Mitsotakis to face off with recently re-elected Androulakis in key parliamentary debate
All eyes are on the Greek Parliament this Wednesday as a highly anticipated debate among political leaders, initiated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, begins at 11 a.m. The formal aim of the debate is to brief opposition parties on the recent fire season and outline plans to strengthen Civil Protection.
Greece’s ruling party fined over ‘email-gate’
Greece’s Personal Data Protection Authority (PDPA) on Tuesday imposed a 40,000-euro fine on the ruling New Democracy (ND) party for not taking adequate measures to protect the personal data of hundreds of Greeks living abroad following an investigation into the “email-gate” scandal. The authority’s investigation of ND opened after Greeks living abroad accused former New Democracy MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou in March this year of sending unsolicited emails ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/1251581/greeces-ruling-party-fined-over-email-gate
BoG: Banks better placed to withstand shocks now
The Greek banking sector is better placed than in the past to withstand potential shocks and perform its intermediation function, despite a slight deterioration in the asset quality of credit institutions, according to the Financial Stability Review released by the Bank of Greece on Tuesday.
https://www.ekathimerini.com/economy/1251616/bog-banks-better-placed-to-withstand-shocks-now
IMF forecasts Greek economy to grow by 2.3% in 2024, 2% in 2025
The Greek economy is expected to grow at a faster pace than the Eurozone, both this year and in 2025, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund on global economic prospects, released yesterday.
https://www.amna.gr/en/article/857217/IMF-forecasts-Greek-economy-to-grow-by-23-in-2024–2-in-2025
ΑΤΗΕΧ: Banks lead biggest drop in 2.5 months
Stocks suffered considerable losses at Athinon Avenue on Tuesday, with traders targeting specific blue chips, which had a knock-on effect on most other stocks. This was the biggest daily fall for the benchmark since early August. The reports by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs brought down their target prices for Greek bank stocks, which sent daily turnover to its highest level in the last nine sessions due to the intention of many traders to sell.
KATHIMERINI: Competent authorities confess impasse regarding the collection of waste in Athens
TA NEA: Wills and inheritances: 6 great changes
EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Society threatened with financial asphyxiation
RIZOSPASTIS: Solidarity for teachers and all those on strike
KONTRA NEWS: Bold proposals by former PM and SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras
DIMOKRATIA: Fraudulent list of products whose prices are going to be reduced presented by Development Minister Theodorikakos
NAFTEMPORIKI: “Super-profits” from tax controls
DRIVING THE DAY: COMMISSIONERS-DESIGNATE REPLY
9 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NOMINEES’ WRITTEN RESPONSES: The aspiring commissioners’ answers to lawmakers’ written questions dropped shortly before midnight overnight. They’re the first glimpse of how they think about their jobs — and how they plan to spin their C.V.s.
Fill in the blanks: There aren’t exactly surprises. Many follow a basic formula of reciting their resume, affirming their European values, promising to stick to their mission letter and, for good measure, promising to loop Parliament in on everything. Then again, a few commissioners-designate could see answers come back to haunt them, especially those with touchy portfolios like migration and the budget.
Express analysis: Here are Playbook’s nine takeaways and highlights from key and controversial nominees’ replies (with special thanks to colleagues Max Griera, Gabriel Gavin, Zia Weise, Stuart Lau, Helen Collis, Kelsey Hayes and Leonie Cater)…
1. TERESA RIBERA, EVP for clean, just and competitive transition: How many times can I say the c-word? ”There is no competitiveness without effective competition in a market economy,” Ribera says, pledging to cut red tape and “vigorously enforce” competition rules. But while she thinks it’s right to break up companies and block buyouts if they lead to “excessive accumulation of market power,” she says EU merger control must “evolve to capture contemporary needs and dynamics.”
2. STÉPHANE SÉJOURNÉ, EVP, prosperity and industrial strategy: French nominee constrained by Germany: On the ex-Renew Group leader’s plate is drumming up the estimated €800 billion of capital called for in the Draghi report to maintain Europe’s competitiveness. But with cash-strapped Germany having already voiced opposition to higher public spending and budgets looking tight across the board, Séjourné insists he’s staying realistic. “Our reflection will need to start with ‘what we want to finance’ to then see ‘how’ we can best deliver on our objectives,” he says.
3. KAJA KALLAS, high representative/VP for foreign affairs and security policy: Break from Borrell, not America: Kallas makes clear that it’s time to make a clean break from current EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s diplomacy and bring in a “more strategic” EU approach. She says the U.S. “will remain the EU’s most consequential partner and ally” (despite concerns about the outcome of November’s presidential election) and refers to China only as a systemic rival, highlighting Beijing’s moves to back Russia.
4. RAFFAELE FITTO, EVP for cohesion and reforms: Dare you to vote against me: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s choice isn’t giving center- and left-leaning lawmakers any excuse to reject him, despite their complaints about the European Conservatives and Reformists getting such a high-level post. He cites his political origins with the centrist “Democrazia Cristiana” party to burnish his pro-European values; there are no references to the Brothers of Italy, his current party. He even cites his “absolute” commitment to gender equality.
5. PIOTR SERAFIN, commissioner for budget, anti-fraud and public administration: Harder, better, faster, stronger: The Polish commissioner-designate isn’t likely to calm any nerves about von der Leyen’s possible revamp of the EU’s seven-year budget, known as the MFF. “A policy-based budget,” he writes, “requires fewer, more focused programmes, and a plan for each country linking key reforms with investment targeted to where EU action is most needed.” He cites “defence and security, sustainable prosperity and competitiveness, and democracy and social fairness” as the common goals that the budget should support.
6. MAGNUS BRUNNER, commissioner for internal affairs and migration: Starting with “returns” and flexing Frontex: Brunner doubles down on the right-wing’s calls for a brand new law on “returns” (aka deportations) but avoids taking a stance on offshore deportation centers. He also defends a promise by von der Leyen and the EPP to triple the EU’s border agency staff to 30,000, and argues that the increase will cement the agency’s participation in “returns” and “a more ambitious role of Frontex in third countries.” (That would require changing Frontex’s regs, he acknowledges.)
7. ROXANA MÎNZATU, EVP for people, skills and preparedness: Consoling her own people: Mînzatu, a Socialist, has been assigned the portfolio currently held by Nicolas Schmit, the Socialists’ lead candidate in the June election. Yet her job title no longer contains the words “employment” or “social rights,” a sore point for the S&D Group. To that, Minzatu answers: “I understand why some might have preferred a different formulation for my title. For my part, I am excited about a portfolio that puts ‘people’ front and center.”
8. OLIVÉR VÁRHELYI, commissioner for health and animal welfare: Forgive and forget? Hungary’s nominee, the current enlargement commissioner, is destined to face a tough grilling, given that he was caught on a hot mic calling MEPs “idiots.” Now, he tells them, he intends to establish a “very close working relationship, based on mutual trust and constructive dialogue.”
9. Speedily getting up to speed: Points to the advisers drafting the answers and training commissioners-designate ahead of the hearings, which start in November. Many of the nominees are sounding like experts in complex subjects that were new to them just weeks ago. For example, Magnus Brunner jumped from being a finance minister to taking on the EU’s migration policy, and Stéphane Sejourne, despite not having any economic background, is now able to discuss the nitty-gritty of the EU’s industrial policy. Will they all perform so well when the training wheels come off in the hearings?
EUROPEAN LOVE TRIANGLE
SERBIA’S VUČIĆ PLAYS ALL SIDES: Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić is hanging out with top EU leaders this week instead of attending Vladimir Putin’s BRICS summit. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is a firm declaration of loyalty to the EU, Playbook’s Šejla Ahmatović reports. It’s all part of the Balkan leader’s strategy of looking West but going East.
EPP power players in Belgrade: Vučić is receiving Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk in Belgrade today, where they’re expected to talk about EU membership. (Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party is an associate member of the center-right European People’s Party, for which Tusk and Mitsotakis are standard-bearers.)
Opportunity cost: Vučić’s engagement with EU leaders comes at the expense of his attendance at the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan. Serbia is not a member of BRICS, but the country was invited to join on the second day of the three-day meeting. After a long period of playing coy, Vučić ultimately opted not to attend, citing the Tusk-Mitsotakis visit. Instead, Vice President Aleksandar Vulin — a frequent visitor to Moscow and even a recipient of Russia’s Order of Friendship award — will lead the Serbian delegation.
“Status quo“: “The goal,” said Radomir Lazović, co-chair of a Serbian opposition party, “is always the status quo — to have some symbolism but never really change anything. Vučić not showing up and thereby rejecting Putin allowed the government to later say “What else does Europe want?” Lazović said.
Money on the table: On Monday, Serbia presented a reform agenda that — if accepted by the Commission — will allow the country to access €112 million through the Western Balkans Growth Plan by the end of the year. The EU intends to spend a total of € 1.6 billion on Serbia alone through the initiative if it makes progress on areas such as the rule of law.
Keeping the suitors separate: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also make a stop in Belgrade, on Friday, as part of a broader Western Balkans swing to talk up the EU’s spending plans in the region. But the very next day, Russia is back in the picture. Its Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov will visit Serbia on Saturday, Vučić told the state-owned broadcaster RTS.
Making it up to Putin: Vučić said in the same interview he’ll attend Russia’s blow-out celebration marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over the Nazis, on May 9, 2025.
Vučić’s Goldilocks spot? As more Euroskeptic and Russia-friendly governments are elected around the EU, Vučić might not have to work so hard to walk the line between East and West. He’s already finding a sweet spot. On Tuesday, he appeared alongside Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and Slovak PM Robert Fico at a conference on migration hosted by the latter. Vučić ruled out hosting any offshore deportation centers in Serbia, and the trio rejected the prospect of a new configuration of the Visegrad group … for now.
SPEAKING OF THE BRICS, AND WHO’S THERE: The EU might beat out Putin when it comes to Vučić’s attention this week, but Russia notched a win with a different leader. United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan didn’t show up to the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council summit last week in Brussels, opting to send a deputy prime minister instead. But MBZ is spending lots of time in Russia this week, meeting with Putin one-on-one ahead of the BRICS summit and sticking around to attend the gathering.
SPEAKING OF THE GCC, AND WHO WASN’T THERE: Quite a few EU leaders skipped the EU-GCC summit on Oct 16., a day before the European Council gathering. Despite Council President Charles Michel’s ambition to have the highest level of political participation, the leaders of Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Slovakia didn’t come. Yet a list of the participants uploaded the evening before the summit listed all 27 EU leaders — even though German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already said that he had no plans to be there.
Facts matter, even after the fact: Since then, journalists have received multiple explanations in response to questions about why the Council’s list didn’t reflect reality. Until Tuesday, the old, demonstrably incorrect participants list was still up on the summit website, described as an “outcome document.” It’s now been removed and replaced, after Playbook harangued the Council press office.
BUDGET BUST-UP
PARLIAMENT AND CAPITALS CLASH OVER POST-COVID BILL: The European Parliament and national capitals are sparring over who will pay more than €2 billion of unexpected additional interest rate costs on the EU’s post-pandemic borrowing. Financial Services reporter Gregorio Sorgi walks us through it.
Happening in Strasbourg: Lawmakers today are set to approve their version of the 2025 EU budget, which is €1 billion above the Commission’s proposal. On the other hand, national capitals want to cut the money pot by almost €10 billion.
Recovery clash: The cost of annual repayments of the Commission’s post-Covid borrowing jumped through the roof as a result of a spike in interest rates since the estimates were made in 2021. MEPs and capitals are haggling over where to find the extra cash.
In a familiar clash, penny-pinching governments — including Germany and France — support cutting EU schemes, including the Horizon research and Erasmus student exchange programs. Parliament instead wants to raid unused funds from the EU’s multi-year budget that are usually given back to national capitals.
What’s actually happening: Lawmakers who traditionally favor more EU spending want to defend the bloc’s programs, while cash-strapped member countries are looking for a workaround under which they would pay less.
Tick tock: The disagreements between the MEPs and national capitals will need to be resolved before a Nov. 18 deadline.
ANOTHER BREWING BUDGET FIGHT: EU agriculture ministers essentially knee-capped Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s ambitions to reform the CAP. Full coverage for Agri Pros.
IN OTHER NEWS
HEZBOLLAH’S NEW LEADER KILLED: Israel’s military said it killed a cleric who was expected to take over as Hezbollah’s leader after Hassan Nasrallah died in an airstrike in Lebanon on Sept. 27. Hashem Safieddine was killed in a missile attack on the militant group’s main intelligence base in Beirut in early October, the Israel Defense Forces said. Hezbollah did not immediately confirm the reports. The AP has more details.
POLAND CLOSES RUSSIAN CONSULATE: Poland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski said it was shutting down the Russian consulate in the western city of Poznan because of suspected sabotage attempts that are allegedly part of the Kremlin’s “hybrid war” to destabilize European rivals. Moscow said it would retaliate, according to Russian state media. Reuters has more.
UKRAINE LOAN DEAL CLOSE: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the U.S. was “very close” to finalizing a $20 billion contribution to a broader loan package to Ukraine that will be repaid from the income generated by frozen Russian assets. More from our Stateside colleagues.
PARIS PREPARES FOR TRUMP: With less than two weeks remaining until the U.S. presidential election, France is turbocharging its preparations for Donald Trump to potentially return to the White House, my colleague Clea Caulcutt reports. Tristan Aureau, who was chief of staff to Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot when he was junior Europe minister, is leading a retooled internal think tank to examine the different scenarios France could face in a second Trump presidency.
Also worried: Trump would rule the U.S. like a dictator, his former chief-of-staff John Kelly warned in an interview with the New York Times, out this morning.
TOP READ: How Fethullah Gülen’s feud with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shaped today’s Turkey, by Elçin Poyrazlar.
DEFENSE DEBATE COMING: Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith hinted that NATO allies would need to figure out whether to increase the current target of spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense — to, say, 2.5 percent. “I think it wouldn’t be surprising to me if allies started a debate about a higher threshold,” she told my colleague Stuart Lau before returning to Washington for a top role at the State Department. Smith also said the U.S. is concerned about EU moves to prioritize buying European weapons, because it wouldn’t offer the cheapest or quickest way to get arms to Ukraine and other states in need. Read more from Stuart’s exit interview here.