Mitsotakis announces national dialogue on new school leaving certificate
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced the launch of a national dialogue on the creation of a new national school-leaving certificate during an interministerial meeting at the Maximos Mansion.
No ‘blank check’ for constitutional revision
Opposition parties have rejected providing a “blank check” for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ proposed constitutional reforms. PASOK leadership stated it seeks a “comprehensive proposal” but will refuse the 180-vote threshold in the current Parliament. This tactical move prevents the next Parliament from passing amendments with a simple majority.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1294244/no-blank-check-for-constitutional-revision
At least 15 dead after collision between Greek coast guard vessel and migrant speedboat off Chios
At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured late Tuesday after a Greek coast guard vessel collided with a speedboat carrying undocumented migrants off the eastern Aegean island of Chios, authorities said.
Economic sentiment index declined slightly in Greece in January, IOBE survey reports
The economic sentiment index in Greece declined slightly in January, dropping to 105.4 points from 106.9 points in December 2025, according to the Economic Outlook survey released by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) on Tuesday.
ATHEX: Bourse index conquering new heights
Athinon Avenue had another session of notable gains on Tuesday, adding to that of Monday, and recording a new 16-year high for its benchmark, with banks in the driver’s seat, while mid-caps failed to follow. This stock rise came in the face of declines in most other eurozone bourses. Concentration of interest into a handful of blue chips continues, even though it is the smaller capitalizations that offer the greatest gains.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1294258/athex-bourse-index-conquering-new-heights
KATHIMERINI: Social media for children below 15 years will be prohibited
TA NEA: Entry procedure in state universities to change
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Thriller regarding the Katseli law [regarding indebted loan holders]
RIZOSPASTIS: Frontal attack against educational rights
KONTRA NEWS: The alleviating ruling regarding 350,000 loan holders will be issued tomorrow
DIMOKRATIA: Ongoing national crime in Thrace
NAFTEMPORIKI: The ups and downs of the Vertical Corridor
DRIVING THE DAY
PRE-RETREAT CRAM MODE: Ursula Von der Leyen is undergoing an intense cram session with her Commission colleagues to help prepare for the informal EU leaders’ retreat on competitiveness later this month. A packed program of dinners and meetings, culminating today, is meant to sharpen the executive for the Feb. 12 gathering, which will be seen as another pivotal test in an already turbulent second von der Leyen term.
First act: Commissioners are gathering today for a seminar at the Faculty Club conference center in Leuven’s UNESCO-listed Grand Beguinage, Playbook has been told by five EU officials. It kicks off at 9 a.m. with a special guest: International Monetary Fund Managing Director and former Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva.
Choreography: Proceedings will wrap up mid-afternoon, with each cabinet asked to prepare discussion points related to their respective files. College members will all have their say, followed by a tour de table debate and closing remarks from von der Leyen.
Eight days to save Europe: The sense that the stakes are unusually high today — and will remain that way in coming days — was made clear in a brief convo I had yesterday with one of Europe’s most savvy would-be saviors, Enrico Letta. “The eight days between today [the Leuven meeting] and Feb. 12 are the eight days in which Europe can turn around and become truly united, fully mature and independent,” the former Italian prime minister told Playbook.
It’s 2028 or bust: Letta will attend the Feb. 12 leaders’ retreat as the author of one of the bloc’s two guiding reports (the other being the one penned by Mario Draghi). Letta says the coming days must translate into a firm political commitment to the 2028 deadline set out by von der Leyen in her State of the Union address — endorsed by leaders at last October’s EU summit — to tackle the single market’s unfinished business and deliver genuine integration.
No alternative: “The only response to [Vladimir] Putin and Trump is to move from 27 to 1 in all the areas that define competitiveness,” Letta said. His message: Either Europe integrates and fronts up to the economic challenges posed by the U.S. and China, or it can remain half-integrated, divided and weak.
Time to get real: Competitiveness — and preparations for the leaders’ retreat — dominate today’s seminar agenda. But, as one Commission official put it: “[Competitiveness] isn’t just about buying European.” The point, they say, is to widen the issue and anchor the discussion in the new geopolitical reality, after a previous mandate marked by the EU executive “living in a fairyland, disconnected from the real world.” Ouch.
Group therapy: Working methods are also under scrutiny. POLITICO previewed the issue yesterday and we can report this is still being discussed inside the Berlaymont. “There are clear overlaps — too many,” one Commission official commented after the publication of our article, adding that the whole process feels slow compared with the previous mandate.
Political prelude: Von der Leyen’s competitiveness-on-steroids agenda (which is likely to spill into next week) began last night, with a dinner bringing together European People’s Party group presidents and vice presidents, along with EPP commissioners — as confirmed by three EPP sources, two Commission officials and one senior Parliament official. Topics include next week’s plenary agenda — and, inevitably, competitiveness.
Early leverage: The “EPP States-General dinner” format, introduced at the start of the von der Leyen mandate, is structured in a way that gives the group greater influence over the Commission’s work, one EPP official explained. “The goal — I won’t hide it — is to know in advance the direction the Commission is heading and to have an impact already at the preparatory stage, even before proposals are formally presented,” the official said.
Gran finale: The cram school finishes Thursday night with another dinner — this time with BusinessEurope, the EU’s largest business lobby. “No specific subject is formally on the agenda, but you can expect competitiveness to be the key angle,” a Commission spokesperson told Playbook. Ça va sans dire. And with that, the road to Feb. 12 has been mapped out.
EU-UKRAINE LATEST
FRENCH INTRANSIGENCE: EU ambassadors are today set to revisit the proposed €90 billion loan to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia, first agreed at last December’s EU summit. And frustration with Paris for blocking the agreement is growing, according to EU diplomats who spoke with POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi.
“France has been very stubborn and difficult in pushing it their way,” one of the diplomats said.
What’s left to decide: Funding arrangements have been agreed, but eligibility criteria remain open. The funding part requires unanimity, while a qualified majority would suffice for the criteria — although, as usual, few in Brussels want to challenge France on a defense file. Talks had been close to conclusion last week, before France demanded contributions from third countries, particularly the U.K., arguing EU members shouldn’t be alone in bearing the cost of interest payments.
Prolonged gridlock: France’s logic has its supporters. Yet divisions have caused repeated postponements — from Friday to Monday and, again, on Monday, with still no breakthrough. Diplomats suggest officials may be downplaying the deadlock, desperate to avoid countenancing the prospect of a Ukraine funding shortfall in early April. Meanwhile, the loan’s place on today’s agenda of the ambassadors’ meeting remained in doubt until late yesterday.
ANY MOMENT NOW: The EU’s 20th sanctions package targeting Russia is also overdue, sparking another Godot-style wait here in Brussels. Three diplomats told POLITICO’s Koen Verhelst the Commission could unveil the measures any day.
Yet the definition of “any day” is subjective. Two diplomats had expected a Tuesday evening announcement (which evidently didn’t happen), while another speculated it might come Friday. A Commission official told Playbook the announcement wasn’t likely to coincide with today’s Commission seminar in Leuven — although anything can happen.
Forgive me, for I have sinned: Over the weekend, smaller clusters of ambassadors privately outlined their preferences to the Commission in informal sessions known as “confessionals” — the moniker is a nod to Brussels’ fondness for overtly Roman Catholic naming conventions (EU summits to appoint top officials are, after all, “conclaves”).
Playing heavy metal: Bloomberg reported Monday that bans on Russian copper, platinum and other metals could feature in the new package, although diplomats contacted by POLITICO declined to confirm. The measures are expected before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. A hint to the timing of the final approval: EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels the day before.
CUT TO ABU DHABI: Trilateral talksincluding Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia resume today and tomorrow in the United Arab Emirates — the second round of Washington-brokered negotiations after those on Jan. 23–24, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy deemed as constructive. Discussions will center on security guarantees within a 20-point framework. However, the plan to turn Ukraine into a “steel porcupine” impossible for Moscow to digest is still far from realization, Veronika Melkozerova writes.
CRITICAL MINERALS
SENDING APOLOGIES: One no-show at the Commission’s soul-searching seminar in Leuven is Executive Vice President Stéphane Séjourné. But don’t panic: Séjourné’s team tells POLITICO the industry commissioner will submit written contributions to the seminar. As for why he can’t make it …
Séjourné is in Washington today and tomorrow for a U.S.-hosted multilateral summit on critical raw materials. More than 50 countries are represented, U.S. officials say, with ministers from the U.K., India and Italy among those attending.
Transatlantic common ground: Despite it being the first visit by a commissioner since U.S. President Trump publicly threatened Denmark over Greenland (in no small part because of the island’s untapped mineral reserves), this is one area where EU-U.S. interests still align.
Middle Kingdom concerns: Both the EU and the U.S. are dependent on China, which has repeatedly leveraged its dominance over supply chains to restrict access. “On critical raw materials, we’ve never had any tension in the relationship. It’s a discussion that has [gone ahead] … on the assumption that we have shared interests,” one Commission official familiar with the talks told POLITICO’s Carlo Martuscelli.
Give cooperation a chance: “At today’s meeting, Europe speaks with one voice with like-minded partners, ensuring that [critical raw minerals] are not weaponized by any single actor and that cooperation remains possible,” Séjourné told Playbook ahead of the trip.
PARLIAMENT CORNER
PLENARY PREPPING: The Conference of Presidents (CoP, in Parliament-speak) meets today at 4 p.m. The political group leaders — who have sweeping agenda-setting power over next week’s plenary — will be joined by European Council President António Costa, who will brief them on last week’s informal meeting and on next week’s competitiveness retreat, Playbook hears from the office of Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Single market push: An EPP official said the group will use the CoP to push for a key debate next Wednesday morning on reinforcing the single market — deliberately timed to precede the following day’s EU leaders’ retreat.
Mercosur on the floor? The Left group has tabled an oral question to the Commission on the provisional application of the EU-Mercosur trade deal for next week’s plenary. “It would send a clear signal that we want a public debate on the Council’s decision to bypass Parliament — and some clarity from the Commission,” a Left spokesperson told Playbook.
FEELING ANXIOUS: European Parliament’s latest Eurobarometer survey — conducted across all 27 member states between Nov. 6 and Nov. 30 — is out today. And it appears Europeans are increasingly anxious, particularly about digital risks and the cost of living, and they want a more protective and united EU. Sixty-six percent of respondents want the EU to play a stronger protective role; 89 percent want more EU unity.
EU-U.S. DEAL MOVES FORWARD: Parliament’s lead lawmakers meet this afternoon to discuss timing for a vote on the EU-U.S. trade deal, after doubts triggered by Trump’s threats to annex Greenland. “The situation with Greenland is off the table,” said Željana Zovko, the EPP’s lead lawmaker on the file. “Now we need to follow up on the agreement and the joint statement [with the U.S.]. On implementation, we’re already too late.”
PARLIAMENT PROTEST: MEPs and European Parliament staff waving rainbow flags gathered on the steps of the Parliament Tuesday afternoon to protest a right-wing summit backed by the Patriots for Europe and European Conservatives and Reformists groups. The conference was attended by Ugandan MP Lucy Akello, who, according to advocates, supported her country’s legislation imposing the death penalty or life imprisonment on gay people.
Speechless: Akello did not seem in a talkative mood as she strode through the Parliament with her entourage. When approached by Playbook, she said Brussels was “very cold.” And asked what she had discussed with her fellow right-wing lawmakers at the summit, the Ugandan politician stared straight ahead and declined to answer.
Safety in the house: Kim van Sparrentak, a Dutch MEP and co-president of the Parliament’s LGBTIQ+ intergroup, was one of the protesters. “I don’t really feel safe here in this house if there’s people actively wanting me dead,” she said.
IN OTHER NEWS
FRENCH TURNING POINT: The development many had been bracing for — and one that could reshape France’s 2027 presidential race — landed Tuesday: French prosecutors recommended upholding a five-year electoral ban against far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Why it matters: If the court follows the recommendation, Le Pen would be barred from running in next year’s presidential election — a potentially historic intervention in French electoral politics. POLITICO’s Victor Goury-Laffont has the details from Paris.
VERDICT DUE IN BUDAPEST: A ruling is expected today in the case of Maja T., a German non-binary anti-fascist activist on trial in Budapest over alleged involvement in violent attacks against far-right participants during the so-called “Day of Honor” events.
A familiar case: The same events previously ensnared Italian MEP Ilaria Salis, whose trial was halted after her election to the European Parliament in 2024 granted her immunity — following a razor-thin vote in Parliament rejecting a request to waive that immunity.
No optimism: “I don’t expect good news from the ruling on Maja,” Salis told Playbook, describing the proceedings as fundamentally illegitimate. “It is a Kafkaesque stage on which the squalid spectacle of exemplary punishment inflicted by the regime on its enemies is played out,” she said.
EPSTEIN FILES: The EU executive is examining whether former Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson breached its rules over his contacts with the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the release of the latest files continue to reverberate. POLITICO’s Tim Ross examined the EU connection in the spectacular downfall of a figure synonymous with New Labour.
Speaking of Epstein … POLITICO reviewed the documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice and found three mentions of EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič, but no evidence he had any contact with the disgraced financier. Šefčovič himself said he “never had any direct or indirect contact, communication or meeting with Jeffrey Epstein.”
SPYING IN SPACE: Security officials say Russian space vehicles have intercepted the communications of Europe’s key satellites, the FT reports this morning.