Good morning from Berlin, 

As pressure grows in Berlin to reintroduce checks on all German borders, neighbouring EU countries warn the move could lead to a domino effect that could unravel the border-free Schengen area. 

Politically, the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU-EPP) – now in opposition but leading all polls ahead of the 2025 elections– and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU-EPP) are pushing for controls at all German state borders.

Their call was reiterated over the weekend, after a deadly knife attack at a festival in North Rhine-Westphalia by a 26-year-old Syrian with CDU chief Friedrich Merz saying the introduction of permanent border controls should be part of an overall migration policy revamp. 

Poland, Czechia and Belgium all reacted to such a prospect. 

Oliver Noyan has the story.

As the deadline for EU countries to submit their commissioner picks draws closer, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appears to have dropped her vision of a gender-balanced Commission, with analysts attributing it to domestic politics and tactical manoeuvring taking precedence over the common European good. Euractiv’s Magnus Lund Nielsen has more.

Moreover, as wildfires sweep across Europe, authorities grapple with a difficult choice, in their struggle to secure vital firefighting aircraft. Nathan Canas and Paul Messad have the details.

Last but not least, take a look at the Tech Brief, which this week analyses two legal complaints by NGO Noyb against the EU Parliament for alleged data protection law violations as well as civil society’s criticism over Commissioner Thierry Breton’s approach to the Digital Services Act.

PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron’s quest to form a coalition capable of governing the country looks to have reached an impasse, as a backlash against ministers from the controversial LFI party and Macron’s inability to appoint a majority of his own members to his coalition government are making things difficult. Read more.

Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France. Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources. Read more.

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LUXEMBOURG

Luxembourg sends senior centre-right MEP, disapproves socialist Spitzenkandidat.Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden (CSV-EPP) picked centre-right MEP Christophe Hansen as Commissioner over the EU socialists’ lead candidate for the EU Commission presidency, Nicolas Schmit. Read more.

ROME

Italy, EU clash over national recovery and resilience plan, Stability Pact. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti criticised the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), comparing it to Soviet-style planning, while outgoing Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni urged Italy to focus on the medium to long term and keep an eye on its debt. Read more.

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MADRID

Spanish centre-right should have more humanity with migrants, government says. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of Spain’s Partido Popular (PP), should speak about irregular migrants with “a bit of humanity and decency” and move away from the far-right’s radical position on this hot political issue, Spanish Science, Innovation and Universities Minister Diana Morant warned. Read more.

WARSAW 

The Polish government has confirmed that it will amend the Labour Code to reduce working hours – either by introducing a four-day week or a seven-hour day – before its mandate ends in 2027, Polish media reported on Friday. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak shops report rise in thefts in wake of Fico reform. A growing number of Slovak shopkeepers report an increase in petty theft following the reform of the criminal code introduced by Fico’s government, which reclassified theft of up to €700 as an administrative offence punishable by a maximum fine of €331, even if repeated. Read more.

SOFIA

Control of police a key issue ahead of Bulgarian government rotation. Political control of the police during the upcoming early parliamentary elections is proving to be a major issue ahead of the expected rotation of caretaker governments in Sofia. Read more.

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