BRUSSELS — After years of being treated as an outlier for its hardline stance on migration, Denmark says it has finally brought the rest of the EU on board with its tough approach. Europe’s justice and home affairs ministers on Monday approved new measures allowing EU countries to remove failed asylum seekers, set up processing centers overseas and create removal hubs outside their borders — measures Copenhagen has long advocated. The deal was “many years in the making,” said Rasmus Stoklund, Denmark’s center-left minister for integration who has driven migration negotiations during his country’s six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. Stoklund told POLITICO that when he first started working on the migration brief a decade ago in the Danish parliament, his fellow left-wingers around the bloc viewed his government’s position as so egregious that “other social democrats wouldn’t meet with me.” Over the last few years, “there’s been a huge change in perception,” Stoklund said. When the deal was done Monday, the “sigh of relief” from ministers and their aides was palpable, with people embracing one another and heaping praise on both the Danish brokers and Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission that put forward the initial proposal, according to a diplomat who was in the room. Sweden’s Migration Minister Johan Forssell, a member of the conservative Moderate party, told POLITICO Monday’s deal was vital “to preserve, like, any public trust at all in the migration system today … we need to show that the system is working.” Stockholm, which has in the past prided itself on taking a liberal approach to migration, has recently undergone a Damascene conversion to the Danish model, implementing tough measures to limit family reunification, tightening rules around obtaining Swedish citizenship, and limiting social benefits for new arrivals. Forssell said the deal was important because “many people” around Europe criticize the EU over inaction on migration “because they cannot do themselves what [should be done] on the national basis.” The issue, he said, is a prime example of “why there must be a strong European Union.” SEALING THE DEAL Monday’s deal — whose impact will “hopefully be quite dramatic,” Stoklund said — comes two years after the EU signed off on a new law governing asylum and migration, which must be implemented by June. Voters have “made clear to governments all over the European Union, that they couldn’t accept that they weren’t able to control the access to their countries,” Stoklund said. “Governments have realized that if they didn’t take this question seriously, then [voters] would back more populist movements that would take it seriously — and use more drastic measures in order to find new solutions.” Stockholm has recently undergone a Damascene conversion to the Danish model, implementing tough measures to limit family reunification, tightening rules around obtaining Swedish citizenship, and limiting social benefits for new arrivals. | Henrick Montgomery/EPA Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, the Danish Council presidency and ministers were at pains to point out that Monday’s agreement showed the EU could get deals done. After the last EU election in 2024, the new Commission’s “first task” was to “bring our European house in order,” Brunner said. “Today we’re showing that Europe can actually deliver and we delivered quite a lot.” WHAT’S NEW The ministers backed new rules to detain and deport migrants, including measures that would allow the bloc and individual countries to cut deals to set up migration processing hubs in other nations, regardless of whether the people being moved there have a connection with those countries. Ministers supported changes that will allow capitals to reject applications if asylum seekers, prior to first entering the EU, could have received international protection in a non-EU country the bloc deems safe, and signed off on a common list of countries of origin considered safe. Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia are on that latter list, as are countries that are candidates to join the EU. But the deal also leaves room for exceptions — such as Ukraine, which is at war. Asylum seekers won’t automatically have the right to remain in the EU while they appeal a ruling that their refuge application was inadmissible. The next step for the measures will be negotiations with the European Parliament, once it has decided its position on the proposals. Max Griera contributed reporting.

STRASBOURG — The center-right European People’s Party President Manfred Weber on Tuesday refused to commit to handing the European Parliament’s presidency to the Socialists as scheduled in 2027. In what would be a major blow to the stability of the EU’s governing coalition, Weber hinted he could be seeking a third term for Roberta Metsola, a Maltese conservative and incumbent president of the Parliament. The president of the Party of European Socialists, Stefan Löfven, said last week that the EPP needs to abide by the accord it signed after the European election in 2024, agreeing to hand over the Parliament presidency to the center-left in 2027. During a press conference in Strasbourg Tuesday morning, Weber snarked back at Löfven. “It was also agreed that the socialists are ready to work together, and I think the next one and a half years the socialists can show their reliability,” he said, after being asked by POLITICO whether he committed to upholding the deal. Weber referred to a vote on a green simplification package scheduled for Wednesday in which some Socialist MEPs will break the group line to vote against it, despite an earlier agreement to support it with the EPP. “The socialists are grabbing for jobs but not delivering on what the people really expect from them,” Weber added. The Socialists say there is a written power-sharing agreement signed between the EPP, Socialists & Democrats and centrist Renew Europe divvying up the EU’s top jobs — with the Parliament presidency remaining split between the center right and the center left. “We have a deal, the deal was made after the election, and that deal is still valid,” Löfven said Friday, warning that the EPP needs to comply “if they still want a decent working environment in Brussels.” But behind the scenes, many center-left MEPs and staffers expect that the EPP will try to breach the agreement to give a third term to Metsola. Their fears are growing because the Socialists also have the top post at the European Council, where Portugal’s former Prime Minister António Costa runs the show, and it is unlikely the EPP would let the center-left — which has lost political heft across the bloc in recent years — lead two of the three EU policymaking institutions. “About Roberta Metsola’s future … let me first of all underline that I think I can, as EPP representative, be proud about the job Roberta Metsola has delivered,” Weber said. “She’s a great president of the European Parliament, very respected, the institution can be proud to have such a personality in the lead.” “When the time comes to make decisions regarding the midterm, I think it will also be the time when we all demonstrate if we are people of word and where we demonstrate if agreements are respected,” S&D group chair Iratxe García said in reaction to Weber’s comments. “I think we now have very important issues about which to work and in which citizens are really attentive and waiting for us… housing, decent employment, public services, a Europe that defends peace, and that is where we are.” This article has been updated.

AMSTERDAM — Socialist lawmakers expect the center-right European People’s Party to try to keep the European Parliament presidency despite a power-sharing agreement signed after the 2024 EU election. Under the 2024 power-sharing arrangement, the top Parliament job would be shared — the first half of the term for the EPP, second half for the Socialists. But Socialist lawmakers now doubt that the center-right EPP — which holds the highest representation in the European Commission, the Council and the Parliament — will let them take the job, according to nine MEPs, aides and senior officials who were granted anonymity to speak candidly with POLITICO. That is because the Socialists also have the top post at the European Council with Portugal’s former Prime MinisterAntonio Costa, and it is unlikely the EPP would let the Social Democrats — which have lost political weight across countries in recent years — lead two out of the three EU policymaking institutions, the lawmakers said. The lawmakers also said it is likely the EPP will try to have incumbent Parliament President Roberta Metsola reelected for a third term — a first in the parliament’s history — especially after she refused to go back to Maltese politics as the leader of her Nationalist Party. Publicly, however, the Socialists are holding their ground. The president of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Stefan Löfven said Friday night that his political family will not support a third term for Metsola. “If you and I make a deal, you expect me to keep it … if they still want a decent working environment in Brussels, they need to stick to the deal,” Löfven told POLITICO ahead of the Socialist leaders dinner on Friday night during the PES congress. MIDTERM RESHUFFLE He added that the 2024 deal also includes a second term for European Council President Antonio Costa, Portugal’s former Socialist prime minister — though EPP officials contest that it was not explicitly part of the agreement, opening the door to use Costa’s reelection as leverage to keep control of the Parliament president position. Ahead of the 2027 midterm reshuffle, where all top jobs within the Parliament are up for grabs, Socialist lawmakers make it a given that Spain’s Iratxe García will remain as the chair of the Socialists and Democrats group in the chamber. “If Metsola stays on, Iratxe will stay on, for consistency,” said one MEP. “I don’t see Iratxe being challenged,” said a second lawmaker, who added that García can only be ousted if the Italians turn against her — which is unlikely given both Italy and Spain traditionally stick together. “Otherwise if they are united, any challenger would need to first match their votes together, which is a lot,”  this person said. The Italians and Spaniards hold 41 out of 136 seats. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and García are meeting with Italian Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein on Saturday, as part of a busy agenda with many bilateral meetings.  “Oh, so that’s the agenda for the meeting?” Schlein laughed when asked by POLITICO whether she would support García as she walked into the room. The Italians, who are the largest national delegation within the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), are unlikely to claim the presidency as they are very divided and there is no clear candidate among their ranks for the job. Instead, they are expected to keep group Secretary-General Fabrizia Panzetti for another term as part of a power-sharing agreement among the national party leaders. “They are trying not to open the debate and just keep everything as it is,” said a third MEP. “I wish there would be a change, not necessarily about Iratxe, but we should have an open debate internally, and not just between leaders,” this person added. While everyone assumes publicly that García will stay on — as long as Sánchez stays in power — some leaders remain tight-lipped on whether they will support her. “Iratxe has done a good job,” Swedish Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson — who is topping the polls one year away from national elections — told POLITICO. But “no, it has not been decided” if the Swedish delegation will support her, Andersson said. The EPP did not reply to a request for comment in time of publication.

AMSTERDAM — Everyone’s talking about migration. Apart from Europe’s center left. The Party of European Socialists (PES), Europe’s second-biggest political family, is holding a three-day get-together in Amsterdam starting Thursday to fire up the troops as they push back against a right-wing surge. But for all the fanfare, they won’t be spending much time talking about one of the hot-button issues fueling that populist rise. How to handle migrant flows into Europe has divided the center left, with some, such as the Nordics, opting to harden their stance and back tough deportation rules, while others, especially the Spanish, continue to defend taking a softer approach. As a result, the PES congress will tiptoe around the issue. “Migrants are increasingly criminalized and used as a scapegoat for social and economic hardships and to justify discriminatory policies,” reads the sole reference to the topic in the final declaration of the congress, obtained by POLITICO and set to be voted on Friday. A Social Policy program, to be approved the same day, mentions the need to ensure “the protection of migrants, asylum seekers and undocumented people.” Migration is not mentioned in a document setting out the party’s priorities and campaign talking points for the years to come, also obtained by POLITICO, and there are no scheduled debates on the topic. Even those relatively minor mentions of the protection of undocumented migrants raise questions about the unity of the party, as the Danish Socialists have prioritized establishing a tough deportation scheme during their EU Council presidency, which began in July and runs to the end of December. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will not be at the PES jamboree. Instead of addressing migration, the Socialists are turning to their traditional core subjects — health care, job creation, affordable housing and renewable energy — as the core of their campaign program, according to their priorities for the years to come, to be voted on by party delegates on Friday. TAKING ON TRUMP During the past five years, the center left has seen its support slump across European countries and its number of EU lawmakers fall, with a right-wing bloc in command of the European Parliament and most members of the College of Commissioners hailing from the center right. The PES congress — which brings together left-wing political movements, NGOs, unions and activists — is meant to set the principles socialists across Europe will defend in taking on “Reactionary International.” (The term was popularized by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and other leaders to describe the transatlantic populist right-wing movement led by U.S. President Donald Trump.) “Only by standing united can we have the critical mass needed to reverse the dangerous course charted by Trump and his allies,” reads a congress declaration, yet to be adopted but pre-approved by PES leadership. “We call for the launch of a Global Progressive Mobilization.” Yet only one of the three socialist prime ministers in the EU — Sánchez — will be showing up. Apart from Denmark’s Frederiksen, Malta’s Robert Abela is also not on the list of attendees. Migrants from various detention centers across Italy are escorted by police as they disembark an Italian Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel. | Adnan Beci/AFP via Getty Images “All our leaders are invited and may join at the last moment,” PES spokesperson Catarina Faria told POLITICO. She added that Frederiksen is not attending “due to elections in Denmark” — even though the next scheduled elections in the country are local ballots on Nov. 18. Frederiksen and Abela’s offices did not reply to requests for comment. “I don’t think there is any reason for concern … It’s natural sometimes for leaders to have different kinds of agendas, but I think what is essential for us to achieve is this mobilization of our political family and that’s why we our leaders will be, of course, very much involved in the years to come,” said PES Vice President and Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu. Sánchez, who is facing mounting challenges to his leadership in Madrid, will headline the congress, joined by European Council President António Costa, German Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, Austria’s Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler and national party leaders.  HOPING TO MAKE GAINS Negrescu said the center left is hoping to do well in upcoming elections. “The most important one is the one in the Netherlands,” he said of the vote scheduled for Oct. 24 in which the Labour Party is on course to enter government. Party leader Frans Timmermans (a former Commission Green Deal chief) could even end up as prime minister if his party finishes ahead of the Christian Democrats. Negrescu also noted that center-left parties in Sweden and Finland are leading in the polls (those countries elect new governments in 2026 and 2027, respectively). Despite a bruising past few years at the ballot box, the PES is sticking with the old guard as its leadership. PES President Stefan Löfven — a former Swedish prime minister who runs the party from Stockholm while also working for consultancy Rud Pedersen — is running to be re-elected unopposed. Secretary-General Giacomo Filibeck will also stay on, and Löfven has proposed keeping the center left’s top two members of the European Parliament — Iratxe García and Katarina Barley — in place as vice-presidents. Sarah Wheaton contributed reporting.

Denmark is prepared to face down the European Parliament over tougher migration rules, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told lawmakers as her country takes up the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. “We have to lower the influx of migrants to Europe,” she said in Strasbourg on Tuesday. Frederiksen has built a reputation as the black sheep of European social democrats because she often sides with the right in pushing forward tougher rules on asylum and border checks. “What has been mainstream among our populations for quite many years is now mainstream for many of us politicians as well, finally,” she said. “Maybe not in Parliament, but gladly, and I am really happy about that, in the European Council,” where several leaders of EU countries leaders are determined to address migration problems. In pushing for a tougher approach Frederiksen finds herself on the same side as right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and center-right Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Parliament ― the bloc’s only directly elected body ― is more divided than Europe’s governments, however. With a right-wing bloc pushing for stricter rules, and a center-left bloc opposing them, it will be complicated for the house’s centrist political families to come to any agreement on legislation. Following the EU election in June last year, which saw a surge in support to right-wing and far-right parties elected on an anti-migration base, the European Commission announced it would propose rules that would increase deportations, as well as a revision of the safe third country concept to allow for easier returns of migrants to countries they are not originally from. It would also make it easier for countries to set up so-called return hubs. TOUGH PRIORITY Migration is one of the topics where the center-right European People’s Party could bypass its traditional mainstream allies and use the support of right-wing and far-right groups. “It is challenging Europe, affecting people’s lives, and the cohesion of our societies,” Frederiksen said. “We saw it very clearly in the European Parliament elections last year. Migration was a tough priority for many Europeans, including myself.” Denmark, whose EU presidency will run until the end of 2025, will prioritize the proposals the Commission has already set out, and also “provide a much more effective response to Russia,” which, Frederiksen said, was “using migration as a weapon at our eastern borders.” “Our citizens expect us politicians to find new solutions with a good reason and European citizens have a right to feel safe in their own countries,” she said. “That is why we need to strengthen our external borders.”

Ursula von der Leyen came out on the attack when she appeared before MEPs on Monday. Their debate on the European Commission president’s leadership threw up tons of fascinating insights into the current state of EU politics. It was merely the amuse-bouche before a vote of confidence on Thursday (even though she’ll almost certainly survive that because her centrist opponents say they’ll back her.) Von der Leyen spoke first, before heads of political groups took the floor. Here are some things we noticed. 1. VON DER LEYEN’S COALITION IS IN DISARRAY In fact, at this point we are even doubting whether to keep calling it a coalition. (It’s never been formal, of course, simply the group of centrist parties that supported her and keep her afloat.) As the debate went on, she got slap after slap from Socialists, Greens, and the liberals of Renew. Between them they didn’t like her decision to drive a deregulation agenda targeting last term’s Green Deal, criticized the way she bypasses the Parliament to pass measures such as billions of euros in loans for defense spending, and as Socialists chief Iratxe García put it, “for looking the other way” when her own center-right European People’s Party does deals with the far-right. 2. SHE’S NOT AFRAID OF DISHING OUT LOW BLOWS TO CRITICS Von der Leyen didn’t stop at picking apart her opponent’s arguments. She came with knives out: Calling out fake news, talking about “the oldest playbook of extremists” and branding her critics “conspiracists,” “anti-vaxxers” and “Putin apologists.” 3. IN FACT, SHE’S PARTIAL TO SHOWING A BIT OF SASS Occasions are few when you get to see the 66-year-old politician really attack her political opponents. But this time was different. Cornered by the Parliament’s fury, she came out all guns blazing. It was the initiator of the motion of no confidence, right-wing MEP Gheorghe Piperea, she labeled an “extremist.” “There is a choice here,” she said. “We can follow Mr. Piperea down his world of conspiracies and alleged sinister plots by what he calls ‘Brussels,’ or we can clearly call this out for what it is ― another crude attempt to drive a wedge between our institutions, between the pro-European, prodemocratic forces in this house.” 4. SHE’S STILL NOT REALLY IN THE MOOD TO REVEAL ‘PFIZERGATE’ SECRETS While she devoted more minutes to the defense of the text message exchange with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla than she’s ever done in public before, and more than most observers expected, there was less substance than on first appearance. She basically just stuck to the Commission’s previous line, without giving any additional information on what was actually included within the texts ― which we still may never get to see. You can read all about the Pfizergate issue here. 5. BUT SHE CLEARLY DOESN’T THINK ‘PFIZERGATE’ HAS ANY SHADE OF GRAY Any accusation that national governments didn’t know about the vaccine contracts the Commission was negotiating, or how much they would cost, was “dishonest,” she said. “In fact, let us call it by its name – it is simply a lie.” 6. SOCIALISTS AND LIBERALS ARE SEIZING THE CHANCE TO ASSERT THEMSELVES “He who laughs last, laughs longest” may have been in the heads of Socialist and liberal lawmakers. While both factions feel sidelined and humiliated since last summer’s EU election, they saw in this debate an opportunity to reassert their power, showing the EPP it needs them to govern Europe ― because they think rightward forces, which supported the motion, are not reliable. “If you betray us again, be clear that social democracy will lead the resistance against your drift,” said S&D chief Iratxe García, who, despite the harsh words, said her group would not support the no-confidence motion. Over and over, the EPP has counted on far-right support in the Parliament to set the agenda, kill reports, or pass through measures, with the helpless Socialists and liberals unable to stop it. 7. THERE’S NOTHING WORSE THAN A FRIEND WHO FEELS DISAPPOINTED IN YOU “We ask you clearly: Who are your allies in this Parliament? Your real allies?” Valérie Hayer, of liberal Renew, asked von der Leyen. “You are witnessing the impasse that you and your political family are facing, by having allowed the EPP to favor alliances of convenience with the far right.” 8. EVEN THE CENTRISTS ARE WOBBLING ON VDL The discontent among the Socialists is so ripe that the German delegation is considering abstaining during the vote on Thursday. “We will decide on Wednesday but it is an option,” the German delegation chief, René Repasi, told POLITICO. 9. MAYBE THE ONLY REAL VICTOR IN ALL THIS WAS PUTIN The division in the European Parliament must have been music to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ears. Both von der Leyen and the EPP’s chief Manfred Weber argued the motion of no confidence was an attempt by far-right forces to destabilize the EU. “Putin will like what his friends are doing here,” Weber said, branding the far-right parties Romanian AUR and Alternative for Germany — both signatories of the motion — “Putin’s puppets.” Von der Leyen said, “we see the alarming threat from extremist parties who want to polarize our societies with disinformation,” and there is ample proof “that many are supported by our enemies and by their puppet masters in Russia or elsewhere.” 10. THERE WAS SOME EVER-SO-SUBTLE MISOGYNY COMING OUT OF THE KREMLIN Before the debate, former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called von der Leyen an “evil gynecologist” and “toxic old woman.” Never one to cross a line on tiptoe when he can take a massive leap over it, Medvedev, the current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said the Commission president had “annoyed everyone,” claiming that she was “dishonest” and had committed “fraud” in the purchasing of Pfizer vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic. 11. THE EU’S RIGHT-WING CAMP IS DIVIDED The co-chair of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group, Nicola Procaccini, took to the podium to lash out at his own political family, especially against the Polish and Romanian delegations, which promoted the motion of censure. The wedge shows how the EPP’s strategy to bring parts of the ECR, namely Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, into the Brussels mainstream fold by giving them posts of power and including them in negotiations, has worked. Procaccini signaled he though he motion to censure von der Leyen is a strategic blunder. The vote would only serve allow Greens and socialists to reassert the “Ursula majority,” just as a “center-right majority” was making headway, he said. He argued the current Commission is the most right-wing in history, with an executive vice president belonging to the ECR faction, and that the right-wing camp is achieving major victories in the fields of deregulation and migration. Predicting that the motion would fail, Procaccini added, “unfortunately some people like to lose, both at home and here” — an apparent reference to the loss of AUR leader George Simion in Romania’s presidential election.  12. FARAGE IS BUT A DISTANT MEMORY Brexit definitely did mean Brexit, at least if Weber’s not-too-subtle blast at the British style of debate had anything to go by. “We are the oldest group in this house, we respect its political culture,” the EPP leader said. “The European Parliament is not Westminster!” 13. SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE (SEE ALSO: POINTS 4, 6, 9 ABOVE) There can be much ado when it looks like one EU institution is trying to throw the legitimacy of another under the bus. But at the end of the day, the debate was classic EU fare: lawmakers trotted out their usual lists of grievances, von der Leyen was the lady not for turning, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who chaired the debate, had to plea with rowdy MEPs to please shut up. Eh bon. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. See you on Thursday. Nicholas Vinocur, Sarah Wheaton and Mari Eccles contributed reporting.

Dr. Ursula von der Leyen has never had a patient quite like the Green Deal — and the treatment she’s prescribing for the viral politics infecting her landmark policy is amputation.  Europe’s green agenda is under attack from a motley coalition of corporate lobbyists, far-right rabble rousers and von der Leyen’s own political family, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP). Von der Leyen, the top EU executive and a medical doctor before she entered politics, is adamant she wants to save the patient, even if that means removing some of its minor limbs. After all, von der Leyen considers the Green Deal one of her signal political achievements.  “We’re standing firm by the European Green Deal. Climate change won’t go away,” said European Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho. Launched at the beginning of her first term as European Commission president in 2019, the Green Deal promised to completely overhaul the EU economy — slashing climate-warming pollution to zero, reshaping agriculture, transport and energy, and bringing industry, corporations and citizens into harmony with nature. But last year’s EU election delivered an alternative right-wing majority in the European Parliament — in addition to the centrist one that backed von der Leyen’s second term. EPP President Manfred Weber has since been using that right-leaning majority to target green legislation.  In response, von der Leyen has supported looser rules on car emissions, stripped-down corporate regulations and redirected green funds — to name a few items. But thus far, the Green Deal’s core — a net-zero drive for 2050 and the laws to deliver it — has not changed. And that’s von der Leyen’s strategy.  “We’re standing firm by the European Green Deal. Climate change won’t go away,” said European Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho. | Oliver Matthys/EPA “We’re in a very different place than we were at the beginning of the first mandate” in 2019, said a Commission official who is familiar with von der Leyen’s thinking and was granted anonymity to protect their relationship. “[The president] remains committed to the Green Deal, it just now has to incorporate some of these changed realities.” SLIMMING DOWN In 2020, von der Leyen said the Green Deal was about “much more than cutting emissions.” Yet EU officials and von der Leyen’s advisers now say her vision has shifted away from an all-encompassing drive for sustainability on every level.  While some of those broader goals remain, the emphasis is now on preserving what von der Leyen views as the core of the Green Deal: its climate change laws and the EU’s efforts to stamp out its greenhouse gas pollution by 2050. This is closer to what Weber is prepared to accept as well. That shift has guided von der Leyen in making compromises on a flock of environmental rules — often under the guise of easing the bureaucratic burden on companies. “Simplification is in the interest of the European Green Deal. If it gets too complex, it won’t be done,” Pinho said. The Commission has binned requirements for companies to report on their environmental impacts and exposure to climate risks. It has watered down a ban on the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2035. It has killed a law controlling pesticides. The list could go on. Meanwhile, the prospect of an attempt to regulate carbon pollution from agriculture — a major emitter — has faded. Frustration has been mounting among those political groups that want to preserve a full-bodied vision of the Green Deal. They argue that the climate, nature and corporate responsibility drives are all interlinked, and that companies and citizens need to be given a clear sense of direction.  Meanwhile, the impacts of spiraling declines in biodiversity, natural habitats and the stability of the climate grow worse by the day. It has watered down a ban on the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2035. | Filip Singer/EPA “All this demonization of the climate policies … creates a lot of uncertainty,” said Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green Party. It is von der Leyen’s role, she said, “to defend what for her has been so important in the previous legislation, meaning the Green Deal. And she should not give up.” Last Friday, von der Leyen seemed to make her most dramatic concession yet to Weber’s demands. After the EPP and far-right groups pushed the Commission to ditch an anti-greenwashing measure, the EU executive seemed to indicate it would withdraw the bill. An enormous row ensued. Centrist and center-left parties accused von der Leyen of being subservient to Weber and the far right’s anti-green agenda.  “VDL needs to get EPP in line,” said Socialist European Parliament member Tiemo Wölken, who worked on the law, using the Brussels nickname for von der Leyen. The European Parliament’s biggest group is trying to “kill everything related to the sustainability agenda,” he added. But in a twist, it turned out the Commission hadn’t meant it, or misspoke — it wasn’t clear.  And von der Leyen’s position, as POLITICO reported on Tuesday, is that she stands by the proposal, as long as the greenwashing rules don’t apply to the smallest companies. But even as that conflict rumbles on, a new, direct attack on the Green Deal’s core climate mission is gathering steam.  Next week the Commission is to present its 2040 climate target, but a coalition of countries led by France is pushing to stop the goal from affecting more near-term climate efforts. That could further delay EU attempts to establish a critical milestone, which is already far behind schedule — and weaken other climate efforts in the process.  The EPP also has its grumbles about the 2040 target, seeking more flexibility on how countries can reach their goals. The Commission is listening. According to a draft of the EU executive’s 2040 proposal, countries will be allowed to outsource some emissions cuts to poorer nations. Notably, however, von der Leyen’s preferred 90 percent emissions-cut target remains — another concession made to save the overall goal. What will von der Leyen do if the virus enters the body? Leeches? Or euthanasia? Louise Guillot contributed reporting from Brussels.

BRUSSELS — A path has opened up for European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to vie for the Maltese premiership after Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech resigned on Tuesday.  Ahead of national elections in March 2027, pressure is mounting within the Nationalist Party to appoint its most popular politician to face off against Prime Minister Robert Abela and wrest the government away from the center-left Labour Party after 12 years tainted by corruption scandals.  “There will be pressure on Roberta to come over for sure, I believe as European Parliament president she can be the leader of the party. It is her mission to be as neutral as possible, but she has already been highly involved in party politics,” said an official for the center-right Nationalist Party.  “She is seen as the solution because she is accepted by most factions within the party, her track record and policies have been resounding,” added the official, granted anonymity to discuss internal party matters. In Malta, the party leaders from the two largest political forces — Labour and the Nationalists — are traditionally the candidates for prime minister. Grech, who resigned after months of negative polls, said it was time for a “new chapter” and a new leader in the party. “Whoever he or she is, they will have my absolute support,” Grech said, insinuating through pronoun choice that Metsola could be in the race. Mary Anne Lauri, a leading figure of the Nationalist Party, wrote on Facebook shortly after the announcement: “Will Roberta take on the post?” According to a poll by the Times of Malta in February 2025, almost half of Nationalist Party voters want Metsola to be party leader — 15 percentage points more than for former party leader Grech. Current Prime Minister Abela said mid-May he would consider calling a snap election if the Nationalist Party changed leadership. Roberta Metsola did not immediately reply to a request for comment on whether she would return to Maltese politics. Metsola, who was catapulted to the Parliament’s leadership at the relatively young age of 43 in January 2022, was reelected with a wide, cross-party majority in July 2024.  Metsola, who was catapulted to the Parliament’s leadership at the relatively young age of 43 in January 2022, was reelected with a wide, cross-party majority in July 2024. | Ronald Wittek/EFE via EPA Her term will end in mid-January 2027, with speculation swirling about the up-and-coming politician’s next steps. She has repeatedly avoided answering questions regarding a possible national political comeback. An ambitious leader politically groomed into the intricacies of Brussels, Metsola was briefly floated as a candidate for the European Commission presidency after the EU election in June 2024, when her European People’s Party came out on top — but was then quickly dismissed as lacking government experience.  To reach the top of Brussels’ political food chain heading the EU executive or European Council, observers believe she would need to return to Malta to become prime minister and sit at the table of European leaders, after a few EU electoral cycles.

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament is bracing for cuts within the institution’s sprawling communications department as some staffers now fear their jobs are in danger. The Parliament has for years contained one of the biggest communications departments in Brussels, essentially acting as the body’s in-house public relations agency. But the years of abundance — and an annual budget that reached €127 million in 2025 — appear to be coming to an end as the institution reallocates resources to focus on what Parliament leaders perceive as their central mission: legislating and democratic oversight. “It is known they want to cut. That is a fact,” said one Parliament official, who, like others in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal matters. “There are people scared for their jobs.” Alessandro Chiocchetti, the Parliament’s secretary-general, a powerful post overseeing the institution’s expansive bureaucracy, has vowed to reallocate the institution’s resources to what he considers core parliamentary work since beginning his mandate in 2023. One of his measures has been to create four new departments to help MEPs draft legislation, requiring new personnel and resources. But because the Parliament’s annual budget of around €2 billion, despite adjustments for inflation, is fixed, other departments need to be trimmed in order to find the funds. Delphine Colard, a Parliament spokesperson, confirmed to POLITICO that Director General for Communication Christian Mangold is working with Chiocchetti to “review” his department’s activities. With a plan to restructure the communications department expected to come by the summer recess, many staff members say they are unnerved by the uncertainty. “The process is not transparent,” said a second Parliament staffer, speaking to POLITICO. Another said the situation has caused “a morale issue” in the department’s ranks. The directorate general for communications had 761 staff members in 2022, according to data from its annual report. “They’re looking at the overall numbers and they’re saying, oh, it’s a big directorate general, so it needs to be trimmed,” said one of the officials, referring to the communications department. Another official, however, cautioned the restructuring will likely not be a “major reform” but rather a “readjustment” of resources. WHAT’S ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK The Parliament’s leadership intends to gradually reassign existing staff members to jobs in other departments or to reallocate posts after employees retire. Less clear is what happens with subcontracted temporary positions — so-called externals — who often work in areas such as audiovisual services, website maintenance and event organization. Specifically, the administration is considering withdrawing funding for events such as the Brussels 20-kilometer race. | Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images At first, senior leadership planned to discontinue up to 50 percent of external contracts, according to the minutes of an internal meeting seen by POLITICO. But those cuts are likely to be less drastic, according to one of the three officials. (Colard refused to provide the number of externals currently employed in the communications department.) Overall, the Parliament’s outreach and campaign activities are likely to be most affected. Specifically, the administration is considering withdrawing funding for events such as the Brussels 20-kilometer race, grants for organizations at the regional and local level, and art exhibitions, according to a draft plan seen by POLITICO. It may also slash part of its budget for awards, according to the three Parliament officials, including the LUX Audience Award for films, the European Citizen’s Prize and the European Charlemagne Youth Prize for youth projects promoting democracy. The Europa Experience initiative, a project to establish EU-themed spaces across all 27 member countries, has already suffered cuts because of soaring costs and lackluster visitor numbers. The uncertainty has caused some staffers to look elsewhere to build their careers, especially in the newly created legislative directorates, according to two of the officials POLITICO spoke to. “The feeling now is that the future is in the new directorates if you want to grow professionally,” one of them said.

The center-right European People’s Party President Manfred Weber, who is cruising toward reelection, announced he would nominate Spain’s People’s Party European lawmaker Dolors Montserrat as secretary-general of the EPP. Weber called Montserrat, the first woman to hold the role, a seasoned politician who symbolized a “younger” and “modern” party. “This is what I see as the EPP of tomorrow,” the German conservative said. With Montserrat, Weber, who also runs the EPP group in the European Parliament, will be able to further centralize power. Top leadership of the party will now be composed of sitting MEPs instead of national party officials, as was traditionally the case. Montserrat will likely keep her other jobs as head of delegation of Spain’s People’s Party and the EPP group vice chair in Parliament, while taking on the extra full-time job as secretary-general. Weber has routinely placed key allies from the Parliament in top positions, including French MEP Xavier-François Bellamy as treasurer and former Belgian MEP Tom Vandenkendelaere as his chief of staff. He has sidelined opponents such as his current, and outgoing, Secretary-General Thanasis Bakolas, who has previously openly challenged him. The EPP, the most powerful European party dominating the EU’s policymaking institutions, is undergoing an internal job reshuffle and governing bodies’ reform, as it battles internal divisions following the party’s rightward shift since June’s EU election. The president and the secretary-general will be formally elected during a party congress in Valencia on April 29-30. Weber loyalists, such as Romanian lawmaker Siegfried Mureșan, called Montserrat a good choice. “She is a really good politician and has a long career in Spanish politics, also growing within [the] EPP,” said Mureșan. Others called it “a surprising choice.” “When will she have time to run the party?” said an EPP official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about internal party matters. Weber on Wednesday told reporters that the new secretary-general role will be less administrative and more political, easing the workload for Montserrat. `She will “be the second face of the European People’s Party next to me representing us …replacing me also in events [Europe]-wide when we have party conventions,” he said. Montserrat did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication. “Fits the frame of combining seven jobs and seven salaries at the same time,” quipped a second EPP official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Just as the big boss likes it,” the official added, referring to Weber’s double salary as party president and parliamentary group chair. Delegates will elect the party’s 10 new vice presidents at the Valencia conference. Candidates floated include Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Austria’s European Commissioner Magnus Brunner.