Brussels Playbook
POLITICO’s must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Brussels, by Sarah Wheaton, Nicholas Vinocur and Eddy Wax.
Latest issues
Sinking liberals rock von der Leyen’s boat
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING. It’s Eddy Wax with you today and Friday. VDL VOTE BROUGHT FORWARD: A decision will be clinched this morning to move the crunch vote on …
Quiet quitting the Hungarian presidency
HOWDY. Welcome to Wednesday’s Brussels Playbook, where we’ll start by revisiting an item from our previous edition. Our observation about a bus-riding MEP prompted several to write …
Orbán’s humble pie
HOWDY. Welcome to Tuesday’s Brussels Playbook. One of the cardinal rules of politics: If you don’t like a proposal, leak an early draft to the press. We …
Macron’s gamble ends in leadership crisis
Greetings from Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron has pulled off the unthinkable: blowing up France’s political landscape twice in less than a decade. I’m Nick Vinocur, …
Tories trounced in UK, Orbán welcomed in Moscow
DRIVING THE DAY — TORIES TROUNCED UK ELECTION ENDS IN LABOUR LANDSLIDE: The Labour Party is on track to win a massive majority …
UK can rejoin EU ‘in a century or 2,’ Juncker says
Good Thursday morning from Budapest, where I’ve traveled for a MEGA 1.5 day trip organized by the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU. While I’m …
Tactical retreats in France … And Washington?
HOWDY. It’s Sarah Wheaton with you again today. Eddy Wax will be in the driving seat for the rest of the week. We’ve written an entire edition …
Viktor Orbán’s Kyiv surprise
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO KYIV: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is heading to the Ukrainian capital today for a surprise visit, the FT and Guardian reported overnight, …
Macron’s gamble sours
GOOD MORNING and welcome to Brussels Playbook. I’m Nick Vinocur, here to get the week started. We’ll get to the French election results shortly, but first: Happy …
Von der Leyen, Kallas and Costa get the nod. What next?
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: There’s no other way to say it: Joe Biden bombed in his debate with his Republican challenger for the U.S. presidency Donald Trump. …
Meloni fumes as EU leaders shut her out
HAPPY THURSDAY. National leaders are meeting to finalize the EU’s top jobs in Brussels. We can expect to see white smoke from the Europa building today if …
Meloni and the top jobs melodrama
HOWDY and welcome to your Wednesday Brussels Playbook. Is that the stench of corruption wafting through the European Parliament? Maybe, but overnight, at least, it was also …
Hungary’s MEGA presidency — or just meh?
HOWDY. Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of Brussels Playbook. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Julian Assange walked out of Belmarsh prison in the U.K. after his lawyers and the …
Stormy French election overshadows top jobs summit
HERE WE GO AGAIN. A few weeks ago, Emmanuel Macron overshadowed Europe’s big election night. The French president called his own snap parliamentary vote, after his party …
Europe’s liberals flip-flop on the far right
IT’S FRIDAY. Playbook colleague Nick Vinocur will be with you as usual on Monday. MENAGERIE À TROIS: The far-right Slovak MEP Miroslav Radačovský, who in April released …
Meloni overtakes Macron in Parliament — so what?
IT’S THURSDAY. It’s Eddy playing the keyboard today and Friday. Playbook has a new email address where you can confidentially share tips, rumors and secret documents with …
Look who’s MEGA happy about the top jobs delay
HOWDY. Your author of this Wednesday edition was terrified to read this account of Bulgaria’s president ditching a meeting with the prime minister of Montenegro when the …
Blame game as EU leaders emerge empty-handed
HOWDY. Today’s edition of Brussels Playbook comes to you live from the press center of the Justus Lipsius building, where we spent the hours between when leaders …
EU top jobs race cruises to season finale
EU TOP JOBS RACE AND JUST LIKE THAT, IT WAS (ALMOST) OVER: It’s time to fire the European Union’s script-writers. While French politics is …
The battle for power in Parliament starts now
IT’S FRIDAY. Nick Vinocur will be with you on Monday. SPOTTED BY A PLAYBOOK SPY: Scandal-magnet Maximilian Krah drinking white wine on Place du Luxembourg last night …