Parliament holds second vote on constitutional revision
The Parliament is expected to proceed on Wednesday with the second vote on the revision of the Constitution. The second vote will determine the majority by which the provisions deemed eligible for revision will be “ carried over” to the next Parliament, which will be tasked with completing the constitutional revision process. The votes secured by New Democracy’s proposal will determine the majority required in the next Parliament, which will undertake the constitutional revision, to amend the substance of each provision proposed for revision. The opposition has made clear that it does not intend to give the next governing majority a “blank cheque” to revise the Constitution.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/1023397/Parliament-holds-second-vote-on-constitutional-revision
Prominent Greek neo-Nazi exits prison and says he will return to politics
A former leading member of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, Ilias Kasidiaris, has been released from prison and vowed a return to politics. Kasidiaris was convicted and imprisoned in 2020 as a leading member of the criminal organisation, which for years had been linked to violent attacks on migrants and political opponents, as well as to the murder of anti-fascist musician Pavlos Fyssas in 2013. He served only part of his 13-year sentence.
Head of terrorist group released from jail barred from entering US
Nikos Maziotis, the leader of urban guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle, was released from prison, after serving 14 years of a multiple life sentence imposed on him for his activities with the group. Maziotis was arrested with six other members of Revolutionary Struggle in 2010, but violated his conditional release in 2012 and went missing in the middle of his trial. In April 2014, under his leadership, the group claimed responsibility for a bomb blast in central Athens outside the branch offices of the central bank. On July 16, 2014, Maziotis was re-arrested by police after a dramatic shootout in Athens’ central tourist district, which left four people wounded.
Doctors facing charges over Mazonakis’ death remanded in custody
The two doctors facing charges over the death of singer Giorgos Mazonakis have been remanded in custody following a 17-hour testimony before an investigating magistrate that concluded early on Wednesday. Both the investigator and the prosecutor ruled that the couple of doctors must be held in pre-trial detention on charges of homicide with dolus eventualis.
ATHEX: Contrasting forces have index stay put
The Euronext Athens (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,695.21 points, adding just 0.01% to Monday’s 2,694.96 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.10% to end at 6,919.99 points, though mid-caps expanded 0.74%.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1315358/athex-contrasting-forces-have-index-stay-put
KATHIMERINI: Students do not give a passing grade to their teachers
TA NEA: Housing loans through Spiti Mou III program: A key-factor increases prices of apartments
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: After one government scandal, millions will follow
RIZOSPASTIS: New price hikes in fuel and heating oil
KONTRA NEWS: The fake doctors of Kolonaki had access to the government
DIMOKRATIA: New “bomb” regarding the cover-up of the Tempe rail crash site
NAFTEMPORIKI: Investors’ “passports” for the Stock Exchange
DRIVING THE DAY
SOTEU IS FINALLY HERE … BUT THEN WHAT? We pretty much know what Ursula von der Leyen is going to say in her biggest address of the year. The harder question is what comes next.
Von der Leyen’s sixth State of the Union will be critical to defining the remainder of her Commission presidency. If she has something big left to do, she’d better get on and do it.
Or, as Parliament President Roberta Metsola put it here in Strasbourg yesterday: “The legislative files that will be proposed or that will come this year will realistically be the ones that will be closed by the end of the mandate.”
With a difficult electoral year ahead, today will tell us a lot about what von der Leyen wants to do with the rest of her time in the EU executive’s top job. Watch particularly for where she gets personal: Social media restrictions for children, wearing her hat as a former family minister; big security plans, drawing on her time as a defense minister. But the broader ambition she signals will be just as revealing as any individual policy.
Can von der Leyen get Europe behind her? She’s got several factors in her favor. Nearly two years into her second five-year term, the Commission president has more control than in the past, with officials describing a firmer grip on her team.
And the Parliament is different, too. Playbook has been doing some highly scientific research around Strasbourg — hanging around the notorious Swan bar, the corridors and outside the hemicycle. The verdict: It’s noticeably calmer than during the run of confidence votes against her.
Virginijus Sinkevičius, a commissioner from von der Leyen’s first term, now a Green MEP, thinks the president is in a strong position. “She’s more powerful than [in] my time,” he told Playbook. “You also improve and learn how to do your job by doing it.”
An official from the center-right European People’s Party (von der Leyen’s camp) agreed with that when Playbook bumped into them while queuing at the Parliament bar. They pointed to the way von der Leyen has structured her second Commission — and the concentration of power around her own cabinet.
That doesn’t mean she’s getting everything right. Arrangements for Canadian PM Mark Carney’s appearance in Parliament on Thursday were something of a mess, with von der Leyen apparently not planning to attend — until she was. Canada’s ambassador had made Ottawa’s expectations clear: Carney would attend her speech, so “it would be great if she could be there,” as Sebastian Starcevic and Max Griera report.
Adding to the awkwardness: The EU is set to rebuff Carney’s push for a “unique alliance” with the bloc, the FT is reporting this morning.
Another thought: There could be more at stake for von der Leyen today than charting a course for the remainder of her presidency. “I think they’ll be listening in Berlin,” said one right-wing Parliament official. Speculation that she wants to become German president has faded — but never quite disappeared.
FOLLOW THE SPEECH: Von der Leyen is due to speak at 9 a.m. Watch it live here. Our reporters in Strasbourg, Brussels and beyond will be tracking the address — and the reaction — in our live blog, so stay tuned.
BIG AND BREAKING
DIRTY WORK: The EU will carry on sending hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic waste to Turkey every year, despite growing evidence of environmental damage and mismanagement, Fiona McNally reports.
ACTIONS, NOT WORDS: Firefighters are batting away flattery from government leaders, responding that they need resources — not applause — to put out fires in a Europe looking increasingly like a tinder box, Zia Weise reports.
CARBON CRUNCH: While capitals are fighting over whether von der Leyen should roll back her Green Deal to boost industry, a Coreper I meeting of deputy ambassadors this morning looks set to end in deadlock — after Germany joined a bid to block efforts by Czechia, Poland and others to relax carbon rules, according to a document seen by POLITICO.
AI APOCALYPSE
TECH TIGHTROPE: The U.S. and China are turning artificial intelligence into a geopolitical contest. Leading industry figures are issuing grave warnings about the dangers of advanced systems. Von der Leyen’s task: Reassure Europeans who are spooked by the tech while emphasizing the opportunities it could bring.
Her message: Europe must avoid becoming so risk-averse that it misses AI’s potential to transform its economy and industry, particularly as the U.S. and China move ahead.
Apocalypse soon? The backdrop is troubling. Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in the development of frontier AI, warning that safety measures may not be keeping pace with the technology. That was backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, xAI founder Elon Musk and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis. (Though Nvidia boss Jensen Huang reckons the industry doesn’t need new laws, my stateside colleagues report.)
Europe’s dilemma: The EU’s seminal AI Act is operational, and it’s meant to protect safety and fundamental rights. But tough enforcement could deepen concerns that the bloc is falling behind. Meanwhile, leaving AI unchecked, or relying entirely on systems developed elsewhere, could create serious security vulnerabilities.
“We already open the newspapers and see news about tens of thousands of jobs lost every day,” said one national official, granted anonymity to speak freely. “We can’t be left behind on this too.”
The other big risk to Europe: If it tries to regulate American AI companies, U.S. President Donald Trump will hit back. Trump has dismissed Amodei’s call for an AI slowdown as a “hoax,” arguing that regulation would undermine the U.S. in the race with China. He signaled that Washington is unlikely to adopt broad AI regulation.
“Von der Leyen is too scared of Trump,” Brando Benifei, the European Parliament’s lead lawmaker on AI, said, accusing the EU of hesitating to enforce its rules. Instead of listening to Trump, she should “listen to Carney, who will be with us … We should not chicken out because Trump has demonstrated that when it goes wrong, you need to be tough.”
20-SECOND PLAYBOOK PRIMER
The State of the Union speech is delivered in Strasbourg, but how long has the European Parliament been meeting in the French city? Well, since before there was a Parliament as we know it. The Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (the precursor to the Parliament) held its first meeting in Strasbourg in 1952. The European Parliamentary Assembly (the Parliament’s original name) picked its first president, Robert Schuman, in Strasbourg in 1958, and EU member states formally designated Strasbourg as the official seat of the Parliament in 1992.
STATE OF DISUNION
THE COALITION BREAKS DOWN (AGAIN): The EPP and the Socialists and Democrats have flunked the first major post-summer test of whether they can repair their relationship, failing to agree on a text setting out the Parliament’s position on the Ceuta migrant crisis, Max Griera writes.
Yesterday’s negotiations ended without a deal despite a flurry of proposals going back and forth before the 7 p.m. deadline. That’s a blow to those pushing to revive the alliance after months of quarreling over the EPP voting with the far right and the S&D’s increasingly confrontational stance. And it casts a shadow over von der Leyen’s State of the Union, with her key parliamentary supporters clashing once again.
The main disagreement was over the EPP wanting to blame Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government and its migration policies for the problems in Ceuta, which was a red line for the S&D, according to officials familiar with the talks.
Next step: Despite the lack of a deal, the S&D expects the EPP “not to side with the extreme right when it comes to amendments and to uphold the responsibility that comes with being a pro-European political group,” said Andrea Maceiras, a spokesperson for President Iratxe García. Right-wing and far-right groups could support the EPP’s version of the text with some amendments.
A choice to make: Assita Kanko, the lead lawmaker on the file for the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists, called on the EPP to have “courage” and embrace the right-wing alliance. The “EPP is trying to sleep in several beds, but you cannot be with S&D and also be with us at the same time,” she said.
DASHBOARD
How will von der Leyen’s State of the Union land beyond the Brussels bubble? POLITICO polling in three of the EU’s largest countries, Germany, France and Spain, shows EU citizens view her performance with a critical eye — if they know her at all.
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5 MORE THINGS GETTING US TALKING
STAYING HOME: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has canceled a trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly next week, as his party braces for another tough election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday.
WAKE-UP CALL: The summer’s extreme weather sparked a “realization” in Brussels that the EU needs to step up its its climate-proofing efforts, Parliament President Roberta Metsola said.
SUMMIT SCOOP: Migration, trade and enlargement will dominate October’s European Council, according to a draft document seen by Playbook’s Gabriel Gavin.
GENOCIDE DENIAL: MEPs voted to waive the parliamentary immunity of far-right lawmaker Grzegorz Braun, who is facing Holocaust denial charges in Poland, Daria Zakharova writes.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: Nigel Farage is preparing for a legal battle to hold onto £72 million in donations from crypto billionaires, my colleagues in London write.