The Belgian thorn in the EU's side

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

69% : Belgian brinkmanship: EU ambassadors meet again on Friday, then next Wednesday, Friday and even Sunday, ahead of the EU summit on Dec. 19.
66% : Dutch scooting ahead: The Netherlands will formally present a new initiative -- now backed by 16 countries, from Germany to Hungary -- calling on the Commission to propose EU-wide safety and quality rules for e-scooters.
63% : But Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius delivered a blunt message in a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO marking his first year in office: Europe needs to stop riding on Donald Trump's coattails and craft its own peace plan for Ukraine. Stand alone: The EU, he said in an interview for Pro subscribers, must be "independent or at least be ready to be strong in geopolitical developments," including drafting its own blueprint for how peace in Ukraine should look "and discussing [it] with our transatlantic partners.
62% : The proposals include measures to improve the detection of drugs smuggled by mail into the EU, as well as a new EU Ports Strategy "to enhance the security and resilience of our ports and supply chains against drug trafficking," Brunner said. CHRISTMAS CULTURE CLASH:
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60% : Treat e-scooters like cars: The idea is simple ... if a scooter model is approved in one EU country, it shouldn't need to undergo another approval process elsewhere -- much like cars today.
57% : NATO Deputy Secretary-General Radmila Shekerinska and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas participate.
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53% : Capitals react: EU ambassadors were briefed Wednesday afternoon.
52% : Just the opening act: Tieman says the point is to create a landing zone for a much bigger debate on EU-wide rules for the growing universe of micro-mobility devices -- including Segways and whatever infernal contraption will next be developed.
50% : The Brussels dynamic: Frustration is now building with the country hosting the EU's headquarters, and its chronically unsettled relationship with European institutions.
50% : Be it opposition to using frozen Russian assets (which has antagonized more than one EU member) or a judiciary eager for the spotlight, the mood is the same: Belgium jams the gears and scolds everyone else while doing it.
47% : Von der Leyen dismissed that line, arguing the opposite: Turning immobilized Russian money into reparation loans is "a very clear message to Russia" and will strengthen the EU's position when negotiations eventually materialize.
47% : Presented at the same event, a new Cluster 17 poll across nine EU countries -- France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium and the Netherlands -- shows 69 percent of respondents believe their country couldn't defend itself against a Russian attack.
45% : He told POLITICO's Zoya Sheftalovich in a statement that the EU was sending "the drug lords and their organizations a clear message: Europe is fighting back."
43% : But many of those contacted by Playbook have quietly echoed what Qatargate's Eva Kaili said in response to the revelations: Belgium is "not a safe place" for politicians. Belgian police, criticized for their handling of the Qatargate investigation, were "very soft" in their conduct of the raid on former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's home on Tuesday morning, because children were present, a source close to that probe told Playbook.
42% : "Let's see if there's a real case or not," a veteran former EU official told me, adding that procurement arrangements by EU institutions are all vetted by a centralized committee that "usually doesn't miss spotting a problem.
42% : The question haunting diplomats and EU officials is what the bloc needs to do to get itself back at the top negotiating table.
40% : " All show, no substance: Two other EU officials questioned the integrity of the Belgian justice system, noting that authorities held flashy press conferences and detained suspects but then failed to advance cases in the Qatargate affair and this year's bribery probe into Chinese tech giant Huawei's lobbying activities.
36% : British PM Keir Starmer has been talking up the need to build bridges with the EU after years of post-Brexit neglect -- but Brussels has far more pressing matters to deal with.
34% : Unsafe space: This week's fraud allegations may well have been "deeply shocking," as the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas put it in a letter to her staff.
33% : Institutional faith: One of the officials speculated that the Belgian investigators often overplayed their hand and could be short on evidence to back up their allegations -- at the very time that faith in EU institutions is being eroded by public attacks from Russia.
30% : Infinite damage: EU officials say they're increasingly uneasy about working in a country where prosecutors can publicly expose people before cases are fully formed.

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