Mitsotakis: Ιt is time for Greece to explore if nuclear modular reactors can play a role in its energy system
The time has come for Greece to explore if nuclear modular reactors can play a role in its energy system, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday, in a conference on nuclear power held in Paris.
Parliament debates conclusions of Parliamentary inquiry into OPEKEPE
A debate to discuss the conclusions of a Parliamentary inquiry into the management of OPEKEPE, the Greek payment authority for EU agricultural subsidies, began in a plenary session of Parliament on Tuesday. Ruling New Democracy rapporteur Makarios Lazaridis began by underlining that the Investigation Committee found no evidence to indicate that former ministers Makis Voridis and Lefteris Avgenakis were criminally liable. The rapporteurs of opposition parties rejected the majority’s conclusion and said that there were “specific responsibilities and specific actions and omissions under ND governments, which were found for both Makis Voridis and Lefteris Avgenakis.”
Fuel and Power Pass to return as energy prices soar
As energy rates soar and the Middle East crisis shows no signs of abating, the Greek government is facing a familiar, yet particularly adverse scenario: The need to prevent a new wave of inflation from hitting households and businesses. The National Economy and Finance Ministry is trying to map out its next moves in an environment that may well change again within a few weeks. There already is a blueprint in place, providing for the issue of a Fuel Pass, a Power Pass and some new measures that are yet to be specified, possibly in the next 15 days. Plans also include an earnings cap in fuel trading and retailing.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1297523/fuel-and-power-pass-to-return
Disused Thessaloniki-to-Skopje pipeline reactivated
A disused oil pipeline linking Thessaloniki with Skopje in neighboring North Macedonia is being reactivated after 13 years. Following extensive maintenance and upgrades, the 213.5-kilometer pipeline will be able to carry 2.5 million tons of crude oil, diesel and kerosene a year.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1297637/disused-thessaloniki-to-skopje-pipeline-reactivated
ATHEX: Mood swings, stocks bounce back
The statements by US President Donald Trump that gave markets some hope of a swift end to the Middle East conflict, signaled a remarkable turnaround for the Greek bourse too, with banks leading a spectacular recovery of local stocks on Tuesday. Nevertheless, trading action slowed down during the day as buyers appeared to lose some of their enthusiasm, and despite the strong gains for the benchmark, turnover was lower than Monday’s.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1297636/athex-mood-swings-and-stocks-bounce-back
KATHIMERINI: “Window” for small nuclear reactors
TA NEA: Nuclear energy: Greece is examining the option for small reactors
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: A document is incriminating former agriculture minister Voridis regarding the OPEKEPE scandal
RIZOSPASTIS: Greek Communist Party: Greece must stay out of the war
KONTRA NEWS: Greek government seeks agreement with the French for nuclear units
DIMOKRATIA: Junta by Mitsotakis
NAFTEMPORIKI: War evaluation by foreign credit rating agencies
DRIVING THE DAY
DAY OF RECKONING: Ursula von der Leyen faces a grilling this morning from her own allies in Parliament over accusations she has given up on the international rules-based order. Socialist MEPs, who support the Commission president’s fragile governing coalition, are gearing up to cross-examine her on the situation in the Middle East during a plenary debate in Strasbourg — the latest in a series of clashes the president is facing with EU countries and her own officials over the crisis.
Bone of contention: Lawmakers from von der Leyen’s coalition told POLITICO they were concerned by a speech she made Monday declaring “Europe can no longer be a custodian for the old-world order, for a world that has gone and will not return.” Her remarks were interpreted as a quiet endorsement of the brutal realpolitik adopted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“I hope that President von der Leyen will be able to clarify those statements which, from my point of view and from the point of view of my group, have caused and generated surprise and discontent,” Iratxe García, leader of the center-left Socialists and Democrats, told my colleague Max Griera. “Calling into question the need to defend the international order? No, that is not something we can accept.”
Socialist revolt: Spanish S&D MEP Jonás Fernández said von der Leyen was “practically begging for a vote of no confidence.” García said Tuesday that Fernández’s comments “reflect … dissatisfaction and confusion” among Socialist lawmakers. The issue is particularly sensitive for Spanish socialists given that their national party leader — Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez — is the fiercest public critic of Trump’s strikes on Iran and their faction is key to ensuring the Commission maintains its working majority in parliament.
Iberian connection: Von der Leyen’s usually dependable ally, European Council President António Costa, also appeared to be throwing his weight behind a rules-based world order in a speech just a day after hers. “We must defend the rules-based international order,” the Portuguese socialist declared. “We must uphold the principles enshrined in the U.N. charter … violations of international law must not be accepted, whether in Ukraine, Greenland, Latin America, Africa, in Gaza or in the Middle East.”
The Greens, also part of von der Leyen’s coalition, are also weighing in. The group’s Co-Chair Bas Eickhout told reporters Tuesday: “If she means that the world is not the same as it was before, then I think we all agree … [but] if she means we are not going to follow the rule of law, international law, anymore, that of course is not what we would support.”
Political accidents: Three diplomats told Playbook that parliament is fast becoming the biggest threat to von der Leyen’s ability to see out her term. And that’s only heating up as allies from her EPP intensify their campaign against Sánchez ahead of critical parliamentary elections in Spain to be held by August 2027.
Hitting back: “Was it a hardline speech? Yes. But the world has changed irrevocably,” said a senior EU official. “Is it difficult for some to hear hard truths? Yes. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be communicated. The president of the European Commission was direct and forthright, rather than hiding in rhetoric, and we could all use a healthy dose of realpolitik at the moment.”
ARCTIC ACCESSION
EU28 REDUX? Iceland is shaping up as the newest EU member, pipping at the post both frontrunner Montenegro and sentimental favorite Ukraine. As the Arctic nation prepares to vote in an Aug. 29 referendum on whether to relaunch its bid to join the EU, Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir told Zoya Sheftalovich and Koen Verhelst that talks could be wrapped up within “a year and a half.”
Why so fast? Iceland is a member of the single market and part of the Schengen free travel zone, so it already has many of the EU’s laws on its books. As a result, “it will not be so complicated for us” to conclude negotiations to join the bloc, assuming Icelanders vote to restart them, said Þorgerður.
This is real: Asked whether Iceland could become the EU’s 28th member, Þorgerður said: “Yes.” An EU official, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Zoya last month it could take as little as one year to conclude negotiations with Reykjavík.
GETTING COMPETITIVE
ONE EUROPE, MANY PROBLEMS: EU ambassadors are sitting down this morning for a full day of Coreper talks, with preparations for the European Council on March 19 top of the agenda. After last month’s meeting in the Belgian countryside, leaders had demanded the Commission develop proposals on how to slash economic reliance on foreign countries and become more competitive against rivals like the U.S. and China.
Sneak peek: But the latest draft version of the document to be agreed by leaders, obtained by POLITICO, shows planned discussions on initiatives like the “One Europe, One Market” agenda to strengthen the European economy will likely be squeezed out by fast-moving geopolitical crises in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Harness the crisis: “We have moved on from the idea [that] next week will be predominately about competition,” said one EU diplomat, granted anonymity to speak frankly, warning leaders will now need to consider issues like energy and a global shortage of military hardware in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. “Short-term crisis management can take away attention from the hard structural challenges that are needed to take us out of dependencies. But it’s a mixed picture because sometimes you need the crisis to get the political level engaged.”
Two breakfasts and a video call: Countries concerned about stagnating EU growth and industrial decline have been holding regular informal breakfasts ahead of Council summits to agree their stance and pressure the Commission to do more. But given competing priorities, and a rival breakfast convened to discuss migration (all the more important given fears of a Middle East refugee crisis), capitals called an emergency evening videoconference Tuesday with more than 20 leaders to ensure issues like competitiveness don’t fall off the agenda.
Watching the clock: According to one official, even that video catchup was roiled by current affairs, with the discussion focusing on energy instead as prices soar following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The EU is also coming under pressure to respond to the crisis, while the International Energy Agency is considering whether to tap into its emergency supplies of oil as the conflict continues.
Energy diplomacy: Costa is in Azerbaijan today seeking to strengthen cooperation with the oil- and gas-rich South Caucasus state. “Azerbaijan has played a key role in diversifying the EU’s energy supplies,” one EU official told Playbook of the visit. “With the war in Iran shaking global energy markets, this cooperation is more important than ever.”
STRASBOURG CORNER
CHILD SAFETY VOTE: The European Parliament will today vote on a temporary law allowing tech companies to scan their platforms for child sexual abuse material — and it’s coming down to the wire. If the legislature doesn’t vote to extend the exemption from EU privacy law, child protection campaigners say companies will lose the legal basis for scanning, weakening efforts to stop the material circulating.
THE UIT-GANG: Dutch farmer-citizen party BBB and its two MEPs quit the European People’s Party Tuesday and joined Giorgia Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists. The MEPs had been sanctioned by the EPP, deprived of speaking time and negotiator roles for revolting against the party line and not voting in favor of Ursula von der Leyen in a motion of censure.
EPP REVIVES KOS ALLEGATIONS: Slovenian EPP MEP Romana Tomc hosted an event in parliament Tuesday night to promote a book that renews allegations that EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos (also a Slovenian) collaborated with the Communist secret police in the former Yugoslavia. Kos didn’t respond to Playbook’s request for comment last night, but she strongly denied the allegations during her confirmation hearing in 2024. “I was never a collaborator,” she told MEPs at the time.
NEED TO BE HEARD: Some MEPs from The Left group are accusing party officials of favoring French members of their faction in the allocation of time at the podium, according to an internal complaint seen by POLITICO. A party official said in response that speaking time is “generally linked to ‘shadowships’ or posts, meaning that larger delegations have more speaking time as they carry more of the parliamentary work.”
IN OTHER NEWS
HUNGARIAN SIDESTEP: Baltic and Nordic countries are hatching a plan to give Ukraine enough money to keep it afloat through the first half of this year if Hungary and Slovakia continue to block the EU’s promised €90 billion loan, Zoya Sheftalovich, Gregorio Sorgi and Bjarke Smith-Meyer report.
Urgency downgrade: A new assessment of Ukraine’s funds found that Kyiv should be able to sustain itself financially until early May, POLITICO reports. It had been expected to run out of money by this month but an $8.1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, approved in February, has bought Ukraine some time.
Latest from the battlefield: Meanwhile, Ukraine says it has regained almost complete control of its eastern Dnipropetrovsk region as Russia’s invasion falters — a development that could disrupt Moscow’s plans for fresh attacks in the spring and summer.
RUSSIAN PARTICIPATION: The EU has threatened to pull funding for the Venice Biennale after organizers reinstated Russia’s right to participate, even as Moscow’s war of aggression rages in Ukraine. In a separate letter obtained by Jacopo Barigazzi, culture ministers from 22 countries urge the art exhibition to reconsider the decision.
FRENCH ELECTION: Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe could be the best placed centrist candidate to beat France’s far right. But he’ll first have to beat the far left in his Le Havre stronghold if he wants to stay in the race, Clea Caulcutt reports from Normandy.
POPULIST PREDICAMENT: More populist parties are coming to power across Europe. But do they know what to do once they’re in the driver’s seat? Karl Mathiesen put the question to MCC Brussels’ Frank Furedi, an ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
WHAT TO BELIEVE: As Hungary’s critical elections are flooded by deepfakes, the EU’s vow to crack down on foreign interference is being weighed down by a commitment not to intervene in national polls, Eliza Gkritsi reports.
GET MEAT OFF THE MENU: Give up your burgers and sausages to fight climate change, and start taxing farmers for pollution. That’s the politically inconvenient finding of a new report from the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change.