You’re reading Rapporteur on Tuesday 16 June. This is Eddy Wax in Brussels, with Nicoletta Ionta.
Need-to-knows:
🟢 Austria’s Europe minister wants to rein in the institutions🟢 Interview: Lange, the vintage EU engine who took on Trump🟢 EPP’s Fulvio Martusciello faces a day of reckoning
On the Schuman roundabout: Parliament plans to build a food court
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From the capital
Claudia Bauer, Austria’s minister for European affairs, is strutting into a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg this morning wielding a chainsaw.
In her sights: the EU institutions themselves.
“I am fully aware that this is not the largest budget item overall, and this criticism is often dismissed – but every little saving helps,” Bauer told my colleague Victoria Becker.
The Commission wants to splash more than €100 billion on EU administration over the next seven-year budget cycle, including the creation of 2,500 additional civil service jobs.
“Significant savings” must be found in the very fabric of the EU institutions, she argued.
For Vienna, the EU’s own administrative spending plan sends “absolutely the wrong signal” at a time when national governments are pruning costs, digitising public services and doing more with fewer staff.
The minister also questioned whether all EU agencies operate in areas where the bloc has clear competence, suggesting some could face the axe. Vienna, for one, hosts the fundamental rights agency.
Bauer can count on support from several capitals, including Rome, where Giorgia Meloni last week slammed the Commission’s plans to increase administrative spending on civil servants’ pensions, buildings and institutions by “over 20%.”
It’s a crucial week for negotiations over the next seven-year budget. Later this week, leaders will hold their first substantive debate on the size of the package, with the aim of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
Austria is leading the push for deeper cuts. Speaking German to Victoria, Bauer dismissed a recent compromise to trim 2% from the Commission’s €1.76 trillion proposal as “a droplet on a hot stone” – roughly equivalent to a “drop in the ocean.”
“The nine net contributor countries are responsible for over 60% of the EU budget,” Bauer said. “In other words, one third is responsible for two-thirds of the EU budget.”
RAPPORTEUR’S TAKE: Asking states to bankroll thousands of new Brussels jobs was always a difficult sell, especially as the Commission has made ‘simplification’ its governing mantra and is conducting its own review of staffing levels to make the civil service leaner.
But even if it loses this battle, this week has been a good one for the Berlaymont’s budget brains. On Sunday, capitals endorsed the Commission’s newfangled structure, including prized ideas such as the Competitiveness Fund.
And there’s good news for budget-watchers. The return of this traditional debate over the cost of the EU’s own bureaucracy is a sign that the battle is truly about to commence. And it’s going to be brutal.
EPP heavyweight fights for survival
Fulvio Martusciello is an EPP strongman if ever there was one. The 58-year-old from Naples is a key figure in Forza Italia, the party led by Antonio Tajani, the former president of the European Parliament and Italy’s foreign minister.
I remember watching Martusciello shed real tears in Strasbourg in 2023 as MEPs paid tribute to Silvio Berlusconi. Today could bring another difficult moment for Martusciello in Strasbourg. Or not.
MEPs are expected to vote – likely by secret ballot, Nicoletta is told – on whether to lift his parliamentary immunity so Belgian prosecutors can look into his alleged role in the Huawei lobbying scandal. He denies wrongdoing. In recent months, he has waged an intense behind-the-scenes campaign to protect his political future.
The vote is also a test of Parliament itself. After shielding Angelika Niebler and most of the other MEPs caught up in Huawei-gate, the institution is rapidly developing a reputation as an unserious body that protects its own at any cost. Read Nicoletta and Elisa Braun’s full profile.
Motorbikes, God and the Art of the Deal
In 25 years of parliamentary life, Bernd Lange says he has never felt pressure quite like this.
The 70-year-old German MEP has spent months fending off pressure from Donald Trump and struggling to build unity in Parliament, while negotiating the bloc’s position on the EU-US trade deal. Today, lawmakers will cast their final vote.
Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro and I sat down with Lange to trace the path that took him from teaching theology in northern Germany to becoming one of Brussels’ most influential trade voices – and of course to discuss his enduring affection for vintage motorbikes. Read the full interview.
Democrats’ advice to MEPs
A delegation of Democratic members of US Congress has been making the rounds in Strasbourg ahead of the vote on the EU-US deal.
Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat, stopped short of telling European lawmakers how to vote, but urged them not to confront Trump alone. “Don’t pick a fight, but if a bully punches you, you kick him back,” he told Magnus Lund Nielsen.
“[Trump] intimidates people by suggesting that the tall poppies will be cut down – to use a Dutch expression. You can either sit down individually or stand up collectively,” he said.
Lange’s advice to Democrats, by the way, was to take inspiration from the European Parliament.
Kallas narrows Aspides’ Hormuz role
The EU’s top diplomat appeared to walk back suggestions that the bloc’s Aspides naval mission could help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it will remain focused on protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
Speaking on Monday, Kaja Kallas said Aspides would continue operating in the Red Sea while coordinating with a nascent Franco-British effort to safeguard maritime traffic through Hormuz.
Using the same assets across different missions raises practical questions over command structures and mandates, one EU diplomat told Pietro Guastamacchia. “That’s why this is a difficult discussion,” the diplomat said. Read the full story.
Here are three new stories from Euractiv:
Schuman roundabout
FOOD COURT: Senior MEPs chewed over a tasty suggestion at a meeting last night, holding an initial discussion on plans to revamp the European Parliament’s Brussels canteen. Though no decision was made, one idea was to redesign the canteen to resemble a food court, with multiple vendors selling their wares in one place.
The capitals
BUDAPEST 🇭🇺
Hungary’s parliament has approved retroactive term limits that would prevent Viktor Orbán from returning as prime minister, marking one of the most consequential reversals of the constitutional order built during his 16 years of uninterrupted rule. The amendment also dismantles the Fidesz-era foundation network controlling universities and other state assets, while the government reaffirmed its rejection of the EU’s migration pact. Read the full story.– Mátyás Varga
STOCKHOLM 🇸🇪
Sweden’s parliament on Monday adopted controversial legislation requiring several public agencies to share information on undocumented migrants with police and migration authorities. The so-called “snitch law” applies to bodies including the Tax Agency, Employment Service and Social Insurance Agency. Health services, schools and social services are exempt, but critics warn the safeguards are inadequate and the law could erode trust in public institutions.– Charles Szumski
SOFIA 🇧🇬 | SKOPJE 🇲🇰
Two diplomatic vehicles belonging to Bulgaria’s embassy in Skopje were set ablaze on Monday after an unidentified attacker doused one with an accelerant outside the mission’s entrance, causing the fire to spread to the second. A Bulgarian consul extinguished the flames and no one was injured. North Macedonian police later identified a 44-year-old suspect. The incident adds to tensions as Bulgaria continues to block North Macedonia’s EU accession path.– Konstantin Karadjov
ATHENS 🇬🇷
Alexandros Yiotopoulos, widely regarded as the mastermind behind Greece’s notorious far-left November 17 (17N) terrorist group, will return to prison after the country’s top court on Monday overturned a ruling that had led to his release in late May. The decision followed calls from the US State Department for Athens to intervene. November 17’s first assassination was that of Richard Welch, the CIA station chief in Athens.– Sarantis Michalopoulos
PRAGUE 🇨🇿
The Czech government has approved plans to scrap licence-fee financing for public broadcasters and replace it with direct state budget funding, a move critics say risks undermining media independence. Under the proposal, Czech Television and Czech Radio would receive about 15% less funding than under the current system. Andrej Babiš defended the reform as a cost-saving measure, while media experts warned it could conflict with the EU’s European Media Freedom Act.– Aneta Zachová
BRATISLAVA 🇸🇰
Slovakia and India on Monday signed agreements to deepen co-operation in defence, higher education and digitalisation during Narendra Modi’s visit to Bratislava – the first by an Indian prime minister in modern Slovak history. Modi also invited Robert Fico to India. Fico said he was ready to make the trip, describing it as another step in strengthening ties as bilateral trade has increased fivefold over the past five years.– Natália Silenská
PODGORICA 🇲🇪
President Jakov Milatović will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, outlining Montenegro’s progress towards EU membership after the provisional closure of two negotiating chapters on Monday. He is also expected to present Podgorica’s plans for concluding accession talks. On Wednesday, MEPs will vote on a report assessing the country’s progress on its path of joining the bloc.– Bronwyn Jones
Contributors: Victoria Becker, Pietro Guastamacchia, Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro, Magnus Lund Nielsen
Editors: Christina Zhao, Sofia Mandilara, Charles Szumski
Source:
www.euractiv.com