Good morning from Brussels, 

Assigning the right roles to the right person will be key for EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to achieve her ambitious plan, which she has said will determine Europe’s “place in the world for the next 50 years.” 

“This time, the mission letters will be a job description that will need to reflect the candidates’ competences […] quality will be needed to face the multilevel challenges globally and internally”, a Brussels insider with experience of EU elections told Euractiv. 

We mapped the profiles of the announced candidate commissioners, focusing on their field of expertise and political or technocratic experience. 

These profiles so far largely match the ‘economic’ needs of the next EU executive, with nine candidates having experience in economics.

We also looked at the “heavyweights” who may challenge von der Leyen politically and during upcoming EU policy discussions.

To join the next Commission, all candidates will have to get the EU Parliament’s green light.

Read the full analysis by our journalists in Brussels and across Europe.

EU steelmakers are pinning their hopes on Ursula von der Leyen’s ambitious ‘lead markets’ pledge as a key way to decarbonise European industries – an idea already endorsed by German politicians and seen by many experts as a more effective alternative to subsidies. Read the entire story.

On trade, China announced on Thursday that it would not impose tariffs on EU brandy for now, signalling a potential easing of trade tensions with the 27-member bloc, but a preliminary investigation found evidence of dumping on European imports.

BERLIN

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government will face a stern electoral test this weekend, as the outcome of state elections in eastern Germany’s Saxony and Thuringia could throw his federal coalition into doubt. Read more.

Far-left rebel seeking peace with Putin rocks German politics. A radical far-left politician who wants to make peace with Russia’s Vladimir Putin looks set to play a key role in regional elections in the former East Germany on Sunday (1 September). Read more.

After Solingen attack: Berlin clamps down on knives, sets up 2 task forces. In response to the recent terrorist attack in Solingen, the German government is broadening the ban on knives in public places, increasing police powers and planning to speed up the deportation of criminal asylum seekers and Dublin cases. Read more.

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PARIS

After Berlin, UK’s Starmer continues charm offensive in Paris. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in Paris on Thursday to make the case for his “once-in-a-generation reset” with the EU, just a day after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Read more.

France is neglecting the EU, warns head of the national farmers’ union. The president of the influential farmers union FNSEA expressed regret over Paris’s lack of involvement in shaping the new European Commission, urging French politicians to reengage actively in Brussels, in a press conference on Thursday. Read more.

ROME

Italy could be in line for a prominent role in the next European Commission, said the leader of the conservative group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, citing the heavy support Italian government leaders received in the European elections. Read more. 

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MADRID

Spain’s Partido Popular wants left to issue public apology for branding it racist. Spain’s Partido Popular (PP) demanded an immediate apology from left-wing and far-left parties, but especially from the government, for calling them xenophobic and racist for suggesting that Spain should follow the “example” of other EU partners, including Germany and France, in deporting irregular immigrants. Read more.

VILNIUS

EU prosecutors probe former Lithuanian MEP in alleged fraud case. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is investigating former Lithuanian MEP Viktor Uspaskich for allegedly defrauding EU funds of more than half a million euros, widening a probe that previously focused on one of his assistants. Read more.

WARSAW

Polish MEP mired by email scandal risks losing immunity. Polish Prosecutor General Adam Bodnar has asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of Michał Dworczyk (PiS, ECR), the new Polish MEP and head of the office of former PiS prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has been embroiled in a scandal over leaked emails. Read more.

SOFIA

Turkish minority party in Bulgaria tries to rid itself of US-sanctioned politician. Bulgaria’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, which represents the country’s Turkish minority, is trying to oust its co-leader, Delyan Peevski, who is facing US and UK sanctions for corruption. Read more.

• EU: Informal meeting of defence ministers takes place in Brussels;
• Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers keynote speech at GLOBSEC 2024 Prague Forum, in Czech Republic;

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Martina Monti, Alice Taylor]