EU top jobs and future policy priorities: will they go together?

Good morning from Brussels,

At this week’s summit (27-28 June), the European leaders will again discuss the EU top job appointments, aiming to find a quick solution in light of the increasing uncertainty over the political future of France, the Eurozone’s second-largest economy.

However, this time, unanimity will be needed to agree on the Strategic Agenda, which includes the key policy priorities for the next five-year mandate.

Euractiv’s Alexandra Brzozowski reports that a major grievance voiced by EU leaders at last week’s informal dinner was that they had hoped to speak about the next term’s priorities first and then decide the top job candidates based on what they can bring to the table.

“We could end up with a situation where both discussions – the one on the EU top jobs and the one on the agenda – will be conducted in parallel, and we can’t move on one without the other,” one person familiar with the summit preparations said.

Read the whole story.

When it comes to the names, it seems the same package remains on the table for this week’s talks: Ursula von der Leyen for the EU Commission’s presidency, former Portuguese prime minister António Costa for European Council president, and Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for the bloc’s top diplomat post.

Read here more details about Costa and here about Kallas

Meanwhile, talks about the formation of the next EU Parliament continue in parallel.

A new far-right parliamentary group, allegedly named “The Sovereignists,” is being formed in the European Parliament, led by Germany’s AfD, writes Kjeld Neubert.

Moreover, while a pro-EU majority between the centre-right EPP, the EU socialists (S&D) and liberal Renew seems likely, Forza Italia’s Antonio Tajani urged the EPP to ally with hard-right ECR and not the Greens to extend this majority.

The EU’s CO2 tariff continues to provoke basic operational questions within the business community, even though companies are already subject to its formal reporting obligations. Nikolaus Kurmayer has more.

Twelve EU member states presented a paper on Friday’s Health Council, calling for the European Commission to initiate a debate on all nicotine-based products, particularly those aimed at children.

On foreign policy, Ukraine’s Western allies are racing to carry out freshly made decisions on long-term aid for Kyiv amid fears of Hungarian vetoes and Trump’s potential re-election curtailing US support.

In the digital world, tech giant Apple is halting the rollout of three new features in the European Union, citing “regulatory uncertainties” caused by the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

PARIS

Opinion polls published a week before France’s snap legislative election on 30 June put candidates backed by the far-right Rassemblement National and its allies in the lead, but with the vote taking place two rounds, the outcome remains highly unpredictable. Read more.

French elections: The left’s ecological programme repackages existing EU measures. The left and far-left programme for the French parliamentary elections gives pride of place to ecological measures, but many of these goals are based on already-existing European measures. Read more.

French feminists march against far right with days before vote. Thousands of people turned out in France on Sunday for feminist demonstrations against the far right, which is expected to come out on top in the 30 June snap elections, as parties sought to shore up support with days to go. Read more.

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BERLIN

Germany’s Scholz worried about shifting public opinion on Ukraine support. The rise of populists in the former East Germany in the European elections is linked to growing opposition to support for Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz admitted on Sunday, insisting there was no alternative to maintaining aid. Read more.

Plan to announce new far-right group “The Sovereignists” imminent. A new far-right parliamentary group, allegedly named “The Sovereignists,” is being formed in the European Parliament, led by Germany’s AfD and aiming to gather various nationalist parties across Europe, according to multiple sources and media reports. Read more.

ROME

Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, whose Forza Italia party is part of the European People’s Party (EPP), has issued a warning to the conservatives: they should seek the support of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) rather than the Greens. Read more.

PRAGUE

To play a kingmaker role in key votes and have a say in debates in the European Parliament, members of the conservative ECR group, now the third-largest EU group in the European Parliament, must be constructive and compact, Ondřej Krutílek, the newly elected Czech MEP whose party is in the same EU group, told Euractiv Czechia in an interview. Read more.

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WARSAW

Poland mulls closing border with Belarus, minister says. Poland is not ruling out closing its two remaining border crossings with Belarus to counter the hybrid activities of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

EU examines Slovakia’s RTVS reform amid concerns over media freedom. The European Commission has announced that it is looking into the recent legislative changes affecting Slovak public broadcaster RTVS, passed by parliament on Thursday and awaiting the president’s approval, raising concerns about the law’s impact on media freedom. Read more.

Giving Slovak jets, air defence to Kyiv was betrayal, new government says. The Slovak government has asked police to investigate the former cabinet and defence minister Jaroslav Nad for donating fighter jets and an air defence system to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia’s invasion, a government official said on Friday. Read more.

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BUDAPEST

Thousands join Budapest Pride to protest anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Carrying rainbow flags and dancing through the streets, thousands of Hungarians celebrated the annual Budapest Pride parade on Saturday and vowed to keep protesting over the government’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgaria’s pro-Russian far-right party wants to form government. Bulgaria’s largest pro-Russian far-right party, Vazrazhdane (Revival), is ready to form a government if other parties in parliament accept its conditions for a referendum on leaving NATO and rejecting the euro. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romania on course to reopen mineral and metal mines. The Romanian government approved a decree on amending the Mining Code to facilitate the reopening of non-energy mining operations, Economy Minister Radu Oprea announced on Friday. Read more.

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PODGORICA | SARAJEVO

Power outage hits several Balkan states as heat overloads system. A major power outage hit Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and most of Croatia’s coast on Friday, disrupting businesses, shutting down traffic lights and leaving people sweltering without air conditioning in the middle of a heatwave. Read more.

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SKOPJE

North Macedonia parliament approves a new nationalist-dominated government. North Macedonia’s lawmakers on Sunday approved a new nationalist-dominated government of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, whose party won general elections in May banking on voters’ anger at the slow pace of European Union integration. Read more.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Liene Lūsīte, Alice Taylor]