Good morning from Brussels, 

The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) remains optimistic about finding the necessary majority in the EU House next week to get Ursula von der Leyen re-elected but “takes nothing for granted”, an EPP source familiar with the matter told Euractiv.  

Currently, the EPP is working on convincing the potential “deviants” within its ranks. 

In the EU socialists camp, delegations “are not outspoken” about their voting intentions next week. However, they want to see clear commitments on their “key demands” for the next EU Commission.

For their part, the Greens and EU Liberals focus on two issues:

Politically, how the EPP’s right-wing faction will react to von der Leyen’s choice to turn to the Greens and not the hard-right ECR for support.

Secondly, how von der Leyen will manage to satisfy all pro-EU groups’ policy priorities as “she has promised a lot of different things to a lot of different people”, a Renew official told Euractiv.

Every word in her speech next week will matter, but not for SPD MEP Udo Bullmann, who said von der Leyen needs to agree on commitments “on paper”.  

Read all the details.

As leaders of political groups negotiate the composition of committees in the new European Parliament, Euractiv has identified eleven MEPs focused on energy and environment who are worth keeping an eye on.

Moreover, the European Commission has urged private creditors to “swiftly” reach an agreement with the Ukrainian government to avoid Kyiv defaulting on billions of dollars in debt at the start of next month. Euractiv’s Thomas Moller-Nielsen has the story.

The timeline for the new Commission 

An email with a “tentative” timeline toward the new EU Commission was circulated among EU officials on Thursday, Euractiv has learnt.

The email suggests the following timeline:

•     18 July: Vote in the EU Parliament
•     July-August: President receives candidates for Commissioners
•     2 September: Presentation of organigramme and mission letters
•     European Parliament JURI verifies conflict of interest
•     20 September: The European Parliament sends questionnaires
•     29 September: Questionnaires sent back
•     30 September- 4 October: Hearings
•     21 October: European Parliament vote 
•     1 November: Swear in

Last but not least, Euractiv has learnt that the LIBE committee will be in the hands of the EPP and not ECR after a swap deal with the AGRI committee between the two. 

While NATO leaders hailed Thursday’s summit in Washington as successful, they aimed to brush off concerns over the alliance’s future following the outcome of the November US presidential elections, Alexandra Brzozowski and Aurélie Pugnet write from Washington.

Meanwhile, with the French legislative elections having created uncertainty about the shape of the next government, President Emmanuel Macron assured NATO allies and Ukraine behind closed doors in Washington that Paris remains committed to Europe’s security.

Last but not least, read here the reactions to Orbán’s meeting with former US president Donald Trump.

BERLIN

As EU Socialists urge Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to stick to the 2035 ban on new petrol cars, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing warned that refusing to reverse the ban would be a “gigantic electoral fraud”. Read more.

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BRUSSELS

Lobbyist against von der Leyen’s second mandate faces new legal setbacks. The Brussels Court of Appeal has rejected Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan’s attempt to block Ursula von der Leyen from getting a second term as Commission president. Read more.

ROME

Cracks are appearing in the newly formed far-right Patriots for Europe group, with France’s Rassemblement National opposing Italy’s Lega’s proposal for the vice presidency of the group. Read more.

European groups urge Jourová to act on Italian media freedom. European Movement International (EMI) will send a new letter to European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, along with several other European and journalist organisations, requesting an investigation into the state of press freedom in Italy, Euractiv has learnt. Read more.

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MADRID

VOX breaks regional deals with PP after row over unaccompanied minors. Spain’s far-right VOX party has broken off its coalition agreements with the centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP) in five regions, VOX leader Santiago Abascal said on Thursday, after the PP agreed to the government’s proposed measure to take in hundreds of unaccompanied minors, despite VOX previously saying it would not accept it. Read more.

NORDICS & BALTICS

Baltics, Nordics, Poland to boycott Hungarian presidency. Northern and Eastern European countries will not send any ministers to Hungary during the country’s EU presidency in protest against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s solo trip to Moscow. Read more.

BRATISLAVA

Smer-SD (NI) will not join Viktor Orban’s new Patriots for Europe group, said party leader and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, citing a lack of alignment with left-wing or social-democratic principles while criticising the European Socialists for rejecting Smer’s re-entry. Read more.

EU pressure prompts Slovakia to revise controversial criminal code reform. Following consultations with the European Commission, Robert Fico’s government decided to revise a controversial reform of the penal code, addressing EU concerns that Slovakia’s newly reduced penalties and statutes of limitation, may inadequately protect the EU’s financial interests. Read more.

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WARSAW | BERLIN | PARIS | ROME

Four EU countries agree to co-develop long-range cruise missiles. Poland, Germany, France and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to develop ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometres as they gathered on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington. Read more.

SOFIA

European liberals mull measures against Bulgarian member amid leadership dispute. The Bulgarian party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) could be excluded from the European liberal party ALDE, because of its US and UK-sanctioned Co-Chair, Delyan Peevski, ALDE Secretary General Didrik de Schaetzen told Euractiv Bulgaria on Thursday. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian government approves artificial intelligence strategy. Romania’s government on Thursday approved a national artificial intelligence strategy for 2024-2027, falling in line with EU ambitions for the bloc to become a global leader in the field. Read more.

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TIRANA

Albanian anti-government protesters hurl petrol bombs and scuffle with police. Opposition protesters pelted Albania’s government building and a mayor’s office with petrol bombs late on Thursday, accusing Prime Minister Edi Rama of corruption and demanding his resignation. Read more.

• EU: Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič delivers keynote speech at “Clean technologies as drivers of competitiveness and economic growth” conference, in Zagreb, Croatia;
• Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders participates in Eurojust and U.S. Department of Justice meeting on Stopping Illicit Flow of Sensitive Technology;

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