If you enjoy reading Brussels Playbook, please share it with your colleagues and friends, and follow our Playbook Plus blog.
QUOTE DU JOUR: “Now I have to see the president of Azerbaijan. The most pleasant part of my day is over,” said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at a Monday press conference with French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
SURVIVOR, EU EDITION: An episode-by-episode guide to the life-threatening challenges the EU faces in 2017.
HOW DONALD TRUMP WILL SAVE EUROPE: “His antipathy toward the European Union is so ‘yuge’ that it could end up reigniting the faltering bloc’s sense of common purpose … Ironically, the deeply Euroskeptic U.S. president and his ally in the Kremlin may provide the push Europe needs to finally resolve its biggest crises. If nothing else, these two erratic, strong-men show-offs will provide a strong incentive to keep Europe’s alliance alive.”
That sentiment was echoed by Estonian PM Juri Ratas in a Bloomberg interview.
EXCLUSIVE — SEE PARLIAMENT CHIEF KLAUS WELLE’S NEW STAFF LIST: Parliament’s top civil servant had been eagerly awaiting Martin Schulz’s departure as Parliament president for his chance to reassert control of the building, counting on his successor, Antonio Tajani, being a more hands-off leader. Playbook came across a leaked organization chart, which lays out Welle’s dream team. Find out who got the top jobs on Playbook’s new blog.
PARLIAMENT — GIANNI PITTELLA’S PLAYBOOK TO RESTORE THE EUROPEAN LEFT: Pittella’s efforts to build an anti-austerity coalition in the elections for European Parliament president in January failed, so now he’s taking the idea on the road with a European tour of socialist leaders.
EU GREEN CORNER …
New tool to track the status of EU environment law: The Commission Monday published 28 profiles of EU countries’ implementation of environmental law. Read our takeaways for POLITICO Pro Energy and Environment subscribers here.
Environment legal sidebar: While Monday’s report does not rank countries on performance or name and shame the laggards, Marion Solletty reports (also for Pro subscribers) that could be because the Commission is saving its fire. The EU’s executive arm is gearing up to launch infringement cases against France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.
EU tries to fix its flawed but world-leading emissions trading scheme: Europe once had a revolutionary idea to reduce emissions — the Emissions Trading System, write Kalina Oroschakoff and Sara Stefanini. The ETS flopped, and the EU is now struggling to come up with a workable fix, “with make-or-break decisions coming down the pike this month.”
Volkswagen refuses Commission pressure to compensate European consumers for Dieselgate cheating: “EU consumers deserve a fair treatment,” Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová said, after VW again refused to pay compensation to European car owners after doing so in the U.S. VW says Europeans faced lower costs and inconvenience as a result of the scandal because the EU has lower environmental standards to meet. Kalina Oroschakoff again.
It’s palm oil day in Parliament: Kateřina Konečná MEP, rapporteur on a palm oil and deforestation report, will introduce Frontera Invisible, a documentary looking at industry practices. Seb Dance, last week’s hero of the left for trolling Nigel Farage in the Parliament’s plenary chamber, will also make a statement. Screening is from 12:30 p.m. in room A1G-2.
COMMISSIONERS ON TOUR … Dimitris Avramopoulos is traveling to Washington D.C. to meet U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to talk immigration. Vice President Jyrki Katainen is set to meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and Brigitte Zypries, minister of economic affairs and energy. Federica Mogherini will, towards the end of the week, travel to the U.S. to meet Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Trump adviser Jared Kushner.
COUNCIL — GENERAL AFFAIRS MINISTERS GATHER TODAY: EU affairs ministers will agree the agenda for the March European Council summit and the Commission’s ideas for “a sustainable European future.”
COUNCIL — KEY POINTS FROM FOREIGN AFFAIRS COUNCIL MONDAY: EU-Israel relations are in a diplomatic limbo. The Israeli Knesset will this week debate a draft law seeking to retroactively legalize 4,000 homes built on privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. That could put plans for an Association Council (a kind of super trade agreement) with Israel in jeopardy. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini intends to raise the issue with her U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson later this week, reports Jacopo Barigazzi (Mogherini’s remarks here). Mogherini also poured cold water on Russia’s increasing role in the Mediterranean, especially Libya, suggesting cooperation, while potentially impossible, is the only way forward.
MORE ON MULTI-SPEED EUROPE … BENELUX COUNTRIES ALSO ENDORSE DIFFERENTIATION: In a Malta summit-related statement (mea culpa — Playbook missed it at the time), Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have also endorsed a two-speed Europe. The three governments stress that the European Commission should remain the organizing force of the EU (not just governments negotiating in the Council), but insist in parallel that the EU should stay out of issues where their involvement is not essential.
Key quote: “Different paths of integration and enhanced cooperation could provide for effective responses to challenges that affect member states in different ways. These arrangements should be inclusive and transparent, with the greatest possible involvement of the other member states and EU institutions.”
What Russian media are saying about the idea: Russia’s state-run Sputnik International is (predictably) pushing the idea that even a two-speed Europe is unworkable in areas such as defense cooperation.
TRADE — EU EXTENDS CHINESE OLIVE BRANCH AND PUSHES MERCOSUR-LITE DEAL: The European Commission sounds ready to water down its ambitions on agricultural products to wrap up a deal as soon as possible with South American countries. (Link for POLITICO Pro Trade or Food and Agriculture subscribers.)
Meanwhile, Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström told an audience at a BusinessEurope event Monday that the EU offered to help China fight “rising protectionism,” in a sign the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump are triggering a sweeping shake-up of global trade alliances.
NATO — TRUMP COMMITS TO BRUSSELS HELLHOLE VISIT: The U.S. president has now signed on for a planned NATO summit in May. He’ll have to face off with protestors, who are already organizing and signed an open letter to EU leaders to denounce his immigration executive order. Trump has previously called Brussels a hellhole.
NATO — US GOVERNMENT’S FLYNN TO RECOMMEND MONTENEGRO MEMBERSHIP: Despite strong Russian opposition, U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will recommend Trump support Montenegro’s bid to join NATO, POLITICO’s Andrew Hanna reported Monday evening.
As congressman proposes Serbia-Kosovo territory swap: The proposal comes from Republican U.S. lawmaker Dana Rohrabacher, but it seems the president of Kosovo did not receive the letter, which might be just as well.
IMF AND COMMISSION — STALEMATE OVER GREECE: The IMF board met Monday and assessed Greece’s debt as highly unsustainable over the long term. “Some directors argued the IMF should not give its approval to unrealistic fiscal targets and forecasts, which Europe has set for Greece since 2010,” reports Thanos Dimadis for POLITICO Financial Services Pro subscribers. Reuters also has the story.
Meanwhile back in Brussels, “European officials have indicated that they are still waiting for a move from the Greek government in terms of legislating agreed-to reforms, noting that negotiations have essentially frozen since the last Eurogroup meeting on January 26.” Officials worry we are backsliding to the Greek drama of summer 2015.
GEOPOLITICS — CHINA’S 500 SHIP NAVY LOOMS LARGE ON HORIZON.
LAUNCHING ‘GLOBAL POLITICO,’ POLITICO’s Chief International Affairs Columnist Susan Glasser’s new column. The first features an interview with James Baker, who says Trump isn’t doomed to fail, but he will unless he smartens up.
BREXIT HOMEWORK …
BBC RADIO SERIES, ‘A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED’: 15-minute episodes running each day this week.
ALEX BARKER’S BREXIT BILL BREAKDOWN: The €60 billion bill the U.K. is likely to receive as it heads out the EU door makes for an interesting headline. The FT’s Brussels bureau chief tries to itemize the bill in this paper for the Center for European Reform.
SPAIN — ARTUR MAS ON TRIAL: Political leaders on trial for running a vote they were elected to hold — that’s not something one expects to see in Europe. And yet that was the scene yesterday in Barcelona as three ministers in the previous Catalan government, led by Artur Mas, began a five-day trial for organizing a referendum on independence for Catalonia. Pablo Casado, the Spanish PM’s spokesperson, also accused the trio of threatening to upend democracy. POLITICO’s Diego Torres | BBC
GERMANY — MERKEL FACES DOWN RESURGENT SPD: Facing a surprisingly strong Social Democratic challenge, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday secured public backing for another term from her reluctant Bavarian allies.
UK — DUMP TRUMP, SAYS PARLIAMENT SPEAKER: In a move that embarrassed the government, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow told Trump he wasn’t welcome to address the chamber. Around two million Britons have signed a petition asking the government to rescind Trump’s invitation for a state visit in 2017.
GREECE — TENSIONS WITH TURKEY SPIKE OVER AEGEAN: After a Greek court rejected Ankara’s January extradition request for eight Turkish soldiers, relations between the two countries have worsened. Kathimerini reports the latest salvo from Ankara came after Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos accused Turkey of “cowboy tactics” in the Aegean.
HUNGARY — NEW HARDLINE IMMIGRATION ‘SHELTERS’ ALONGSIDE SCHENGEN ACCESS FOR €125,000: Arton Capital, which sells Hungarian residence permits to non-EU nationals, is offering applicants the option to buy access to the Schengen area for a “one-time interest prepayment of €125,000.” The scheme will be suspended from the end of March by the government after accusations from opposition politicians it was used as a vehicle for corruption and ran contrary to the country’s tough line on immigration. “Now more affordable than ever. Less than 60 days left,” reads the company’s press release.
If you don’t have that sort of cash, tough luck: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will introduce measures within weeks to hold immigrants in detention “shelters” indefinitely in order to stop them traveling within Europe, his spokesman said on Monday, reports Tom McTague. “Those entering Hungary illegally — even if they are fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East and Africa — will be kept in government camps, banned from moving freely within Hungary, until their status has been resolved, which could take ‘months.'”
FRANCE — FILLON REFUSES TO BOW OUT: The French conservative candidate was apologetic but unbowed in a press conference Monday afternoon, refusing to drop out of the presidential race. He attempted to reboot his campaign by apologizing but also going on the offensive about media probes into his expenses.
These numbers don’t lie: Fillon was generating very little interest on Google until the Penelopegate scandal broke. Afterward, the interest in Fillon exploded and still outranks the other candidates, though it is down from a February 2 high. The spike in interest coincided with Fillon’s slide in the polls. All news is not good news, it seems. Macron in particular gained in the polls during this period without having to do much or generate interest.
Fillon’s Republican rivals shouldn’t take heart though: The scandal hasn’t caused many to renew interest in either of them.
DIGITAL VS ANALOG: Hervé Favre, political editor of La Voix du Nord, says Benoît Hamon needs to prove he can get people in a room if he wants to be taken as seriously as Emmanuel Macron.
VISEGRAD — REBRANDING THE V4: Central Europe’s leading countries coordinated to great success in blocking the European Commission’s preferred migration policies. They also failed to secure the U.N. secretary general post, which was theirs for the taking, and have a reputation for obstructionism. How could they rebrand and reinvigorate their collaboration, ask Szymon Walkiewicz and Vojtech Bohac.
UKRAINE — DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER DEFENDS RUSSIA SANCTIONS: “After a visit near the front in eastern Ukraine, where fighting and casualties have worsened in recent days, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen called on the European Union and the United States to maintain sanctions on Russia,” reports David Herszenhorn.
POSTCARD FROM THE NEWS IMPACT SUMMIT, PARIS …
Some 400 journalists, publishers and journalism students gathered on Paris’ left bank Monday under the auspices of the Sciences Po and the European Journalism Center to discuss the tsunami of change and fake news they are swimming in professionally. You can catch highlights here. Playbook takeaways …
Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic: “One thing the media can get wrong is bludgeoning people over the head with facts instead of telling stories. We’re a story-telling medium.”
Matthew Ingram, Fortune: “If you treat it [elections] as a game, you’re effectively saying to people ‘it’s just a game.’” On Trump voter anger at traditional media: “They don’t see themselves reflected in those sources, so they don’t turn to those sources.”
Charlie Beckett, LSE: Blog post on how to clean up media in 2017.
Celeste Le Compte, ProPublica: “Collaboration [in journalism] focuses your own sense of competition. It helps you find out what you do best, focus on that.”
Tomorrow’s reporter: As imagined in 1985 by the Associated Press.
8 French media outlets have created ‘CrossCheck’ with Facebook to reduce the spread of fake news: More in Le Monde. The project involves Agence France-Presse (AFP), BFM-TV, Franceinfo, France Médias Monde, L’Express, Liberation, Le Monde and 20 Minutes, and replicates the U.S. model launched in December.
TRENDING IN PARIS — URINALS THAT GROW FLOWERS: Yes, you read that right. Details and pictures here.
PARIS COFFEE TIPS. Right Bank: Fondation Coffee — between the Marais district and République Square, fifteen minutes from Gare du Nord, 16 Rue Dupetit-Thouars. Map. Left Bank: Eggs & Co, 11 Rue Bernard Palissy, near Boulevard Saint-Germain. It’s good coffee but raid your piggy bank. The price is an eye-watering €5 per flat white.
UNDERSTANDING POPULISM — FRANCE’S OBSESSION WITH DECLINE: Anglophones have long loved to critique France. Now, the New York Times reports, the French are doing it for themselves.
HOW TRUMP LIVES: A red meat, fast food, workaholic guy, Jonathan Swan and Mike Allen detail in Axios here.
EUROVISION TICKETS GO ON SALE THIS WEEK: More on Kyvivpost.
EUROPE CALLING! IN MAASTRICHT TODAY: A youth-oriented conference in “Europe’s laboratory” on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Maastricht Treaty.
BRUSSELS CORNER …
APPOINTED: Paul Adamson and Jonathan Faull to the Center for European Reform’s advisory board.
BIRTHDAYS: MEP Nikos Androulakis; Cappi Williamson of WeWork, alum of Vice, Facebook and the New Yorker.
BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES: Olly Kaye of IDA Group.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT Harry Cooper, Quentin Ariès and Zoya Sheftalovich
THANKS to Maïa De La Baume and Cynthia Kroet
This newsletter was updated to correct Susan Glasser’s title at POLITICO.
© 2017 POLITICO SPRL