The EU today sought to reassure national capitals concerned over its handling of the energy crisis that started after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has ramped up as conflict spreads across the Middle East.
Cyprus is scrambling to keep its six-month turn leading the EU’s lawmaking work on track after it had to hastily reschedule major meetings when Iranian drones targeted the country.
European countries are already in the crosshairs for Iran’s aggression and should drop their insistence on finding diplomatic solutions to the crisis, said Avi Nir-Feldklein, Israel’s ambassador to the EU.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is seizing on fears of an energy price shock from the Iran war to try to claw back ground against his challenger Péter Magyar ahead of an April 12 election.
From dealing with Donald Trump to turning around industrial decline, the EU's formation of the most powerful national representatives has come into its own.
Here's an inside-the-room look at how they operate 👇
🔗 www.politico.eu/article/cris...
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán suggested he could drop his veto on the EU sending €90 billion to Kyiv if the EU assesses damage to an oil pipeline in Ukraine.
EU leaders are looking for ways to grant Hungary's Viktor Orbán a face-saving win that would allow him to climb down from blocking funds for Ukraine while avoiding a full-blown legal fight between Brussels and Budapest, according to three EU diplomats.
EU ambassadors permanently based in Brussels are playing a bigger role than ever in shaping the bloc’s response to the biggest challenges of our time.
We take you inside the EU’s crisis “bunker”:
Hungary must lift its blockade on a €90 billion loan to Ukraine and abide by the commitments it made to other EU leaders in December, European Council President António Costa warned in a letter to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The European Commission is due to present the text of the Industrial Accelerator Act next week.
But the divisions within the EU executive over the draft proposal mean that the deadline now appears unlikely to be met.
More in Brussels Playbook 👇
The EU has always prided itself on its members all moving forward as one. That era is over.
It was supposed to be a simple sit-down with like-minded countries. But an impromptu pre-meeting ahead of today’s EU summit led to leaders being delayed, arrive late and then trade accusations over missing invitations.
Ursula von der Leyen insists that EU capitals have no right to scapegoat Brussels for excessive red tape and single market failures.
🔗 politi.co/45XUaao
🔴 EU leaders are gathering at a Belgian castle today to brainstorm ways to boost Europe’s economy.
The overarching question for them:
How to keep the bloc competitive as it seeks to reduce dependence on Trump’s America?
Follow our live blog for updates 👇
politi.co/4bM0IMU
EU leaders are gearing up for major fights as efforts to loosen Europe’s dependence on Donald Trump’s America lay bare deep divisions among the bloc’s 27 countries.
EU countries are piling pressure on the European Commission to get serious about turning around the bloc’s sluggish economy, amid fears it could be left at the mercy of other big players like the U.S. and China.
Brussels Playbook has more 👇
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein kept a network of contacts in Brussels over the course of a decade, corresponding with powerful people and with modeling agencies about women, documents show.
The EU and U.K. must overcome historic gripes and "reset" their relationship to be able to work together in an increasingly uncertain world, the bloc's top parliamentarian said.
The EU is relaunching its elite recruitment competition after a seven-year break in an effort to find a new generation of high-level administrators to help manage the world’s second largest economy.
The European Commission is opening its fast-track route to officialdom for the first time in seven years this week, giving aspiring public servants a chance to contend for coveted jobs in the corridors of power.
Brussels Playbook knows more👇
EXCLUSIVE: The European Commission has fired one of its senior officials after an internal investigation found them guilty of breaking rules on conflicts of interest.
🔗 www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...
The EU is closing in on adding Iran’s feared paramilitary forces to its list of terrorist organizations in response to a brutal crackdown on protests, after France dropped its opposition to the move.
The clock is ticking for the European Parliament to sign off on a mammoth trade agreement with the U.S. amid the EU’s fraying relationship with Washington.
If the deal falls through, more transatlantic conflict could follow.
Brussels Playbook has more 👇
EU countries want to avoid a repeat of the Greenland crisis — that was the message from yesterday’s summit of European leaders.
But, as is so often the case, they’re split on how to do that.
Brussels Playbook digs deeper 👇
EU leaders gathering in Brussels this evening will attempt to brush off a week of tumultuous relations with the U.S. and call for the bloc's transatlantic trade deal to be finalized.
The European factions who hold different views on dealing with Donald Trump each have a figurehead.
Let’s meet them.
European officials have cautioned that major challenges remain after Donald Trump abruptly U-turned on his threat to impose tariffs on countries supporting Greenland.
Find out why they say it’s too early to conclude that the looming US-EU spat is over 👇
EXCLUSIVE: Germany has joined France in saying it will ask the European Commission to explore unleashing the EU's so-called trade "bazooka" in response to Trump's threat to seize Greenland, according to five diplomats with knowledge of the situation.
🔗 www.politico.eu/article/eu-b...
