How Belgium blew up EUCO

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

62% : A senior EU official said: "We thought it would be a good idea to sanction the rector of this university so that he can have the opportunity to share his own experience with students." Who else?
62% : In 2024, EU-based small businesses sold more than 1.3 billion products and generated more than €34 billion in sales within the EU alone.
61% : Learn more about how Amazon helps European businesses thrive in our latest EU Small and Medium Enterprises Impact Report at AboutAmazon.eu.
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
60% : Listen and subscribe to EU Confidential.
60% : Meets with the presidents and representatives of business associations at 3 p.m. Watch. -- Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is in Auckland, New Zealand for the EU-New Zealand Business Summit.
60% : Speaking of Axel Springer: Israel's President Isaac Herzog earlier this week presented the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Axel Springer (which owns POLITICO), among others.
56% : United Nations Day.
56% : | EU Influence | London Influence | Berlin Bulletin |
55% : " Tusk exults: As talks on the EU's climate agenda were wrapping up, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk emerged from the leaders' meeting room to say he was "more happy than tired."
53% : These entrepreneurs are creating an estimated 350,000 jobs across the EU, many in rural areas.
52% : "We would like to ask you to present us with concrete measures you are taking to protect the integrity of the institutions," wrote the lawmakers from the Socialist & Democrats, the Left and Greens parties.
51% : This week's episode of the EU Confidential podcast has full explainer on the debate about using the frozen assets from Gregorio Sorgi.
51% : " Back it up: The Parliament's major centrist groups -- the European People's Party (of Ursula von der Leyen and Metsola herself), Renew and the Socialists and Democrats -- had agreed to back the red tape proposal.
48% : The domestic angle: De Wever may also have been acting on domestic concerns, with his coalition on thin ice over finances.
48% : He was touting a "revision clause" in the EU's plan to extend its carbon trading system to heating and transport.
46% : The senior official also flagged that the EU was looking to "disentangle" itself from Russian energy firm Lukoil, which was sanctioned by the U.S. this week but not included in the EU package.
45% : On this score, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen suggested oil-rich Norway, though not a member of the EU, could provide the necessary backing.
45% : Gone till November: Thursday's debate centered on how to align the EU's climate goals with economic priorities, and was meant to resolve a deadlock over the bloc's new emissions-cutting target for 2040.
43% : ** Speaking to POLITICO, an EU diplomat acknowledged the impasse: "Nobody wants to be seen to be responsible for Ukraine running out of money -- but there's nothing [agreed] yet to actually send them any money."
43% : The other big story of the EUCO was climate, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis telling Gabriel Gavin ahead of the summit that the EU needed to balance its push for decarbonization against the need to bolster competitiveness.
42% : The spoiler at last night's gathering of EU leaders in Brussels turned out to be Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who dug in his heels against using Russian frozen assets to help Ukraine.
41% : But in a secret ballot, a number of Socialist MEPs rebelled and voted against the deal.
38% : Yet on the day of the summit, EU leaders failed to manage expectations about the possibility of a Belgian blockage.
38% : Leaders were furious over the setback, with Merz -- who along with 18 other leaders called this week for a "cultural change" in EU regulation -- labeling the vote "unacceptable."
36% : That triggered quite the clarification from António Costa, who said he'd only asked EU leaders to speak with their ambassadors to resolve final translation issues with the agreement.
36% : OVER EU PARLIAMENT REJECTION
32% : A MESS: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced after the summit that all EU leaders had voted in favor of signing the controversial Mercosur trade deal.
32% : Another growing headache for EU leaders is the fact that European Parliament isn't cooperating with their plans to slash red tape in a series of simplification bills, which were rejected earlier this week.

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