Good morning from Brussels,

As Italian technocrat, Mario Draghi will present its long-awaited report on the future of European competitiveness on Monday, and some of its findings are expected to influence how the EU might approach transatlantic economic ties in the next five years.

Its publication also comes a day before Tuesday's anticipated US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Although China is also considered a “systemic rival” of Europe politically, Draghi has harshly criticised both Washington and Beijing for their economic and trade policies and their impact on Europe’s competitiveness. 

Could the Draghi report establish a new EU mindset in global trade?

Thomas Moller-Nielsen and Alexandra Brzozowski have all the details. 

Euractiv’s Global Europe Brief closely examines what lies ahead for the European Commission’s next enlargement boss. 

With all member states now putting names forward for the incoming European Commission, parliamentarians are gearing up to welcome the incoming commissioners for confirmation hearings. Italian candidate Rafaelle Fitto is already in the firing line. Magnus Lund Nielsen and Nicoletta Ionta have the story.

Meanwhile, von der Leyen seems still set to announce the portfolios on Wednesday, while plans to orchestrate the announcement as an event are taking shape. The latest idea, Euractiv learns, is to organise an “announcement dinner” marking 500 sessions of the College of Commissioners.

Last but not least, in health, the new Chair of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI), Antonio Decaro MEP (Italy, S&D), harshly criticised the cuts to EU health funding agreed by the European Council in February. 

BERLIN

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a peace conference with Russia on Sunday, a move the far-right AfD saw as a sign the government was bowing to its pressure. Read more.

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PARIS  

Le Pen’s far-right party to judge Barnier on performance. French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) has vowed not to oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s pick for prime minister, said party figurehead Marine Le Pen and party leader Jordan Bardella over the weekend, adding that Michel Barnier would instead be judged on his performance. Read more.

Over 100,000 protest in France against new prime minister. More than 100,000 left-wing demonstrators rallied across France on Saturday to protest against the nomination of the centre-right Michel Barnier as prime minister and denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s “power grab”. Read more.

DUBLIN

Ireland and UK to ‘reset’ relations as Starmer visits Dublin. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday made the first visit by a British leader to Ireland in five years, vowing to “reset” damaged post-Brexit relations between the neighbouring nations. Read more.

MADRID

The pro-nuclear lobby in Brussels and the EPP are reportedly pressuring European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen not to appoint Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera as her new climate commissioner, with speculations in Madrid now suggesting Ribera will instead be presented with the powerful competition portfolio. Read more.

Spanish PM Sánchez in China to meet Xi, boost trade. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is in China’s capital Monday for talks with top officials including President Xi Jinping, keen to boost economic ties despite a trade standoff between Beijing and the European Union. Read more.

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ATHENS

Greek leftist opposition leader ousted as Syriza enters uncharted waters. A censure motion pushed forward by several members of Greece’s leftist main opposition Syriza party was approved on Sunday, overthrowing the 36-year-old Stefanos Kasselakis from the party’s leadership. Read more.

Greece to tax cruise ship arrivals to protect popular islands from overtourism. Greece plans to impose a 20-euro levy on cruise ship visitors to the islands of Santorini and Mykonos during the peak summer season, in a bid to avert overtourism, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday. Read more.

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ROME

Zelenskyy in Italy: Peace plan will be ‘ready in November’. Ukraine will have its peace plan ready in November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over the weekend. Read more.

PRAGUE

Czech commissioner-designate Jozef Síkela will be proposed to take up an economic portfolio with a focus on trade, Czech European Affairs Minister Martin Dvořák (STAN, EPP) said in the Czech Television debate on Sunday. Read more.

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WARSAW

Unidentified object from Belarus lands in Poland. An unidentified object with Cyrillic writing initially thought to be a balloon, fell a few metres from the Belarusian border in another incident of this kind in recent months. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Slovak Environment Minister rejects EU directive on household fossil fuel charges. Slovakia has failed to include charges for emissions from heating and road transport in its latest amendment to its Emissions Trading Act, despite an EU directive requiring member states to do so by 25 September, with Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (SNS) urging Brussels to revise the directive instead. Read more.

SOFIA

Bulgaria and Germany agree to cooperate on energy. Bulgaria and Germany signed a declaration on cooperation in energy, green policies and climate protection, the Bulgarian Energy Ministry announced on Sunday. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian opposition slams government after Russian drones enter airspace. The leader of the main opposition USR party, Elena Lasconi, has called on President Klaus Iohannis and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to provide explanations on Russian drones entering Romanian territory over the weekend. Read more.

• EU: Informal meeting of agriculture and fisheries ministers expected to take place in Budapest; Agenda highlights incluce a kick-off debate on a farmer-focused post 2027 Common Agricultural Policy;
• High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell holds meetings with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Field Marshal and Minister of Defence Abdel Meguid Ahmed Sakr, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service Abass Kamel, Egyptian Red Crescent Society; Vistis joint EU/UNICEF project at the Sheikh Zuweid Hospital in Rafah; Inaugurates EU/UNICEF project;
• Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas holds meetings with President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan; Participates in Visa Liberalisation Dialogue launch, in Yerevan, Armenia;
• Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides holds videoconference with Minister of Health of Canada Mark Holland to launch European Union-Canada Health Policy Dialogue; Hosts Director of the European Institute for Animal Law and Polic Olga Kikou;
• Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi participates in Interparliamentary Conference for Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), in Budapest, Hungary;

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