Is Europe ready for Harris’ brat summer?

HOWDY. Welcome to Tuesday’s Brussels Playbook, where we are pondering the possibility that the politicians in charge of the world’s biggest democratic superpowers could soon be Ursula von der Leyen and Kamala Harris. Six years apart in age, these two women — one straight-laced and hyper-scripted, the other prone to dancing and winding analogies — project different styles in public, but we imagine they could bond over running for powerful jobs after the men in line for them were deemed unacceptable by other elites. And we wouldn’t be surprised if von der Leyen was totally into Harris’ obsession with Venn diagrams for investing in a clean energy economy (or, as we call it here, a Green Industrial Deal).
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris moved closer to becoming the Democratic presidential candidate last night, with the Associated Press and CNN estimating she had already secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination just a day after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. “I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee,” Harris said in a statement. “I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”
EUROPE IS NOT READY FOR BRAT SUMMER: In Europe, however, centrist politicians and officials aren’t yet convinced Harris can beat the Republican Donald Trump. For much of Brussels, Harris has been “invisible” during her time in office — that’s how Isabel Schnabel, a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board, put it when expressing bewilderment at the Democrats’ nominating process earlier this year on a hot mic.
Banking on failure: “She would never win an election, I mean that’s hopeless,” Schnabel said, unaware her comments were being livestreamed. “I don’t even know her because she has been so invisible.” (The ECB called those comments “misleading” on Monday, saying Schnabel “never comments in public on political events.” We can see why.)
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Who’s invisible to whom? Mainstream European politicians who are anxious about Trump returning to the White House welcomed Biden’s decision to step aside. (French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to foreign reporters covering the Olympics on Monday, said he respected Biden’s decision and the U.S. was “lucky to have him.”) But they’re now confronted with the unsettling prospect of a Democratic president who’s an unknown quantity.
Irrelevant Europe: The political highlights of Harris’ tenure as veep (her advocacy for abortion rights, for example) and her failures (confronting migration on the U.S.-Mexico border) have zilch to do with the transatlantic relationship. And that’s about how much Europe will play into most Americans’ voting decisions. 
Awkward engagement: Harris hasn’t exactly distinguished herself when she has been to this side of the pond, according to this report by Suzanne Lynch and Ben Munster about what European politicians have to say about her on- and off-the-record. Harris’ two appearances at the Munich Security Conference stood out for being highly scripted. Her 2023 speech was particularly ill-received as applause lines bombed and she failed to connect with the audience. (An appearance at an AI summit also ruffled British feathers, my colleagues Vincent Manancourt and Eugene Daniels report.)
Bad planning: “There is an argument that the EU should have made more of an effort to cultivate relations with Harris, given Biden’s age,” said one senior EU official. Then again, the official added, “It wasn’t easy to find occasions to meet Harris.” She’s only had a single one-on-one with von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the Munich conference. 
Spoiled brats? And why bother, when it was so easy to engage with Biden and other members of his team? Ties went deep, given that Biden spent much of his career on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and that he worked on the Ukraine file as vice president. It also helped that Biden nominated committed francophones to top foreign policy posts, with Antony Blinken as secretary of state and John Kerry as climate czar. 
But wait, Playbook, you still haven’t explained ‘brat summer’: If you’ve been puzzled about references to coconuts and Venn diagrams relating to Harris, watch this video. It’s one of the most prominent examples of the memes that have been drawn from some of her loopier moments, featuring music and branding from the British pop star Charli XCX’s smash summer album “brat.” 
Her campaign is owning it: “kamala IS brat,” the singer tweeted Monday. It’s not a straightforward compliment for a politician … Charli’s brat is “a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes.” Yet Harris’ campaign is jumping on the meme machine, updating her campaign’s branding to invoke the green “brat” album cover.  
Just livin’ that life: It may not exude the type of gravitas that will impress the Munich set, but her campaign is hoping it will excite the kids in America. 
GAME OF (COMMITTEE) THRONES: Today until 1:30 p.m., the European Parliament’s committees will elect their leadership, and there are lots of titles to go around: one chair and four vice-chairs for each committee. 
Winter is coming in July: The big existential question: Will the centrist and pro-European parties be able to keep blocking hard-right and Euroskeptic groups from the top posts that, numbers-wise, they’re entitled to?
Firewall against the Patriots: An agreement among the Socialists (S&D), Christian Democrats (EPP), liberals (Renew) and Greens would strip the third biggest group, the far-right Patriots for Europe, of all their posts. The tie-up already deprived the Patriots of two Parliament VP spots last week. 
Culture war: Headed by France’s Marine Le Pen and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, the Patriots were supposed to lead the culture and transport committees, per the customary proportional distribution according to size. Instead, the Greens will take CULT, while transport will go to the center-right EPP. 
Also cordoned off: The cordon sanitaire is likely to also deprive the Patriots of vice chairmanships across eight panels, including the agriculture, foreign affairs, budget control and civil liberties committees. Other committee allocations here, for Pro subscribers.
‘Anti-democratic predators’: Hungarian MEP Enikő Győri lashed out at the groups on X: “How do they dare? Predators! House of #antidemocracy,” she said in reaction to a document obtained by POLITICO outlining the other group’s plans to snatch the Patriots’ posts. 
Defending the firewall: Blocking the Patriots is the “ultimate expression of democracy,” S&D chief Iratxe García told POLITICO’s Max Griera, noting that “a majority in this Parliament” voted to deny the Patriots an institutional role. She argued that the Patriots stand against core EU values such as “respect, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights” and thus cannot represent the European Parliament in leadership positions.  
GENDER BALANCE RULES OVERRIDDEN: The Parliament’s political group bosses decided on Monday evening to jettison the rules that prevent the committees’ leadership from being packed with one gender, Max Griera reports. 
Negotiations failed. Political groups did not agree on a committee leadership roster that would please everyone while also ensuring gender balance, according to a letter sent by the EPP Chair Manfred Weber to Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Affected committees: While a rule that mandates the chair and first vice chair to be different genders was maintained, negotiators threw in the towel when it came to fulfilling a rule that the second, third and fourth vice chairs represent a gender mix. Weber asked Metsola to allow group presidents to vote on making an exception to the gender balance requirement for the fourth vice chairs of the foreign affairs (AFET), defense (SEDE), internal market (IMCO), constitutional affairs (AFCO), and agriculture (AGRI) committees. While women will hold all three of the IMCO vice chair posts at issue, the rest of the committees above will have three men as second, third and fourth vice chairs.
Persistent proportion problem: Some 39 percent of the current class of MEPs are women. In 2019, they made up 40 percent. 
Greens and Renew approve: The coalition behind this plan isn’t what you might expect. The Greens and Renew joined center- and far-right parties in allowing the balance requirements to be blown off by not objecting to the proposal. Meanwhile, the Patriots joined the S&D and the Left and voted against it, according to an email seen by Max. The Greens, Renew and EPP did not respond to our request for comment.
CLASH OVER PARLIAMENT’S DEFENSE COMMITTEE: Maria-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, one of Renew’s Spitzenkandidaten and the head of the German liberals’ list, is fighting to stay in the running as the next head of the Parliament’s sub-committee on security and defense.
Key position: Renew leadership had agreed to give Strack-Zimmermann the role, which is set to grow more important as the European Commission beefs up joint defense projects and mobilizes funds for the arms industry.
Static with EPP: But after she publicly opposed Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection, EPP lawmakers have spoken out against her getting the job. Strack-Zimmermann tried to get a meeting with key center-right MEPs on Monday, but they don’t seem eager to mend fences. More for Pro subscribers in Morning Defense.
INDISPENSABLE ADVICE: How to dominate your European Parliament committee, by POLITICO’s Carlo Martuscelli and Louise Guillot. 
BORRELL CANCELS BUDAPEST MEETINGS: After some back and forth, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has decided to stick with his plan to summon foreign ministers to Brussels in late August. That means no one will be available for the equivalent meeting in Budapest.
Defense ministers summoned to Brussels, too: “I have decided to convene informal meetings of EU Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers in Brussels, after the summer break,” Borrell wrote on X, citing foreign ministers’ overwhelming criticism of “Hungary’s lack of sincere and loyal cooperation.”
Brussels instead of Budapest: After Viktor Orbán’s “peace missions” to Moscow and Beijing, where he appeared to negotiate for the EU, Borrell aims to send a different signal: The Union’s foreign policy is decided in Brussels, not Budapest. 
Gymnich gymnastics: It was a difficult decision. After initially floating the idea of the Brussels counterprogramming last week — first reported by POLITICO — Borrell’s office reversed course. “The plan is maintained” to hold the meeting, a so-called Gymnich, in Budapest, his office told capitals on July 16. The Netherlands, Slovakia and Germany initially criticized the plan over fears that it would set a precedent.
Somersault: Divisions persisted through Monday’s meeting of foreign ministers. According to three officials, 13 member countries wanted to hold the meeting in Budapest. Another five, especially in the East and the Baltics, said they would boycott Budapest, and the others left it to Borrell to decide. In the end, Borrell opted to “send a signal, even if it is a symbolic signal.” 
ATTACKED: “It could have happened to any curious citizen, and that’s what scares the most,” La Stampa journalist Andrea Joly told POLITICO’s Elena Giordano of a violent attack on him by neofascists in Turin after he filmed smoke bombs and fireworks emanating from their party. 
SENTENCED: A Russian court sentenced Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to 6.5 years in prison. Her family and employer have denied the charge of spreading false information about the Russian military, which was litigated in a rapid, secret trial. More from the AP. 
The sentencing comes just days after Evan Gerschkovich, an American reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges in a trial widely viewed as a sham. 
PRESS FOR VDL’S HELP: Campaigners have urged the Commission to give DG Connect a mandate to protect media freedom (and a bigger budget); to include press freedom in one of its mission letters to the new commissioners; and to add a new program for journalism to the EU’s next seven-year budget. The demands were made in a letter sent to von der Leyen on Friday by 26 NGOs and associations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, ARTICLE 19 and the European Broadcasting Union. 
EXTRA HOEKSTRA: The Schoof government in The Hague is nominating Wopke Hoekstra, the current European climate commissioner, for a full term as the Dutch representative in the EU executive. It’s striking, notes RTL, which broke the story, because Hoekstra’s Christian Democrats aren’t part of the coalition government.
Join the club. Hoekstra took the climate file when Frans Timmermans stepped aside to lead the Dutch socialists’ campaign. He isn’t likely to keep the same portfolio. Instead, Dutch media reports, the Netherlands is hoping he’ll get a financial or economic portfolio. (Which capital isn’t?)
ESTONIA’S NEW PM DEFENDS TAX ON DEFENSE: The Estonian parliament appointed Climate Minister Kristen Michal as prime minister following Kaja Kallas’ resignation to take up the EU’s top diplomat role. Michal aims to increase taxes on defense and support the green transition. Elena Giordano has more.
CURB YOUR SNOOPING: EU members cannot invoke national security as a blanket justification for deploying spyware, the Commission said in a document seen by POLITICO, emphasizing adherence to data protection laws. It is a response to alarming surveillance practices targeting journalists and opposition figures across member states. Antoaneta Roussi has the story.
**Find out which countries have met the deadline to submit their National Energy and Climate Plans with POLITICO Pro. Our Energy & Climate experts keep you proactively informed on what this means for the EU’s Green Deal and the legal actions that may follow. Request a demo now.**
—European Parliament committees hold constitutive meetings to elect a chair and up to four vice chairs. 
— EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell participates in the European Council on Foreign Relations debate, “How can the EU support a sustained ceasefire in Gaza and a renewed Israeli-Palestinian political track?”
— European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas is in Bilbao, Spain, and visits the EU-OSHA agency.
— European Commission Vice President Dubravka Šuica receives Patrick Pagani, deputy secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca.
— Education Commissioner Iliana Ivanova is in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she will meet Rosen Karadimov, Bulgaria’s minister for innovation and growth 
— Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson is in Bucharest, Romania, and attends a meeting of the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy and Climate Cooperation.
— Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides signs the EU4Health association agreement with Dubravka Bošnjak, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s minister for civil affairs.
— Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has a working lunch with Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
WEATHER: High of 23C, rain in the early morning and afternoon.
290 RED BALLOONS: Balloons were displayed on Monday outside the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to symbolize each day that the Israel-Gaza war has been raging. Organizers of the initiative called for decisive leadership from EU leaders to achieve a cease-fire and secure the release of hostages.
NOT FOR MUGGLES: Good news for all of you who somehow haven’t received an acceptance letter from Hogwarts: You can heal your inner child and explore the wizarding world at the interactive exhibition “Harry Potter: Visions of Magic.” Opens Friday at Tour & Taxis. 
BIRTHDAYS: Former MEPs Thierry Cornillet and Arne Lietz; Saulius Skvernelis, former PM of Lithuania; The Economist’s Lane Greene; Enabel’s Michel Buekens; Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
THANKS TO: Max Griera, Jacopo Barigazzi, Suzanne Lynch, Barbara Moens, Laura Kayali, Eva Hertog, Koen Verhelst and Jakob Hanke Vela; Playbook editor Alex Spence, reporter Šejla Ahmatović and producer Catherine Bouris.
CORRECTION: This newsletter has been corrected to remove details of a meeting held by Roberta Metsola.
**A message from DIGITALEUROPE: Growing successful digital businesses requires capital, competences and a common market. EU funding is too small and too restrictive, and only 6% of global VC funding for AI startups goes to EU companies. Let’s be bold and dedicate 25% of the EU budget to digital, create a true capital markets union, and align tax incentives across the bloc to unleash private capital. Read more about our plan to make Europe a digital powerhouse.**
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