Fraud probe reverberates across Brussels

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

66% : That means that this month's EU summit is shaping up as a decisive moment.
65% : EU ambassadors meet in Coreper II at 9:30 a.m. -- Weekly European Commission college meeting at 11 a.m., followed by a press conference. -- EU Council President António Costa visits Astana, Kazakhstan, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA). -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets S&D chair Iratxe García-Pérez and Co-Chairs of the Greens/EFA Group Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout. -- EP's Committee on Security and Defence meeting on the future of the European Defense with Parliament President Roberta Metsola at 3 p.m. -- Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen delivers a keynote speech at the Copa-Cogeca EU Innovation Award for Women Farmers 2025 ceremony. --
61% : The communication on raw materials is broadly considered a plan to accelerate the EU's path toward its diversification of supply. CLEANING UP EU STREETS:
61% : SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | London Playbook PM | Playbook Paris | EU Election Playbook | Berlin Playbook | Global Playbook | POLITICO Confidential | Sunday Crunch
59% : Full program. -- EU deputy ambassadors meet in Coreper I at 8:30 a.m. ...
57% : Key context: Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister, served as the EU's high representative, the EU's highest diplomatic role, from 2014 until 2019.
56% : FOSSIL-FUEL PHASEOUT:
56% : | EU Influence | London Influence | Berlin Bulletin |
55% : EPP and Renew are expected to back stripping Morett of her immunity, while the Socialists will push to shield her, with last minute attempts to convince EPP and Renew on Tuesday evening, according to one official.
54% : One EU diplomat told us that ambassadors have brought forward today's meeting from 6:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the Commission's presentation will follow the usual highly restricted format: ambassadors only, no sherpas, no phones.
54% : The EU executive will unveil two new plans: a "doctrine" on economic security and a communication on the bloc's efforts to diversify its supply of critical minerals In a nutshell: With the economic-security plan, Brussels is expected to outline how to respond more decisively in rolling out its trade-defense arsenal -- from export restrictions to safeguard measures and tougher inbound and outbound investment-screening mechanisms.
53% : EU INSTITUTIONS:
53% : In the longer term, the group also wants a citizen convention to rethink the Belgian and EU capital's institutional and political makeup, including with a plan to allow non-Belgians living in Brussels, such as the thousands employed by the EU institutions, to vote in future elections of the Brussels region.
51% : The College of Commissioners is set to sign off on new measures it hopes will curb the flow of drugs into the EU.
50% : Liquid commitments: Economic experts will also be looking out for the details of the "liquidity mechanism" that is meant to ensure that EU governments can immediately stump up the cash if Russia reclaims the assets.
48% : But with the Commission president already plagued by questions over her commitment to transparency, the developing crisis could become the starkest challenge to the EU's accountability in a generation, POLITICO's Zoya Sheftalovich and colleagues write in a must-read analysis this morning.
48% : Not so lucky: However, MEPs are likely to lift the immunity of Socialist Alessandra Moretti, a frontrunner to chair the environment committee, who is also allegedly implicated in the case.
46% : Yet the question remains: How do you win over Belgium? Belgium's line in the sand: The EU executive has a last-minute fix to calm Belgian nerves on one of the country's biggest fears: a Council sharpshooter.
42% : This route could bypass the unanimity requirement, on the premise that a sanctions reversal would wreak havoc on the EU's economy.
41% : All this lands as Parliament and EU countries on Tuesday night sealed a deal on the bloc's first anti-corruption law, harmonizing definitions of corruption offenses, minimum penalties and prevention measures.
41% : This will oblige Belgium (and all EU countries) to "think about how they deal with anti-corruption taking place within their borders" and present a first national anti-corruption strategy to the Commission within three years. CRUNCH TIME FOR REPARATIONS LOAN TODAY IS THE DAY:
40% : Several staffers linked Sannino's departure from the EEAS in 2024 to a broader effort by von der Leyen to weaken the EU's diplomatic arm and strengthen her executive branch.
40% : That fraught backdrop helps explain why political groups in the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs are expected this morning to shield Socialists and Democrats MEP Elisabetta Gualmini -- recently welcomed back into the Socialist group after a suspension -- from prosecutors, who accuse her of bribery in the Qatargate probe.
40% : In late-night talks Tuesday, MEPs and the Danish EU presidency struck a deal to phase out imports of Russian natural gas, as well as a separate agreement on the REPowerEU regulation to boost Europe's energy resilience.
39% : The lead MEP on the file, Renew's Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, told POLITICO that the bill's crime definitions and penalties also apply to EU officials.
39% : But with EU-China relations now at rock bottom, this might not be the right time to be spotted together.
38% : "I've already gotten tens of messages sharing the frustration of the staff to be again the victims of reputational damages," Cristiano Sebastiani, a member of the EU staff union Démocratie et Renouveau, wrote via WhatsApp.
32% : A fraud investigation that has ensnared Europe's former top diplomat Federica Mogherini and senior Commission official Stefano Sannino has sparked outrage among EU staff -- and reignited turf wars between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and top diplomat Kaja Kallas over which institution should be calling the shots on foreign affairs.
29% : One EU official said that while it's easy to point the finger at von der Leyen every time something goes wrong, responsibility in this case lies with the EEAS.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.