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POLITICO BRUSSELS PLAYBOOK PLUS
Malta Business Review
UIDE TO WHAT’S
LS AND EUROPE
presented by EPP Group: SPD goes full Hamlet -
Barnier's Brexit truth serum - Clegg and the Muppets
Nora Bednarski, one of the organizers, said
“the time has come” for Brussels to modernize
its governance. The Brussels capital region,
formed 29 years ago, is governed by a
complex web of political parties, and a system
that ensures representation for both French
and Flemish speakers, while excluding more
than 300,000 non-Belgian residents. All
Brussels residents can vote in local commune
elections, which take place every six years,
though non-EU citizens must have lived in
the city for at least five years to qualify. Most
eligible non-Belgians don’t register to vote.
Brussels regional government responsibilities
include mobility and public transport, urban
planning and heritage, parks and green
spaces, waste and recycling, infrastructure
and public works, pollution and air quality.
When Playbook hit the streets and social
media to find out what those without a vote
think, most said they would like to have the
right to vote. That’s not a surprise. There
are no occupations of Belgian government
buildings planned, but support for voting
rights campaigns does appear to be a step
beyond the apathy and complaint culture
generally associated with the members of the
EU bubble. Many residents Playbook spoke to
think it makes sense to merge the 19 Brussels
communes and regional parliament into a
single layer of government.
Thomas Huddleston, a naturalized Belgian
and migrant rights campaigner, said “Brussels
is the place in Belgium and in Europe where
I feel most free and welcome. But the
challenges and inequalities are growing. I fear
that both a city like Brussels and our project as
a European Union won’t be able to respond
and survive if we don’t open up and work
together with our neighbors.” MBR
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Frankly, people have got to grow some, get
a spine, stiffen up, stand up to these people
— most of them are ghastly bullies but also
cowards at the same time.”
— Tory MP Anna Soubry says British Prime
Minister Theresa May should stand up to
hard-line Brexiteers and kick them out of the
Conservative Party. MBR
REIMAGINING BREXIT
What if 19 countries left the EU single market
all at once? That’s how German MEP Hans-
Olaf Henkel, a former president of BDI,
Germany’s biggest industry lobby, wants you
to think of Brexit. Playbook ran the numbers,
and he’s right. Give or take a small part of
Austria’s economy, the GDP of the 19 least
populous EU countries is indeed close to the
GDP of the United Kingdom. MBR
MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel
UNFRIENDLY FIRE
The European Parliament this week voted
by a large majority in favor of removing one
of its vice presidents, Ryszard Czarnecki,
from his position after he sparked outrage
by comparing a fellow Polish MEP to a Nazi
collaborator. Czarnecki’s a member of Poland’s
ruling Law and Justice party, which has just
passed a law making it illegal to accuse Poles
… of complicity in Nazi crimes. Awkward. MBR
FEUD OF THE WEEK
Poland vs. everyone: France on Wednesday
became the latest country to criticize Poland’s
new Holocaust law, with Foreign Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian, below right, calling
the text “ill- advised.” The U.S. has already
expressed “disappointment” and Israel said
it was worried the law could stifle the truth
about the role of some Poles in World War II.
Poland’s retaliatory PR efforts left a lot to be
desired. The prime minister’s office organized
a press tour for foreign correspondents that
was intended to show how difficult and risky
it was for Poles to save Jews during the war.
(POLITICO wasn’t invited.) The journalists
were fed omelette with Kiełbasa, a Polish
sausage made with pork (a curious choice on
a trip whose purpose was to make clear that the
government has nothing against Jews). MBR
NEW NATIONAL FRONT MEP
NOT GREAT ON GAY RIGHTS
Jacques Colombier, the president of the National
Front in Nouvelle Aquitaine — who is set to
replace recently deceased Edouard Ferrand in
the European Parliament — isn’t helping Marine
Le Pen’s push for a more gay-friendly party
image. In June last year, Colombier issued a
statement against a local Pride march, saying the
FN “opposes many of the claims made by gay
pride” like same-sex marriage and gay adoption.
For Colombier, “sexual practices should remain
in the private sphere and not be discussed in the
public sphere, especially given they sometimes
involve a show close to indecency in front of
young people.” MBR
BY THE NUMBERS
3,148: Amount of megawatts of new offshore
wind capacity installed in 2017, a European
record, according to data released Tuesday by
the industry group Wind Europe. That’s twice as
much as in 2016.
1,000,000: The number of people who’ve viewed
a recent TED talk by European Competition
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
177: The number of pages in the new German
coalition government agreement. MBR
GAFFES & LAUGHS
Bold mottos: Why have one company motto when
every employee can have one? The four founders of
new consultancy boldT have each indicated what
their personal mottos are. For Chairman Herbert
Heitmann, it’s the slightly wooden “reputation and
brand can be managed like a balance sheet … and
should be part of it.” Jeremy Galbraith, who was
at Burson-Marsteller for more than two decades,
says his is “Never, never, never give up.” Michiel van
Hulten, a founding partner, thinks “honesty is the
best policy” and newcomer Morten Pedersen “can
prove that it works.” (Playbook isn’t sure what “it” is.)
Cheese creator delivers vegan speciality:
French people might want to sit down before
reading the next bit: One of your own — a woman
from Lorraine (but not called Lorraine) — has
come up with a vegan camembert! Anne Guth
has made a dairy-free version of Camembert,
made with cashew nut “milk”. As there’s no actual
milk, it cannot be advertised as cheese. Guth calls
it a “vegetable speciality” instead. MBR
Creditline: POLITICO; Morgen Europa; Brussels Playbook
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian
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