Buyer’s remorse in Europe’s capitals

HOWDY. Over the past 24 hours we’ve been transfixed by our X feeds, with smart commentators reacting to the news, weighing in on the compelling characters new and old, from all over Europe — but especially the polarizing new Italian. The coming years could be decisive for Europe’s reputation, the transatlantic relationship and even our own households. That’s right, “Emily in Paris” has been renewed, and she’s spending the next season in Rome! 
We kid, we kid. This is your Wednesday edition of Brussels Playbook — in Strasbourg. Emily isn’t the only one bopping around the Continent. 
VON DER LEYEN’S VISION CONFRONTS REALITY: “The whole College is committed to competitiveness!” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared as she presented her new team on Tuesday. But now that their actual responsibilities are becoming more clear, we’re left asking: competitiveness, or competition — with each other?
Team Ursula: At first, von der Leyen seemed to come up with a magic solution to the jigsaw puzzle: a (relatively) balanced Commission devoted to both climate and industry, with enough snazzy executive VP slots to satisfy Pedro Sánchez and his stung Socialists; goodies for capitals that ditched their dude nominees; and a team of people she generally liked and trusted.
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Or is it “Queen Ursula’s” court? But now that they’ve read the fine print — i.e. the so-called mission letters laying out the actual jobs attached to each title — capitals are starting to feel buyer’s remorse. A picture emerges of a relatively weak slate of commissioners, with overlapping portfolios that make it hard for any individual to wield major influence. (POLITICO’s Lucia Mackenzie made this organigram for you.) 
This overlap is a feature, not a bug. “We have dissipated the former rigid stovepipes,” von der Leyen said. The intent is to make sure everyone is focused on the “twin transition” to a digital and green economy. Each commissioner, she said, “has an equal responsibility” to deliver on priorities.
Translation: No more Timmermans/Vestager/Breton-type power centers.
PARIS PARANOID ABOUT BAIT AND SWITCH: Here’s a case in point. French President Emmanuel Macron opted to withdraw the charismatic and controversial Thierry Breton, with whom von der Leyen had a troubled relationship, and replace him with a Macron protégé, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné. It seemed this had resulted in a more powerful, competition-related post: What’s not to like about “executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy?” 
Read it and weep: The answer to that question came later in the day, in Séjourné’s mission letter, which revealed that France’s new EVP would have less authority than Breton — and he’d need sign-off from a different EVP, Spain’s Teresa Ribera, to exercise key subsidy powers.
“The real problem is that we were unable to get the guarantee that we would get a big portfolio,” sighed a senior Commission official in a dishy piece about France’s faded influence, by Nicholas Vinocur, Elisa Braun, Giorgio Leali and Clea Caulcutt.
Not just Paris: Von der Leyen appeared to reward Romania for swapping out its male nominee by giving Roxana Mînzatu, a former minister of European funds and a first-term MEP, the title of executive VP for people, skills and preparedness. That has a lot of Socialist buzzwords, but in reality, Mînzatu’s mandate is mushy and her only exclusive report is Malta’s Glenn Micallef. (His portfolio of “intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport” is essentially a punishment for Valletta for refusing to nominate a more-experienced candidate.)
Likewise, Belgium expected Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib to get a migration-related profile, especially since her profile helped solve von der Leyen’s diversity problems in multiple ways. No such luck. Lahbib landed a new post combining crisis management and equality. (Read our full breakdown of the winners and losers.)
ALIENATING ANOTHER KEY CONSTITUENCY: Parliament wrote new rules this cycle to try to force von der Leyen to clue lawmakers in first about the new Commission. She rebelled on Tuesday morning, describing the structure of the new Commission to top MEPs, but demurring on names. She then walked into the press briefing room and delivered a PowerPoint with each commissioner-designate’s photo and proposed title. 
Apoplectic: It was an “illustration of her contempt for our Parliament,” Left leader Manon Aubry fumed to Eddy Wax, and we heard similar complaints from people on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Von der Leyen’s team said she was just trying to avoid leaks and chaos. 
Playbook would like to be very clear: We are totally in favor of politicians revealing important information to the press and the public first.
But, like, on a human level: Apparently von der Leyen didn’t even make clear that she planned to give out details as soon as the closed-door session ended. We can understand why MEPs were peeved that they spent an hour listening to von der Leyen refuse to name names, leaving them to believe it would still be a matter of days — when in fact it would be a matter of minutes. 
Rocky start: Von der Leyen has pledged to help boost the Parliament’s influence, and she instructs her new team to be “present in Parliament.” Apparently, she really just means being seen, if not heard. Yet given the Parliament’s main task is now to evaluate and vote on her picks, MEPs may soon express their contempt. Read on for more on that.
PENCIL IN NOVEMBER FOR HEARINGS: Bouncing around the Strasbourg Parliament, Playbook detected little appetite to sabotage von der Leyen’s plans. But we didn’t observe much urgency to get things up and running either.
“We will not be rushed. Von der Leyen is three weeks late,” Martin Hojsík, a Parliament VP from the Renew group, told my colleague Max Griera. 
Legally, there’s still nothing stopping the Parliament from confirming the new Commission by the Berlaymont’s Nov. 1 goal. But no one who knows Parliament thinks that’s realistic — and in fact, confirmation hearings might not even start by then. The word in S&D internal debates, according to top French Socialist Christophe Clergeau, is that grillings are expected to kick off the first week of November, as Playbook has previously reported.
Bottleneck: The Parliament has not been able yet to start planning for its awaited hearings, as MEPs still need to receive all documentation and official notification from the Council of Ministers to begin the process. At that point, the committee chairs will propose a calendar for hearings and divvy up responsibilities among committees, according to the Parliament’s press service.
It’s complicated: “Plus, the portfolios will mean lots of hearings by more than one committee,” Hojsík added.
CLEARING THAT BOTTLENECK: The Slovenian parliament committee everyone has been waiting on to sign off on the name of Ljubljana’s new Commission candidate will finally meet today, local media reports. 
It was that easy: In the interim, von der Leyen was able to get around this obstacle to informally unveil her Commission by using a complicated procedural maneuver. She put an asterisk next to Marta Kos’ name and assigned her the coveted enlargement portfolio.
FIRST DAY OF COLLEGE: The commissioners-designate will have a meet-and-greet at the Berlaymont this afternoon, spokesperson Eric Mamer tweeted. 
How many will graduate? If history is any guide, at least a couple of the nominees won’t make it past the Parliament. While Renew and S&D railed all summer that a prominent role for Italian pick Raffaele Fitto would go against the deal to block the far right, leaders from both groups on Tuesday would not rule out supporting him. They might well need votes from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ECR group for their own nominees.
Most vulnerable: Max has this list of the five commissioners most likely to get the chop.
EXCEPTION PROVES THE RULE: Spain’s Teresa Ribera is the big exception to the narrative of underwhelming EVPs. As Karl Mathiesen and Zia Weise report, her role is perhaps “the most powerful post ever created within the EU’s executive arm: A position combining the jobs of competition chief, net-zero architect and economic transformer.”
Echoes of Breton: Ribera has the CV to justify her appointment and the backing of a powerful head of state from a party outside von der Leyen’s EPP in Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. She also has a record of directly criticizing von der Leyen, after attacking her climate strategy earlier this year. 
Right-wing guardrails: Von der Leyen’s EPP pushed hard against Ribera having a big climate role. So a key potential source of solace is the right-leaning commissioners surrounding Ribera. In particular, the EPP’s Wopke Hoekstra is in line to keep the climate portfolio. 
Stressing teamwork: Hoekstra, for his part, said that regular people don’t care about political affiliations, but “just want us to deliver, and in order to deliver, we need to work together.” Speaking to POLITICO from his Commission office in a tower of the Strasbourg Parliament, Hoekstra specifically cited his collaboration with Ribera at a recent Paris Agreement conference. 
IN … “Animal welfare” has been added to the health commissioner’s portfolio. The advocacy association Cruelty Free Europe called it a “historic moment.” Campaigners are less excited about the fact that the unpopular Hungarian commissioner, Olivér Várhelyi, has been assigned the job. 
OUT … “Equality” is no longer a standalone job, European Disability Forum laments. (It’s been tacked on to the crisis management gig.) And the employment commissioner, around since the 1970s, is no more. More in our Fair Play newsletter for Pro subscribers.
**Psst… Did you know our fifth edition of POLITICO Competitive Europe Week is also happening online on October 1-3? From Industrial Policy to Tech & AI sessions, we’ve got you covered with this year’s unmissable 3-day event! Register to watch online!**
IMF CALLS OFF ITS RUSSIA TRIP: After European governments slammed a planned trip by the International Monetary Fund to Russia, the IMF has indefinitely postponed the visit, according to Russian state-run media. Officials from the Washington-based organization were due to travel to Russia for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to conduct consultations under Article IV of the IMF Articles of Agreement (under which the IMF holds annual discussions with officials of every member country).
Technical difficulties: Aleksei Mozhin, Russia’s director at the IMF, told TASS that the IMF had notified Russia on Monday, Sept. 16 “that the mission’s work would be postponed indefinitely.” The reason given was “technical unreadiness of the mission to hold consultations.”
(NOT EXACTLY) REPORTING FOR DUTY: While von der Leyen unveiled her commissioners’ portfolios in Brussels, her new French Vice President Séjourné was in Chișinău in his outgoing function as foreign minister, attending a support forum for Moldova together with his German, Polish, Romanian and Dutch counterparts. However, Séjourné tried hard to avoid any media questions, reports our Berlin Playbooker Hans von der Burchard, who was on the ground in Moldova.
Empty lectern: Séjourné was supposed to speak to the press in the morning, but just smiled and rushed past. He also skipped the summit’s closing press conference, apparently surprising the organizers, who’d put up a lectern for the French minister.
WARNING FROM BUCHAREST: Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu told Hans in Chișinău on Tuesday that Russia’s violations of her country’s territory are intensifying. Besides crashed Russian drones, there had also been a missile attack on a grain-transporting vessel in Romania’s maritime economic zone a few days ago. “Russia is testing us,” she said.
New German aid: Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced at the Moldova forum that her country is pledging an additional €100 million in energy assistance to Ukraine for the upcoming winter — and called on other countries to follow her lead: “This is an appeal to many others to take similar actions.”
NEW DEFENSE COMMISSIONER: There’s also no doubt about where the EU’s first defense commissioner, Andrius Kubilius from Lithuania, stands on Ukraine: He’s a fierce backer. But while the new post sounds grand, Kubilius will struggle to wrest files from existing incumbents, reports Jacopo Barigazzi in this profile.
HAPPENING TODAY — CHINA VISIT: China’s top trade official Wang Wentao is in Brussels, seeking to ward off the EU’s threat to tax imports of electric cars. After meeting with automotive industry reps this afternoon, Wang will meet Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis on Thursday. Koen Verhelst has a curtain-raiser.
NEW DUTCH BUDGET: The new coalition government in the Netherlands unveiled its budget on Tuesday, announcing it would cut development aid by more than two-thirds over the next three years, citing a growing deficit. The budget projected that the deficit would rise to 2.8 percent of GDP in 2025, up from 2.2 percent this year. This Dutch government is the first to feature the far-right, anti-immigration Freedom Party of Geert Wilders.
Migration clampdown: The government also confirmed its migration plans on Tuesday via the king’s speech, announcing measures seeking to reduce the number of asylum claims and to deport failed asylum-seekers. AP has more on that.
TRUMP BACK ON THE STUMP: Donald Trump made his return to the campaign trail last night after surviving an apparent second assassination attempt. “Only consequential presidents get shot at,” the Republican told a cheering crowd of supporters in Flint, Michigan.
Meanwhile, in Harris Land: Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with the National Association of Black Journalists overnight. She slammed Trump for spreading conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, saying he was “spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age-old” and describing the effects on the community, including the shuttering of schools amid threats of violence. Read my D.C. colleagues’ write-up here. 
PAGING HEZBOLLAH: At least 11 people were killed and nearly 3,000 injured when pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, with the New York Times reporting that Israel is thought to have carried out the operation by hiding explosives in a batch of Taiwanese-made devices.
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— Parliament highlights: Commission statement on the floods in Central and Eastern Europe at 9 a.m … voting session at noon … debate on organized crime at 1 p.m. … presentation of the Council’s position on the EU’s draft general budget for the financial year 2025 at 2 p.m. … discussion on the Hungarian national card residence permit scheme to include nationals of Russia and Belarus at 3 p.m. … debates on human rights breaches, democracy and the rule of law at 5 p.m. (Watch.)
— Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides participates in the European Parliament plenary debate on the EU response to the mpox outbreak at 4 p.m. Watch.
— General Court ruling in the case Alphabet v Commission, regarding a Commission fine against Google and Alphabet for abusive practices in online advertising.
— EU ambassadors meet in Coreper II in Brussels at 9 a.m. … deputy ambassadors meet in Coreper I at 10 a.m.
— International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen holds a meeting with Iceland’s Minister of Business and Culture Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir.
WEATHER: High of 24C, sunny intervals.
PATRIOT GAMES: MEP Roberto Vannacci, an Italian ex-general and Lega member, is now out as a vice president of the Patriots for Europe group, Pietro Guastamacchia reports in Il Foglio. Seems Vanacci’s history of racist and homophobic comments was too much for France’s National Rally as it aspires to more mainstream power. 
SPOTTED at the Hungarian presidency reception in the Parliament’s new members bar, slightly downgraded after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán opted to cancel his exchange with the Parliament to focus on the floods at home: Hungary’s EU Affairs Minister János Bóka, Patriots for Europe MEPs Enikő Győri, András László, Ernő Schaller-Baross, Kinga Gál, Pál Szekeres and Viktória Ferenc; EPP MEPs Sven Simon, Zoltán Tarr, Eszter Lakos, András Kulja, Vincze Loránt, Dóra Dávid, Gabriella Gerzsenyi and Kinga Kollár; Patriots for Europe group’s Agnes Karandi and Philip Claeys; Tisza Party’s Márton Hajdu; the Commission’s Enrico Forti; and the Hungarian presidency’s Zoltán Marcell Aguera and Viktoria Palotai.
WEATHER: High of 22C, sunny.
METRO BABY: On Sunday, a mother gave birth at the Beekkant metro station, the city’s public transport company announced on Tuesday. To celebrate, STIB said it gave the “new little star” a lifetime free pass. 
BIRTHDAYS: MEPs Dolors Montserrat and Gordan Bosanac; former MEPs Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Elena Valenciano, Atidzhe Alieva-Veli and Dominique Riquet; the Washington Post’s Desmond Butler and Griffin Witte; Der Spiegel’s Valentyna Polunina; Iñigo Urkullu Renteria, former president of the Basque government; former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell; the Guardian’s Chris Taylor.
THANKS TO: Max Griera, Eddy Wax, Hans von der Burchard, Stuart Lau, Barbara Moens, Karl Mathiesen and Khushbu Shah; Playbook editor Alex Spence, reporter Šejla Ahmatović and producer Catherine Bouris.
CORRECTION: This newsletter was updated to correct the capital of Slovenia.
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