![\"Brussels](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/nl-header_politico_brussels-playbook.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\nBy SARAH WHEATON<\/strong><\/p>\n with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH<\/strong><\/p>\n HOWDY.<\/strong> Sarah Wheaton here with your Friday edition of Brussels Playbook, where \u2014 as a journalist who proudly put \u201cpoop\u201d in a headline<\/a> to get people to read an article about colon cancer screening \u2014 I take some issue with Pope Leo equating<\/a> \u201cclickbait\u201d to \u201cjunk\u201d information. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to get you, dear reader, to read what\u2019s good for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nick Vinocur <\/strong>is writing Monday\u2019s Playbook. You should need no additional inducement to read.<\/p>\n DRIVING THE DAY: FRANCE LOOKS FOR A PM\u00a0\u00a0 WHO\u2019S NEXT?<\/strong> French President Emmanuel Macron promised to name a new government by this evening. Part of the urgency, as my Playbook Paris colleagues explain this morning<\/a>, is that the French government has until Monday to present its 2026 budget proposal if it wants to vote on it before a Dec. 31 deadline<\/a>. \u201cThe international situation is delicate and everyone is watching us,\u201d a finance ministry adviser told my colleagues in the French capital.<\/p>\n The good news for Macron:<\/strong> He doesn\u2019t need to have a full government in place by Monday \u2014 a prime minister can put forward a budget alone.<\/p>\n **A message from DP World:<\/strong> Having started as a local port operator in Dubai in 1972, today we are an end-to-end logistics operator with operations across the globe. Since 2023, we have a representative in Brussels, given the EU\u2019s paramount role in shaping logistics policy and driving competitiveness. Connect with us on X: @DPWorldEU<\/a>.**<\/strong><\/p>\n But who wants to drink from that poisoned chalice? <\/strong>Former minister and ex-MEP Jean-Louis Borloo\u2019s name has been mentioned as a potential option, but while he could appeal to Les R\u00e9publicains, he\u2019s not universally popular. Other runners and riders include Boris Vallaud, the leader of the Socialist Party in the National Assembly, and former European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, now the head of the French national audit office, Clea Caulcutt reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Next PM same as the last? <\/strong>But the signs actually seem to point to S\u00e9bastien Lecornu getting another shot at the job. To try to make this premiership stick, he\u2019d have to stack his government with some new, less political, faces. Read the full details in Playbook Paris<\/a>.<\/p>\n If his next PM falls, there are no good options for Macron. <\/strong>He could resign (something he has repeatedly ruled out) \u2026 or call a new election (something Marine Le Pen\u2019s far-right National Rally would relish).<\/p>\n The markets are watching:<\/strong> Meanwhile, the markets are reflecting concern that France, the eurozone\u2019s second-largest economy, has become so ungovernable it can\u2019t pay its bills, risking financial contagion to the rest of the common currency bloc. Joshua Berlinger and Riya Misra have more in this highly digestible primer<\/a>. <\/p>\n TRUMP\u2019S NOBEL MOMENT\u00a0 CEASEFIRE MOVES FORWARD:<\/strong> The Israeli government overnight approved<\/a> the first phase of the Donald Trump-brokered peace deal\u00a0\u2014 effectively setting the ceasefire in place. Assuming Israel\u2019s troop withdrawals play out as planned (a big assumption), Hamas will have roughly through Monday to release all the remaining hostages from its Oct. 7, 2023\u00a0attacks.<\/p>\n How the deal was done:<\/strong> POLITICO\u2019s Felicia Schwartz\u00a0and\u00a0Dasha Burns take you behind the scenes<\/a> to reveal that as talks were stalling earlier this week, Trump\u2019s emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner swept in to dictate key compromises.<\/p>\n NOBEL MOMENT:<\/strong> The Nobel Peace Prize is set to be awarded at 11 a.m. today. Trump has made no secret of the fact that he feels he deserves it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among those who agree<\/a> (a group that includes, incidentally, Malta\u2019s Socialist foreign minister<\/a>, for Trump\u2019s work on Armenia and Azerbaijan). Even the Guardian is holding out the possibility that Israel-Gaza could be Trump\u2019s \u201cbiggest diplomatic achievement<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEven Hamas \u2026\u201d: <\/strong>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing for a similarly serious intervention by Trump in Europe. \u201cEven Hamas shows deal-making acumen, but not Putin. For now,\u201d he posted on X<\/a>. \u201cWe strongly expect that just pressure on Russia will bring peace to Ukraine and to our entire region as well.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime:<\/strong> Russia launched a huge attack on Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure overnight and this morning, with parts of Kyiv without power. CNN has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n NO-CONFIDENCE POSTMORTEM\u00a0\u00a0 THE PARLIAMENT WON. <\/strong>That\u2019s the main takeaway from Nick Vinocur\u2019s sharp analysis<\/a> of this week\u2019s two motions of no-confidence in Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s European Commission. Sure, MEPs failed to take down the Commission chief \u2014 they were always doomed to. But they succeeded at forcing \u00a0her to take the Parliament, which is typically the weakest of the EU\u2019s three institutions, much more seriously.<\/p>\n THE DEFECTORS:<\/strong> While the motions\u2019 failure was no surprise, the roll-call showed<\/a> some eyebrow-raising breaks from the party line \u2026<\/p>\n Les R\u00e9publicains:<\/strong> Four of six French EPP MEPs backed the Patriots\u2019 censure motion, including EPP Vice Chair Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Bellamy. (Even before they were under such acute pressure from the far right at home, French conservatives have consistently embraced opportunities to reject a second von der Leyen term, voting against her nomination as the EPP lead candidate in 2024.) Those four stuck with the group to actively reject The Left\u2019s motion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maltese Socialists<\/strong>: Three Socialists broke ranks to back The Left\u2019s censure motion, including Irish MEP Aodh\u00e1n \u00d3 R\u00edord\u00e1in and two members of Malta\u2019s governing Labour Party: Daniel Attard and Alex Agius Saliba (they both abstained on the Patriots\u2019 motion). \u00a0<\/p>\n Agius Saliba, <\/strong>vice chair of S&D, told Max Griera that he couldn\u2019t vote against\u00a0The Left\u2019s motion \u201cwhen I have been critical for months\u201d on the complaints it enumerated: the \u201cCommission\u2019s inaction on Gaza, on the way that we are dealing with Trump and the U.S. and also on the lack of social ambition.\u201d <\/p>\n PATRIOTS\u2019 <\/strong>CORDON <\/strong>TAKES SHAPE<\/strong>: <\/strong>With a few exceptions, members of The Left actively rejected the Patriots\u2019 motion, while the Patriots generally abstained on The Left\u2019s \u2014\u00a0despite their shared goal of ousting von der Leyen and complaints about her transatlantic trade deal.<\/p>\n Patriots-Socialists team-up?<\/strong> But Danish MEP Anders Vistisen, the Patriots\u2019 whip, told the EU Confidential podcast that if S&D ever decides to follow through on its threats to launch their own motion of censure, \u201cwe would be happy to supply them votes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n LISTEN UP \u2014 MORE ON THOSE S&D THREATS:<\/strong> In this week\u2019s episode of EU Confidential<\/a>, recorded in Strasbourg, the S&D\u2019s Ren\u00e9 Repasi warns that his group could mount its own censure motion if von der Leyen doesn\u2019t keep her promises over the next six months. <\/p>\n Plus:<\/strong> The Left\u2019s Marc Botenga on how the censure motion succeeded (even though it was doomed to fail); French Green MEP Marie Toussaint (who voted to depose von der Leyen) on divisions within her group about how oppositional they should be; and researcher Sophia Russack on how the censure motion is supposed to be used under EU law \u2014 compared with reality. Listen and subscribe here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n PARLIAMENT IRONIES\u00a0 WHERE\u2019S THE (PLANT-BASED) BEEF? <\/strong>Isn\u2019t it ironic<\/a>? Within a day of the Parliament voting to ban veggie alternatives to meat products from using labels like \u201csausage\u201d or \u201cburger,\u201d the Strasbourg canteen was serving up \u201cvegan burgers\u201d as a healthy option \u2014 and they appear to have sold out quickly. This counts as proverbial(!) red meat for POLITICO. Bartosz Brzezi\u0144ski and Max Griera serve up this romp<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n AUDITORS\u2019 TOLD-YA-SO MOMENT:<\/strong>\u00a0The European Court of Auditors called out the Parliament\u2019s administration<\/a> for ignoring a 2021 recommendation to rewrite the rules governing how political groups dole out millions of euros through public procurement.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s the good advice that you just didn\u2019t take:<\/strong> Those very rules which the auditors say need to be changed are at the heart of\u00a0alleged misspending of \u20ac4 million<\/a>\u00a0in funds for public contracts by the far-right Identity and Democracy group (now defunct). The Parliament administration wants to recover the money from the present-day Patriots for\u00a0Europe, reasoning that the new group is the continuation of Identity and Democracy. The Patriots reject allegations of wrongdoing and say they won\u2019t give the money back.\u00a0<\/p>\n And who would\u2019ve thought? It figures \u2026<\/strong> \u201cParliament has taken note of the report,\u201d the press service said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Life has a funny way \u2026 <\/strong>Given the substance of the report, Parliament President Roberta Metsola\u2019s grip-and-grin<\/a> with ECA President Tony Murphy seemed a little, well, ironic. After one popular Brussels bubble influencer<\/a> posited that it was either a \u201ccry for help from Metsola\u201d or \u201ca super gangsta move,\u201d Metsola herself weighed in<\/a> with (let\u2019s be honest) uncharacteristic public levity: \u201cLet\u2019s go with super gangsta.\u201d We hope it feels good<\/a>, Madame President.\u00a0<\/p>\n CAUSTIC\u00a0RESPONSE\u00a0ON MEP DETAINED IN ISRAEL:<\/strong> On a note of zero irony \u2026 Greens co-leader Bas Eickhout spoke to the plenary on Thursday about MEP M\u00e9lissa Camara, who was arrested in Israel earlier this week as she participated in the flotilla protest of Gaza\u2019s blockade. As he expressed concern that she \u201cmay be taken to a maximum-security prison,\u201d hoots and cheers broke out on the right side of the hemicycle. \u201cI hope this is on record how people are reacting here,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Metsola intervenes:<\/strong> \u201cWe are in constant contact with the Israeli authorities,\u201d the Parliament president replied, \u201cto ensure that all members for the European Parliament are treated with dignity,\u201d even when they are not on official missions. \u00a0<\/p>\n ALARMING DISCOVERIES\u00a0 DE WEVER PLOT:<\/strong> Belgian federal authorities arrested three suspects in connection<\/a> with what prosecutors said was an attempted terrorist attack on the country\u2019s politicians, including Prime Minister\u00a0Bart De\u00a0Wever.<\/p>\n HUNGARY FOR SPIES: <\/strong>The European Commission said Thursday<\/a> it would probe reports that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2019s government deployed intelligence officers to Brussels to gather information on EU institutions and recruit an EU official.<\/p>\n IN OTHER NEWS\u00a0 SAYING NO TO THE DON:<\/strong>\u00a0The EU won\u2019t tear up its environment and human rights rules to cement a deal on tariffs with Donald Trump. That was the message the bloc\u2019s top trade official had for a meeting of ambassadors behind closed doors earlier this week, according to five diplomats and officials who spoke to\u00a0Gabriel\u00a0Gavin and Marianne Gros<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n We won\u2019t change who we are:<\/strong>\u00a0That statement comes after the Financial Times reported<\/a> the Trump administration was doubling down on its push against EU regulations it says penalize American businesses with a new position paper. But, for now, Brussels is rebuffing the efforts \u2014 even as it begins work on its own drive to cut red tape.<\/p>\n SPAIN IN TRUMP\u2019S SIGHTS:<\/strong> Trump on Thursday suggested<\/a> NATO should consider booting Spain from the alliance over its low defense spending.<\/p>\n HUAWEI\u2019S BACK:\u00a0<\/strong>Jordyn Dahl reports<\/a> Huawei\u00a0is using its membership at Europe\u2019s dominant solar panel lobbying group to gain access to European institutions.<\/p>\n EU VS. BEIJING + RUSSIA:<\/strong> The EU should its aid budget to compete more aggressively with Russia and China for global influence, International Partnerships Commissioner Jozef S\u00edkela told the FT in an interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n ELECTION TIME IN PORTUGAL (AGAIN):<\/strong>\u00a0Five months after Portugal held a national election in which the far-right Chega party surged to become the second-largest force in the parliament, voters will on Sunday cast their ballots in nationwide local elections that could see ultranationalist politicians conquer city halls across the country.\u00a0Aitor Hern\u00e1ndez-Morales has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n FRIDAY FUNNY:<\/strong> Paul Dallison looks at the politics of garden ornaments in this week\u2019s Declassified humor column<\/a>.<\/p>\n AGENDA\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0Informal meeting of EU\u00a0telecommunication ministers\u00a0continues in\u00a0Horsens, Denmark.\u00a0Doorsteps from 8 a.m<\/strong>.;\u00a0press conference by the Danish presidency and the European Commission expected at 3 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN)\u00a0begins at\u00a011 a.m<\/strong>. in Brussels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0Global Gateway Forum 2025\u00a0continues in\u00a0Brussels. Full agenda<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014\u00a0European Parliament President Roberta Metsola<\/strong>\u00a0is in\u00a0Riga, Latvia.<\/p>\n \u2014 Tallinn Digital Summit. High Representative Kaja Kallas<\/strong> and\u00a0Justice Commissioner Michel McGrath<\/strong>\u00a0among those to attend.<\/p>\n BRUSSELS CORNER\u00a0 WEATHER:<\/strong> High of 18C. Cloudy.\u00a0<\/p>\n NEW JOB: Benedetta Berti<\/strong>, who served as NATO\u2019s director for policy planning under Jens Stoltenberg and Mark Rutte, is set to succeed Ruxandra Popa <\/strong>as secretary-general of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. It\u2019ll be made official on Monday at the assembly\u2019s plenary.\u00a0<\/p>\n DISRUPTION AHEAD: <\/strong>Brussels\u2019 public transport network is expected to be heavily affected by a\u00a0national strike\u00a0against federal government measures on <\/strong>Tuesday, Oct. 14. Metro, tram, and bus services may be interrupted, and some lines could be delayed due to strike participation and planned demonstrations, STIB warned<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n GAZA THROUGH CHILDREN\u2019S EYES:<\/strong>\u00a0UNICEF has opened an exhibition<\/a> in\u00a0Brussels\u2019 Cinquantenaire Park\u00a0depicting daily life for children in Gaza amid war and deprivation.\u00a0\u201cA Question Mark Hangs over Gaza,\u201d\u00a0features photographs and sound recordings from Gazan artists and is on at the\u00a0Pavilion of Human Passions\u00a0<\/a>until\u00a0Oct. 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n EUROPALIA FESTIVAL:\u00a0<\/strong>The Europalia arts festival kicked off this week with Spain as this year\u2019s focus, bringing a wide-ranging program of Spanish arts to Brussels and other Belgian cities until February \u2014 including an exhibition examining Goya\u2019s legacy. Program\u2019s<\/a> here.\u00a0<\/p>\n BIRTHDAYS:\u00a0<\/strong>MEP Katrin Langensiepen<\/strong>; former MEP \u00c9lisabeth Morin-Chartier<\/strong>; European Commission\u2019s Christine Frayne <\/strong>and Anca P\u0103duraru<\/strong>; Vincent-Immanuel Herr,<\/strong> of Herr & Speer; Commission\u2019s Alexandre Adam<\/strong>; OMMAX\u2019s Stefan Sambol<\/strong>; EEAS\u2019 Wolfram Vetter<\/strong>; Finnish Coreper I Ambassador Lauri Hirvonen<\/strong>. <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Celebrating on Saturday:<\/strong> MEPs Fran\u00e7ois-Xavier Bellamy <\/strong>and Nicola Zingaretti<\/strong>; former MEPs Gilles Lebreton<\/strong> and Mady Delvaux<\/strong>; former French Interior Minister G\u00e9rald Darmanin<\/strong>; Prince Constantijn<\/strong> of the Netherlands; Anna Hill <\/strong>from Open Doors International; logos\u2019 Marie-Myrtille Marichal<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Celebrating on Sunday:<\/strong> MEP Georg Mayer<\/strong>; former MEPs Anna Bonfrisco<\/strong>, David Lega <\/strong>and Martin Horwood<\/strong>; European Court of Auditors member Ivana Maleti\u0107<\/strong>, also a former MEP; former European Commissioner Neven Mimica<\/strong>; Daniel Azzopardi<\/strong>, Malta\u2019s ambassador-designate to Italy and San Marino; Universal Music Group\u2019s Robbert Baruch<\/strong>; Professor Jem Bendell<\/strong>; European Commission\u2019s Franco Accordino<\/strong>. Spain\u2019s National Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n THANKS TO:\u00a0Max Griera, Aitor Hern\u00e1ndez-Morales, Gabriel\u00a0Gavin, Dionisios Sturis,<\/strong> Abigail Frizon <\/strong>and Karl Mathiesen<\/strong>; Playbook editor Alex Spence<\/strong>, reporter\u00a0Elena Giordano <\/strong>and producer Dean Southwell<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n **A message from DP World:<\/strong> As part of our growing engagement with EU Institutions, we are bringing our European leadership to Brussels. On 2 October, our Executive Vice President Western Europe, Tony Hotine, joined a panel discussion at Politico\u2019s Competitive Europe Summit. Tony stressed the importance of a balanced approach to foreign investments in the EU\u2019s economy, given the fast-changing geopolitical context on the one hand and the revision of Foreign Direct Investment screening rules across the bloc. In November, DP World\u2019s Vice President Sustainability, Nick Mazzei, will speak at the 25th edition of the European Business Summit<\/a> in the Egmont Palace. We hope to see many of you there.**<\/strong><\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family:<\/strong> Brussels Playbook<\/a> | London Playbook<\/a> | London Playbook PM<\/a> | Playbook Paris<\/a> | EU Election Playbook<\/a> | Berlin Playbook<\/a> | Global Playbook<\/a> | POLITICO Confidential<\/a> | Sunday Crunch<\/a> | EU Influence<\/a> | London Influence<\/a> | Berlin Bulletin<\/a> | Living Cities<\/a> | D.C. Playbook<\/a> | D.C. Influence<\/a> | Canada Playbook<\/a> | All our POLITICO Pro policy morning newsletters<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Share](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/icon-twitter.png\"\/){kind=icon}
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