PM Mitsotakis and French President Macron hold extensive talks in Paris
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Presidential Palace of the Champs Elysees in Paris. Their meeting lasted one hour, during which they discussed issues concerning bilateral relations and European current affairs.
4.0 Richter earthquake in the sea area of Amorgos-At least 5 earthquakes during the night
A 4.0 magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:36 on Tuesday, 231 kilometers southeast of Athens.
According to the Geodynamic Institute of the National Observatory of Athens, the epicenter of the earthquake is located in the sea area 15 kilometers south southwest of Arkesini, Amorgos.
Police search security company offices after submission of new video on Tempi train collision
Hellenic Police conducted a search on Monday afternoon, following an order of the Special Prosecutor, at the offices of the security company that operates the cameras on the railway, as part of the investigation into the railway tragedy in Tempi.
Athens threatens to cancel NATO exercise over Turkish demands on Aegean
Athens threatened to cancel the NATO “Steadfast Dart” exercise, which began on Monday in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, following Turkey’s demands to impose its views on the Aegean.
ATHEX: Minor drop for stocks after record
After Friday’s 14-year high, the benchmark of the Greek stock market lost some ground on Monday, suffering moderate pressure more akin to profit-taking and less so concerns about the imposition of US tariffs on European exports or political instability in Greece. Mid-caps actually ended up on the winning side and rising stocks outnumbered the losers, albeit by the smallest of margins.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1261255/athex-minor-drop-for-stocks-after-record
KATHIMERINI: Tax controls: revenues of 10,000 euro accompanied with expenditure of 300,000 euro
TA NEA: Mitsotakis in Paris: What he said to Macron, what he asked from Vans
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Newly emerged videos of the trains involved in the fatal Tempi crash are an attempt to cause confusion
RIZOSPASTIS: War inside our homes! NATO must scram now!
KONTRA NEWS: Former Attica governor under investigation for the mismanagement of 300 million euro
DIMOKRATIA: Mitsotakis humiliated in Paris
NAFTEMPORIKI: Three aces in the sleeve due to the super-surplus of 12 billion euros
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DRIVING THE DAY: JDV IN PARIS
BRUSSELS VS. VANCE IN PARIS: Nothing artificial about it: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will finally have some face time with a top Trump official. She’s one of JD Vance’s bilats on the sidelines of the AI Action Summit in Paris. (Others include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, per the AP.)
Cold open: With President Donald Trump preparing to launch a slate of retaliatory tariffs and eyeing an endgame in Ukraine, von der Leyen’s ice-breaker session with Vance has a high-stakes, potentially contradictory mission: advocate for a productive transatlantic relationship while defending Europe’s ability to make its own rules.
Out of sync? Macron kicked off the gathering by acknowledging that the EU has been too slow on innovation, saying the summit is a “wake-up call” for Europe and a chance to “resynchronize with the rest of the world” by “simplifying” rules in response to American and Chinese dominance. But don’t expect von der Leyen to back down on enforcing the EU’s landmark rules for Big Tech, her top digital deputy said, despite heavy criticism from Washington.
Eur house, Eur rules: The EU’s tech laws are fair because they apply to everyone, European Commission tech boss Henna Virkkunen told my colleague Pieter Haeck. “When we are doing business in other countries we have to respect their rules. When it comes to our digital rules in the European Union they are very fair, they are the same rules for everybody, for American companies, for European … for China’s companies,” she said.
“Of course,” she added, this will come up in von der Leyen’s meeting with Vance — even as Virkkunen promised earlier during a separate appearance that the EU’s regulatory burden would be pared down in upcoming legislation. More for Pro subscribers in Morning Tech.
Ad-Vance planning: Vance takes the stage at 10:15 a.m. for his first international address as VP.
WHAT’S AT THE TOP OF VANCE’S BRIEFING FILE*: “What Trump gets right about Europe,” an opinion piece in Sifted Pro in which FT Innovation Editor John Thornhill repeats the now-familiar litany of complaints about over-regulation and under-spending on defense.
*Assuming, that is, his team is still willing to shell out for journalism subscriptions.
MORE TRUMP TEAMMATES IN EUROPE: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be in Brussels later this week for NATO meetings, and “serious figures” from the administration (as Volodymyr Zelenskyy put it) will visit Ukraine ahead of the Munich Security Conference, which kicks off Friday (more on the MSC at POLITICO’s hub).
OUR LADY OF PROTOCOL
IN SEINE BACKSTORIES: The reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in December seems to have been the occasion of two epic disses that are, in different ways, setting the stage for transatlantic geopolitics.
Missing Musk: There were high hopes that Elon Musk would attend the AI summit in Paris, but late Monday evening, he RSVP’d non. It was a setback for Macron, who is in regular touch with the tech mogul. My colleague Océane Herrero has this delicious dish on the origins of their falling out: While Musk was invited to attend the historic ceremony alongside world leaders, ushers quickly put him in his place. Musk tried to sit next to Trump but was ultimately shunted back to the ninth row, behind French elected officials. Tant pis.
VDL added insult to injury: Von der Leyen, on the other hand, didn’t attend the Notre Dame ceremony. Her team cited a scheduling issue — indeed, the day before, she jetted off to Uruguay to announce the conclusion of Mercosur trade negotiations, much to the chagrin of Paris. Documents obtained by Euronews show that von der Leyen initially accepted Macron’s invitation to attend (contrary to what her spokespeople told reporters) — only to cancel just hours before it was supposed to start. Non mais ça va pas?
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: OpenAI founder Sam Altman rejected a reported $100 billion bid by Musk and a group of investors to buy his artificial intelligence giant.
MONEY TALKS
BUDGET MISERY STARTS TODAY: Don’t be fooled.
European commissioners today are set to rubber-stamp a 14-page document laying out the major issues that need to be addressed in the EU’s next seven-year budget. That’s the beginning and the end of the easy part, Gregorio Sorgi reports. Negotiating the multiannual financial framework is always a torturous process, and this time, it’s set to be even worse.
Mo’ money, mo’ problems: That’s because the Covid loan is finally coming due. The €300 billion in joint debt meant to shore up the post-pandemic economy is up for repayment as of 2028. Mo’ from Gregorio on the tickling debt bomb.
MF-FML: Without a new plan, that could take a huge chunk — between 15 percent and 20 percent, according to the Commission’s estimates — out of the bloc’s spending power.
Spain’s idea — Just f-off for a while: Don’t bother paying back the debt this time around, Madrid argued in a plan viewed by Gregorio. The first of the biggest EU member countries to lay out its vision for the next budget, Spain and its center-left government also want to balloon the EU budget from €1.2 trillion to over €2 trillion, using joint debt. Expect this to go over like a lead balloon with the frugal northern countries. Más on Madrid’s take.
Commission’s idea — Combine the pots: Brussels wants to replace dozens of “rigid” programs with three merged funds that would hand more spending power to capitals, the FT reports. Under the simplified budget, the Commission would agree on a single plan for each EU country, with key reforms and investments, including regional funds and farming subsidies. This would effectively give national capitals more scope in deciding projects, including some that have traditionally been agreed at local authority level with Brussels.
Berlaymont power plays: While the capitals — which each have a veto — are the real power players in the MFF process, the commissioners are nonetheless jockeying for influence. Ursula von der Leyen wants to keep a firm grip over the process, while her underlings with skin in the game — including cohesion czar Raffaele Fitto, agri boss Christophe Hansen and social rights chief Roxana Mînzatu — want to have a significant say.
Where that landed: The heads of cabinets of the 27 commissioners agreed to a text Monday night saying that von der Leyen and budget chief Piotr Serafin should take the lead, Gregorio writes in to report. But they left the door open to involving other commissioners in talks over specific topics.
Timing: The Commission’s full proposal is due this summer — but again, that’s only the end of the beginning of the negotiating slog.
Roadmap roadshow: Serafin is out to debunk the EU “budget bashing,” as his team put it. He’s set off to talk up MFF not just in capitals but in industrial zones that benefit from the EU euros. Driving in a black, branded “Tour d’Europe Van,” (a hybrid, his team notes) Serafin has already been to Denmark and Sweden. Starting Wednesday, he’s off to Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands. (Frugals first!) Naturally, there’s a website.
COMMISSION KILL LIST: The Commission is raising a white flag of surrender on some thorny pieces of legislation, leaked documents obtained by my colleagues show. The 2025 work program, also set to be adopted by von der Leyen’s team today in Strasbourg, shows plans to drop files on e-privacy and financial institutions’ data access, Mathieu Pollet, Ellen O’Regan and Pieter Haeck report for Pro subscribers.
Work program choreography: With the College of Commissioners meeting not slated to take place until 5 p.m. today, the work program won’t be unveiled until an 11:30 a.m. press conference on Wednesday, with Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Maroš Šefčovič. The latter will parry with Parliament plenary about the program on Wednesday, as well.
TRUMP TRADE
STEELING FOR THE RECIPROCAL TARIFFS: Three European industries are especially nervous about the White House’s expected announcement of new duties.
METALS: Trump overnight slapped 25 percent tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum, effectively canceling deals with the EU, the U.K., Japan and others. The European Commission signaled its response is ready to go, with the bloc’s trade arm on Monday slamming Trump’s musings as “unlawful” — language that it could be gearing up for a full-fledged trade war with retaliatory tariffs or other targeted measures.
MEDICINES: Though he’s offered no timeline, Trump also promised to hit the European pharmaceutical industry, Claudia Chiappa reports, despite a 30-year-old World Trade Organization agreement not to apply duties to medicines.
Who would be hit hardest? Ireland is likely to be particularly concerned. In 2023, the U.S. was the biggest buyer of Irish goods exports, valued at €54 billion — of which some €36 billion related to pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
And then there’s Novo: The first threat of tariffs came against Denmark over its unwillingness to relinquish control of Greenland. Those would naturally hit the country’s most high-profile company, Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk. CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said last week Novo was “not immune, but we are confident our business is in a good position to meet the demands of the new [U.S.] administration.”
CARS: The automotive sector is likely to be hit the hardest — particularly Germany’s Das Auto. Trump frequently cites Brussels’ higher tariffs on vehicles as a source of his ire — they all add up to some 30 percent. Read the full article from Jordyn Dahl, Camille Gijs and Doug Busvine.
TRUMP’S PRICE FOR SUPPORTING UKRAINE? $500B in mineral riches.
SO HOW SHOULD THE WORLD DEAL WITH TRUMP? Kiss the ring, resist, offer deals and wait for exhaustion to set in, argues my colleague Jamie Dettmer.
MORE OVERNIGHT TRUMP: The U.S. president said “all hell is going to break out” and the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas should be terminated if Hamas doesn’t release the remaining hostages by midday on Saturday. He also named loyalist Ric Grenell as the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center on Monday, days after appointing himself chair, solidifying his control over the iconic American cultural institution.
IN OTHER NEWS
ROMANIA’S PRESIDENT RESIGNS: Klaus Iohannis announced he will step down as Romanian president, effective Wednesday, to avoid the spectacle of an impeachment process launched by Bucharest’s parliament. The president of the Romanian parliament’s upper house, Ilie Bolojan, will take over until the new presidential election. Details here.
MIGRATION MUDDLE: The Commission is resisting legal threats after Warsaw vowed not to implement the Migration Pact. As Euronews’ Jorge Liboreiro notes, that’s in sharp contrast to previous statements from the Berlaymont.
LIKUD’S DIVIDED EU LOYALTIES: The Patriots for Europe Party welcomed Likud, the right-wing party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as an “observer member” over the weekend. Yet Likud is also listed as a “global partner” of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. A Likud spokesman didn’t immediately reply to Playbook’s request for relationship clarity Monday evening.
MERZ’S PLANS FOR GERMANY: Friedrich Merz, Germany’s likely next chancellor, has given an interview to the Economist in which he flags plans to slash red tape and ax the benefits system. “The business model of this country is gone,” he said. He added: “We have to concentrate our public spending on, for example, the labor market,” to ensure Germany is “not paying people who are not willing to work.” Merz said Germany has to build “at least 50 gas power plants,” with no return to Russian gas “for the time being.”
How to deal with Trump? “Very easy … ‘America first’ means that he is committed to do the best things for his own country” — so Brussels should respond to Trump’s tariffs by inflicting pain right back on the U.S.
How to deal with the war in Ukraine? Peace-keeping troops “could be an option,” — but “only after a reliable cease-fire.” But “a country at war is not a potential NATO member,” Merz said, before adding he would eventually like to see “Ukraine as a country in peace in NATO.”
CORRUPTION REPORT CARD: Over two-thirds of countries scored below 50/100 in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, out today. The global average is stuck at a dismal 43, and even traditionally high-performing countries like Sweden (81) and Norway (80) recorded their lowest ever scores. Top of the pile: Denmark on 90. Europe’s poor performers: Hungary scored 41, while TI singled out Italy (54) and Slovakia (49) as countries to watch.