raise this issue, first reported by POLITICO in July, with EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin in Paris tomorrow.
France is also championing new EU levies, known as own resources, to finance the bloc’s seven-year money pot (from 2028 to 2034) and reduce national contributions.
In a message to more reluctant EU governments, Haddad said this on own resources: “We need to go further and also bring the European Parliament’s proposals into the discussion.” These include taxes on U.S. digital giants, online gambling and crypto firms, which were left out of the latest budget negotiating figures presented on Saturday.
France as kingmaker? Haddad was invited to a dinner of the “Friends of Cohesion” group calling for a larger budget on Monday evening, according to an adviser. This morning, he’ll join a breakfast for the so-called “modernizer” faction — otherwise known as the frugals.
European Council appetizer: European affairs ministers will weigh in on the new figures at a meeting in Luxembourg today.
Ready to talk: Spain issued a statement after the Friends of Cohesion dinner, saying those present were ready to “engage constructively in discussions on the revenue side of the union’s budget, with a view to relieving the direct pressure on national budgets.”
But the Friends of Cohesion also expressed “regret” over the Irish presidency’s proposed cuts. On the issue of own resources, the statement said the meeting highlighted the need for “new genuine, fair, simple and non-regressive own resources,” including a “more gradual repayment of NextGenerationEU” — the temporary post Covid-19 recovery package.
3 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
HIT THE BRAKE: The leaders of Germany, Italy and Belgium have written to European Council President António Costa calling for EU capitals to be able to block legislation if they think it’s too burdensome for governments and businesses.
AI PITCH: Ursula von der Leyen pitched using artificial intelligence to streamline administrative procedures for European businesses as part of a broader push to simplify commerce and boost the EU’s competitiveness, Gerardo Fortuna reports.
RACE AGAINST TIME: French presidential contender Raphaël Glucksmann won the Socialist primary decisively but now faces a hard slog to draw supporters away from both the far left’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the splintered center.