The Brief – The return of the dinosaurs

Two elderly politicians, some call them dinosaurs, have occupied the EU's political scene over the last week – France’s Michel Barnier (73) and Italy’s Mario Draghi (77).

The contrast was plain to see during the handover ceremony on 5 September, when outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal (34) received his newly-appointed successor, Michel Barnier, at the Matignon Palace, the headquarters of the French government.

Eight months ago, Emmanuel Macron, the youngest president in French history (he was 39 when first elected), named Attal, who became the youngest French prime minister. Barnier, known by some in France as the "good dinosaur", now holds the opposite record, being the oldest prime minister at the time of its nomination, after Pierre Messmer in 1972, who was then 71.

But the flamboyant Attal, who shared ambitions to lead the country Macron-style, like a startup dreaming of becoming a unicorn, hit a snag. On the European election night, amid a far-right surge. Macron surprisingly announced that he would dissolve the assembly and call for snap elections – a move he did not consult with Attal.

The speeches of Attal and Barnier delivered at Matignon vividly illustrated two different styles and two different political cultures.

“In other circumstances, we could do a better job,” Attal admitted after summing up his cabinet’s inconclusive action. He admitted that “eight months is a short time, and there is frustration as I am leaving office.”

Attal emphasised the many dossiers that his government had moved forward and left to his successor, without being able to transform its political ideas into legislation.

Barnier, wrongly accused by some commentators of not having a sense of humour, made the audience laugh several times.

“I liked the way you gave me lessons”, Barnier said, adding that he had found his desk “rather empty”. “Maybe I will add my own value” to those dossiers, he said.

Meanwhile, since Barnier's appointment, public attention has concentrated on other vintage politicians: former prime minister Dominique de Villepin (70), former foreign minister Hubert Védrine (77) and others not from Barnier’s political party, spoke highly of him, wishing him success and denying rumours that they might join the cabinet.

On the wider EU scene, another dinosaur, Mario Draghi (Draghi meaning Dragons in Italian), took his share of the limelight with his report on Europe’s competitive decline.

Von der Leyen asked the former head of the ECB to write this report a year ago, knowing that he supports increasing the EU’s borrowing capacity. The 320-page text got praise from business circles, but influential capitals frowned at it.

Sébastien Maillard,  associate fellow at the Europe Programme, wrote that the report faces two upcoming political tests. First, the informal European Council on 7 November in Budapest will see Draghi present his recommendations right after the US presidential election, the outcome of which may reset the political mood in the EU.

A second and more concrete signal of how seriously the report is taken will come during negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) that shapes the EU budget.

The rumour goes that Draghi’s favourite joke goes like this:

A man needs a heart transplant. Says the doctor: “I can give you the heart of a five-year-old boy.”

“Too young.”

“How about that of a forty-year-old investment banker?”

“They don’t have a heart.”

“A seventy-five-year-old central banker?”

“But why?”

“It has never been used!”

Europe, too, needs a 'heart transplant' to survive in a difficult geopolitical environment. Barnier could be successful and give France another moment of glory, but his cabinet could also be short-lived. Draghi could save Europe a second time, but his report could also be shelved. There have been so many precedents.

But the dinosaurs would have tried, at least.

The Roundup

Thierry Breton, Internal Market Commissioner also in charge of tech and defence, announced his resignation from the European Commission on Monday (16 September) in a last move to question von der Leyen’s right to reign.

Stéphane Séjourné, one of President Emmanuel Macron’s closest confidants, was nominated as France’s EU Commissioner on Monday (16 September), signalling that the French president remains in control of EU affairs amid political instability at home.

Starting from Monday, German police will conduct spot checks at all of Germany’s borders, while the country’s government has been rushing to reassure its irritated neighbours.

Future EU-China relations will depend on Beijing’s position on Ukraine and its alignment with Russia, as the bloc seeks to defend its industries and avoid a trade war, EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell told Euractiv Italy.

During a visit to Ukraine last week, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, called for a renewed focus on health.

Look out for…

• European Commission and European Investment Bank organise a conference on “Investment barriers in affordable and sustainable housing in Europe” in Brussels.
• European Commission, Greek and Cypriot Ministries of Health and European Reference Networks host a hybrid workshop on patients' rights and rare diseases in the European Union in Athens.
• European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is organising a conference on “Forging a sustainable and secure future together—place-based solutions for global challenges”` in Oulu, Finland.
• CEPS is organising a conference titled “New Commission, new priorities: taking financial policy forward under von der Leyen II" in Brussels.
• FEPS is organising a hybrid conference titled “How do algorithms and AI reshape workplaces and the world?”  in Helsinki.
• IIEA is organising an online conference titled What's next? The Rise and Normalization of the Far Right in the Netherlands.
• Informal meeting of EU research ministers, 16-17 September 2024, in Budapest, Hungary.
• The European Parliament begins its Strasbourg Plenary session.
• The Commission gives a statement on the continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU member states, in the European Parliament.
• Former ECB president Mario Draghi, special advisor to European Commission President  Ursula von der Leyen, will present his report on the Future of European competitiveness to the European Parliament.
• The European Commission will also give statements to the Strasbourg plenary on the war in the Gaza Strip, the situation in the Middle East, the political situation in Venezuela, and the outcome of the G20 ministerial meeting in Rio-de-Janeiro and fighting inequality.