Good morning from Brussels.

Three founding members of the EU - France, Germany, and Italy – together with Poland and the UK are trying to create a united front to face the new world’s reality following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.  

An informal meeting of these counties’ leaders together with Von der Leyen and Charles Michel took place on the margins of the European Political Community in Budapest on Thursday afternoon, writes Théo Bourgery-Gonse. 

Each country in this alliance has its reasons for forming this front, with the economy taking centre stage amid fears of a trade clash with Trump’s US. 

Politically, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – an ally of Trump – is branding himself as the president-elect's new confidant.  

“We see this as a boost for the Patriots within the EU”, Karel Havlíček, deputy chairman of the Czech opposition party ANO, said.

At a press conference, the Hungarian prime minister called for a rapid "ceasefire" in Ukraine ahead of peace negotiations with Russia, a move that Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, also present in Budapest, called “nonsense”.

Meanwhile, EU leaders will discuss today the Draghi-inspired “EU competitiveness deal” but the final version of a statement seen by Euractiv shows that it has been significantly watered-down.

Most of the commissioner-designate hearings are now officially over after another intensive day in the European Parliament.

Slovenia's Enlargement commissioner-designate Marta Kos convinced MEPs to greenlight her despite her native EPP party's accusations that she had worked for the Yugoslav secret service in the early stages of her career.

Poland's Piotr Serafin won Commission budget job after pledging to end EU spending ‘bureaucratic nightmare, promising not to repeat mistakes of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Latvian Economy commissioner-designate Valdis Dombrovskis' vigorous defence of the EU’s new fiscal rules proved convincing enough to earn him a third term as the EU executive.

Dutch climate commissioner candidate Wopke Hoekstra, was approved but avoided committing to climate targets during his hearing, repeatedly pointing to the limited powers of the commissioner's role.

Meanwhile, Socialist MEPs are under pressure to approve Hungarian commissioner-designate Olivér Várhelyi (PfE) following talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, multiple European Parliament sources told Euractiv.

Coming out of his hearing on Wednesday evening, Várhelyi had not convinced a sufficient number of lawmakers to approve him for the job of commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare.

MEPs elected to send him additional written questions, which will be done next Monday (11 November).

That concludes this week's hearings saga, but fret not, next Tuesday (12 November) it will be the turn of Italy's Raffaele Fitto (Cohesion and Reforms), Estonia's Kaja Kallas (HRVP), Roxana Mînzatu (People, Skills and Preparedness), France's Stéphane Séjourné (Prosperity and Industrial Strategy), Spain's Teresa Ribera (Clean, Just and Competitive Transition) and Finland's Henna Virkkunen (Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy) to face the European Parliament.

BERLIN

Germany’s new cabinet was sworn in on Thursday as Chancellor Olaf Scholz turned to double ministries, a close advisor, and a defector to fill the ministerial vacancies left by his former coalition partner. Read more.

Pressure mounts on Scholz to bring forward snap elections to ensure EU functionality. Germany's Christian Democrats, frontrunners in planned early elections, are urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to schedule the ballot much earlier, citing concerns about the government’s capacity for action on EU and foreign policy matters. Read more.

ROME

Italian President Sergio Mattarella will urge China to actively mediate the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as he visits his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Friday. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain steps up search for missing flood victims, uses tech for rescues. Spanish emergency services have stepped up their search for missing people this week after deadly floods killed at least 219 people, with modern technology soon to help rescue efforts. Read more.

PRAGUE

The re-election of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the US presidential elections will strengthen the position of the Patriots for Europe, Karel Havlíček, deputy chairman of the Czech opposition party ANO (Patriots for Europe), said on Thursday. Read more.

WARSAW

Tusk denies claims he called Trump to congratulate him on his win. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has rejected claims by Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, secretary of state in the Polish foreign ministry, that he phoned Donald Trump to congratulate him on winning the US presidency. Read more.

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PRAGUE

Czech government avoids doctors’ strike, but cuts money for innovative treatments. Czech patients’ organisations warn a new healthcare deal could affect access to innovative treatments. After reaching a funding agreement with the health ministry, general practitioners cancelled planned protests at the end of October. Read more.

SOFIA 

Lukoil denies sale of Neftochim in Bulgaria to Qatari-British consortium. Litasco, a subsidiary of the Russian oil company Lukoil, announced that it was not negotiating the sale of a refinery in Bulgaria - Neftochim - with a Qatari-British consortium. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian PM confident Schengen land border to apply by Easter. Romania will be granted access to the Schengen land border by the end of December, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced on Thursday, confident that Romanians can cross the border without checks as early as March next year. Read more.

• EU: Informal meeting of heads of state or government expected to focus on competitiveness, transatlantic relations, UNRWA, and more;
• Cohesion and Reforms Commissioner Elisa Ferreira delivers keynote speech at “Company's Day - Challenges of water and climate change in the European context” conference, in Porto, Portugal.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor-Braçe]