Tag: MEPs
The frontrunners for the next European Commission – POLITICO
The European Commission’s top jobs will all soon be up for grabs again after next month’s European election.
Which country will get the all-powerful trade commissioner job and oversee the EU’s impending trade war with China? Will the Poles secure a newly created defense portfolio to square up to their arch-rivals the Russians? And who will get to police U.S. tech giants like Apple and Google as Europe’s next competition chief?
Even before the June 6-9 election, maneuvering is underway
Can anybody stop Ursula von der Leyen? – POLITICO
BRUSSELS
For a brief moment last year, it looked like Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term as European Commission president just might be in trouble.
In an unscheduled trip to Israel in October, she had stood next to Benjamin Netanyahu and expressed unreserved solidarity in the country’s battle against Hamas.
Her statement would not have been out of place in the mouth of a U.S. president or, indeed, a German politician (which is, after all, what von
The golden couple at the heart of Europe’s Qatargate scandal – POLITICO
BRUSSELS — Eva Kaili and Francesco Giorgi had left nothing to chance.
The duo that would later become the most famous — many would say infamous — couple in the European Union capital had been gearing up for this moment for years.
As Qatar prepared to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, they were among the Gulf state’s fiercest advocates in Brussels, defending its record on human rights and fending off criticism of its treatment of migrant workers.
And now,
The mystery of the untouched lawmaker at the heart of Qatargate – POLITICO
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BRUSSELS — A few months before confessing to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the European Parliament, Pier Antonio Panzeri had some advice for a friend.
“Don’t put yourself out of the game,” Panzeri told the Belgian MEP Maria Arena in August 2022 during a meal at the now-defunct Salvarino pizzeria in Brussels. “Because if you are in the game, then I am going to amass more
AI Act’s last mile, MEPs throw the gauntlet on EUCS – EURACTIV.com
Welcome to Euractiv’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
“Pushing everything to the last minute is not a good approach. It means taking risks.”
-An EU official on the AI Act’s trilogues
Story of the week: EU policymakers met Tuesday evening for the fourth trilogue on the AI Act. Despite some unwary press statements, none of those involved seriously expected a political compromise at this stage.
The fight for Europe’s conservative soul – POLITICO
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BRUSSELS — They’re supposed to be political allies.
But squaring off over dinner and wine at the center-right European People’s Party’s Brussels headquarters in early July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and party leader Manfred Weber tussled over the future of the EU’s environmental policy.
The prickly policy fight between the two Germans is central to what kind of Europe is liable to emerge on the international
Inside French commissioner Thierry Breton’s plot to run Europe – POLITICO
BRUSSELS — When Thierry Breton first floated the idea of becoming European Commission president, not even he seemed to take the idea very seriously.
“I may be able to consider a new Plan B assignment,” the internal market commissioner replied with a smile, when asked at a POLITICO event whether he wanted the top job, prompting laughter.
But as the European Parliament election draws closer, Breton’s “Plan B” pitch to take over leadership of the EU executive is coming into
Top EU tweeters don’t love Elon Musk’s big Twitter rebrand – POLITICO
Twitter is dead; long live … X?
It’s been less than a week since Elon Musk rebranded his microblogging platform Twitter as X. As part of the shift, Musk replaced Twitter’s iconic blue bird with a stylized black-and-white X. The change rattled many users, who worry — following algorithmic changes and cutting thousands of staffers — that Musk is on his way to transforming their favorite platform beyond recognition.
But where does this leave the Twitter elite of Brussels, a
Nips, tucks and paperwork – POLITICO
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STRASBOURG — The European Parliament’s response to Qatargate: Fight corruption with paperwork.
When Belgian police made sweeping arrests and recovered €1.5 million from Parliament members in a cash-for-influence probe last December, it sparked mass clamoring for a deep clean of the institution, which has long languished with lax ethics and transparency rules, and even weaker enforcement.
Seven months later, the Parliament and its president, Roberta Metsola, can certainly claim
German far right picks EU lead candidate, wants European anti-migrant ‘fortress’ – POLITICO
Germany’s increasingly popular far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party elected the controversial MEP Maximilian Krah as its lead candidate for next year’s European Parliament election, while vowing to challenge the EU from the inside and turn it into a “fortress” against migrants.
More than 65 percent of the about 600 AfD delegates at a party gathering on Saturday in Magdeburg, in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, voted for Krah as their lead candidate for the European Parliament election, which