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DRIVING THE DAY: MIGRATION 
IT’S LIKE TINDER, BUT FOR MIGRANTS AND EMPLOYERS: You read that right: Brussels wants to create an online platform to match EU job offers with workers who want to move to Europe, according to a draft law seen by POLITICO. Commissioners Ylva Johansson, Margaritis Schinas and Iliana Ivanova will unveil the regulation today.
The problem: With baby boomers retiring, EU companies increasingly cite the tight labor market as their top concern. “There is a need for people in sectors like construction, ICT and health care,” Home Affairs Commissioner Johansson told Playbook about the proposal.
The solution? The proposal is meant to make it easier for migrants to find and apply for jobs across the EU. The platform is about “making sure that people can come to the EU legally, where there are jobs that match their skills and qualifications, and where there are clear shortages in the domestic job market,” Johansson said, adding this was “just as much part of migration management as the joint fight against smugglers.”
Match-making: The platform will be similar to EURES, the network for EU job agencies that currently lists more than 4 million openings. The idea is to match job-seekers outside the EU with positions for which there aren’t enough local applicants.
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New front in managing migration: “The more transparent and user-friendly our way of attracting those with the right skill sets, the more we show people that the risk of trying to cross the Mediterranean is simply not worth it,” said Johansson.
National competence: However, EU officials concede that some of the main hurdles to legal migration — recognition of diplomas and granting of work permits — won’t be addressed by the new rules, since these are a competence of national governments.
It’s also about development economics: The money migrants send back to their families is one of the main sources of income for many poor countries, Johansson stressed, pointing out that some “€65 billion per year in remittances goes back to medium- and low-income countries.”
EU TOP JOBS
VESTAGER’S ‘STRANGE’ MOVES: Margrethe Vestager — once the EU’s competition czar — stepped back from her post at the Commission to run for the top job at the European Investment Bank. But with national governments delaying a decision on the EIB gig, Vestager’s absence from the political scene is raising questions in Denmark, Varg Folkman and Aoife White write in this morning’s Fair Play newsletter.
Danish woes: “It is a great loss for Denmark that we have a commissioner who is not active because she is on leave. I think that is deeply worrying,” Social Democrat MEP Christel Schaldemose told the newspaper Politiken on Tuesday. “If this keeps going on, I really think one should weigh encouraging Margrethe Vestager to withdraw completely from the Commission.”
Third term? Vestager seemed to tout the possibility of staying at the Commission for a third mandate. At a Think Tank Europa event last week, the host asked Vestager if it is “a third period you are going for, no?” To which Vestager answered “yes,” before immediately launching into an answer on the future of Europe.
Raising eyebrows: Talking to Altinget, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called Vestager’s comment “strange” as the government “is spending all our energy” on getting Vestager the EIB job.
Vote for V: But there are some voices calling on Copenhagen to keep the “best commissioner Denmark has had for decades” in the Berlaymont, according to Danish MEP Karen Melchior, Vestager’s Renew party colleague. “I think it’s important that we keep her in place until as long as possible,” Melchior said, acknowledging that the “political climate in Denmark” may not make that possible.
Busy busy: Vestager has been posting on her Instagram account about a “freaky” fake artificial intelligence interview, toxic chemicals in her blood, her appearance on French TV series “Parlement” and a very cute knitted duck. She’s also visited Paris and Santiago de Compostela on the EIB campaign trail, the Tatra summit in Slovakia and a meeting of Renew party leaders in Brussels.
SCHMIT POSITIONING HIMSELF FOR ANOTHER RUN: If the European Socialists would consider Luxembourgish Commissioner Nicolas Schmit as Spitzenkandidat for the upcoming EU election, “he would do it,” he told the newspaper Luxemburger Wort on Tuesday. The Socialists are struggling to find a candidate for the top job race now that outgoing Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa is tainted by a corruption scandal in his home country.
Signaling home? The comments from Schmit come just as the upcoming Luxembourgish coalition partners, the center-right Christian Social People’s Party and the liberal Democratic Party, are negotiating who will get which portfolio in the new government. Part of those talks will be on whom the new government will put forward as the future Luxembourgish commissioner after the European election.
Schmit’s bid: One of the names floating for the post is that of former EPP MEP Christophe Hansen. Renominating Schmit was not expected, as his party is no longer in government. But the commissioner’s profile has risen since former Socialist heavyweight Frans Timmermans left Brussels. Schmit could try to capitalize on the idea that if he were to stay, Luxembourg might get a more important portfolio in the next Commission given his network and the need to satisfy the Socialists.
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NATO CORNER
KALLAS WANTS TOP JOB: Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas confirmed on Tuesday that she’s interested in becoming NATO secretary-general. Speaking at the POLITICO Defense Summit, Kallas was pressed on whether she’d like to be considered for the role. She responded “yes.”
PROPERTY VIEWING: Meanwhile, current NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is meeting outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the alliance’s Brussels HQ today, Stuart Lau writes in to report. Rutte, who is set to step down after the national election later this month, has also expressed interest in succeeding Stoltenberg.
And Jens checks out the Berlaymont: Stoltenberg will attend Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s College of Commissioners meeting today, according to his office. He was already in the Berlaymont on Tuesday for the EU defense ministers’ meeting, where he highlighted the need to protect undersea infrastructure and to beef up support for Ukraine.
CHEESE-STORM
FRANCE TO EU: HANDS OFF OUR CAMEMBERT! Sometimes, Europe really is a cliché. A new EU recycling law is making headlines in France, as producers claim Brussels is about to launch an attack against their prized cheese. Now, the government is getting involved to prevent another “curved bananas” PR disaster for Brussels.
Say cheese: Across press and TV, market-goers at cheese stands and producers from the French “terroir” are protesting against the draft law that aims to phase out single-use packaging. Cheese producers see traditional packaging, such as Camembert’s distinctive wooden box, as under threat from the proposals.
De Gaulle warned you: Brussels should know it has a problem when cheesemakers start complaining — as the famous quote attributed to Charles de Gaulle goes, “How can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheese?”
Cheese-storm: Le Figaro warns that France’s “gastronomic treasures” are “threatened” by the EU’s proposed recycling regulation. BFMTV cites a cheesemonger from Normandy who warns that plastic packaging would cause the Camembert to sweat. TF1 reckons that certain cheeses would lose their “geographic indication” seal. Ouest France reports 2,000 jobs could be threatened.
Paris intervenes: French EU Secretary Laurence Boone fears the law could become another PR disaster for the Union, with months to go before the European election. “If we want to caricature Europe before the elections, let’s bother Camembert producers and their wooden packaging,” she said to Playbook and a group of other reporters in an informal conversation. “It makes everyone jump up from their seats.”
Brussels is on the defensive: “There is nothing in our proposal that would prevent the use of wooden packaging,” said a Commission spokesman, adding that “producers may have to … improve the recycling or reuse of the wooden boxes. But that would also apply to producers of other types of packaging.”
Boxing match: Packaging producers warn it would be too expensive to introduce a recycling system for wood and want an exemption for such boxes — which they say are biodegradable and produce less waste than plastic.
A bit of pragmatism: “Recycling is necessary, encouraging companies to use recyclable packaging is necessary, but we also need a little pragmatic realism,” France’s Boone said.
What’s next: The law still needs to be agreed by the European Parliament and national governments, and the Commission spokesman said Brussels was working on “resolving all the outstanding questions and issues, in dialogue with the industry.”
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
ISRAEL RAIDS AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL: Israel says its military is carrying out an operation against Hamas at al-Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses told the BBC they saw tanks and soldiers enter the emergency department. Israel has accused Hamas of using the hospital as a command center, which Hamas denies.
PALESTINIANS ACCUSE METSOLA OF ‘DOUBLE STANDARDS’: A Palestinian diplomat in Brussels accused European Parliament President Roberta Metsola of “double standards” in her stance on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which has now claimed more than 11,000 lives.
On targeting civilians: “We as Palestinians since the beginning … spoke out and we said we are against targeting civilians. We do not establish moral standards to distinguish between civilians here and there. But unfortunately President Metsola failed that mission and I think that she established moral double standards when she cried [for] the Israeli victims and she ignored the Palestinian victims,” said the Deputy Head of the Palestinian Mission to the EU Adel Atieh.
Moment of solidarity: He was speaking at a press conference in the Parliament on Tuesday organized by Irish far-left MEP duo Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, who are asking the Parliament to hold a moment of solidarity for Palestinian victims, like it did in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Metsola response: A spokesman for Metsola said Parliament “absolutely rejects any accusation of taking sides” and said he was surprised by the comments “given that the president is scheduled to meet with families from Gaza later this week.” Metsola visited Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks and has stressed that Hamas does not represent Palestinians, and underlined the need to “make every effort to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
Diplomatic effort: Parliament as a whole has not called for a cease-fire; the vast majority of MEPs backed a call for a “humanitarian pause” last month. The Palestinian Authority’s diplomats have spent this week meeting the heads of the political groups in the Parliament, including the EPP and S&D, as pressure grows around the world for a cease-fire.
IRELAND’S SINN FÉIN SHUNS ISRAEL: Sinn Féin, the nationalist party on course to top the polls in Ireland’s next election, is embracing Palestinians and condemning Israel. Party leader Mary Lou McDonald has dumped her more nuanced stance in the face of grassroots anger over Gaza, Shawn Pogatchnik writes.
MEANWHILE, AUSTRIA IS ISRAEL’S EUROPEAN BFF: Austria, the birthplace of Hitler and where the far right has dominated politics in recent years, has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel since the war began. That’s down to the country’s long-delayed reckoning with its World War II history, but also due to a potent combination of political calculation and economic opportunity, Matthew Karnitschnig writes.
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IN OTHER NEWS
METHANE DEAL: Overnight, EU institutions struck a landmark deal on the EU’s first-ever law to curb methane emissions, targeting leaky fossil fuel infrastructure and paving the way for restrictions on imports, Zia Weise writes in to report.Here’s the Parliament’s statement. Meanwhile, the U.S. and China overnight issued a statement on a deal that saw Beijing agree for the first time to tackle all greenhouse gases, having previously only included carbon dioxide in its climate action plan.
US-EU UNITY OVER CLIMATE PAYMENTS RUPTURES: Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s climate action commissioner, on Monday said the EU was “ready to announce a substantial financial contribution” for a new climate damage fund. The pronouncement flew in the face of the more cautious U.S. approach, and reflects how contentious the debate is over a fund to support countries scarred by climate change. Zia Weise, Sara Schonhardt and Karl Mathiesen have more.
SPAIN UPDATE: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will today ask the Spanish parliament to allow him to form a government. A majority of lawmakers are expected to support the Socialist leader’s bid, despite his controversial deal with Catalan separatists to stay in power. Aitor Hernández-Morales has the details.
Puigdemont accuses Spain’s judiciary council: Meanwhile, Catalan separatist MEPs Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín accused Spain’s General Council of the Judiciary of violating “basic standards of the rule of law” in a letter sent to European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová on Monday. In the letter, exclusively obtained by POLITICO, Puigdemont and Comín argue that the body, which oversees Spain’s judiciary, is not impartial and has repeatedly overstepped its legal attributions. Read more by Aitor.
POST-COTONOU AGREEMENT GETS FINAL SIGNATURE: The EU and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (OACPS) are inking their agreement on the island of Samoa today. Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen will sign the deal on behalf of the EU. The new agreement is set to govern the relationship between the EU and the 79 countries of the OACPS for the next 20 years.
BALTIC SEA SABOTAGE: Swedish, Finnish and Estonian authorities have identified a prime suspect in the damage done to two undersea cables and a gas pipeline on the night of October 7 this year — a Chinese-owned, Hong Kong-flagged container ship that has strong links to Russia. Elisabeth Braw examines how Western countries are struggling to figure out how to punish such acts of sabotage.
EU PLAN TO BLOCK RUSSIAN TANKERS: Denmark could be tasked with inspecting and potentially blocking Russian oil tankers from passing through its territorial waters, under new EU plans, according to the FT. Around 60 percent of all Russian seaborne oil exports pass through the Danish straits. The plan would see Danish authorities target tankers that don’t hold Western insurance, the FT reports.
ORBÀN BRINGS CULTURE WAR TO BRUSSELS: Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is backing journalists and think tankers to spread his message in the EU capital. Ahead of the Hungarian Council presidency next year, and with a heavy assist from Brexit campaign alumni, they’re waging war against wokism, highlighting malfeasance and bringing an unabashedly conservative, often Euroskeptic take to the Brussels gab circuit, Sarah Wheaton and Eddy Wax report.
AGENDA
— General Affairs Council. Arrivals at 8:30 a.m. … press conference by the Spanish presidency and the European Commission at 5:30 p.m. Watch.
— Commission President Ursula von der Leyen receives NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at 9 a.m. … receives Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs at 2 p.m. Watch.
— European Parliament President Roberta Metsola meets Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at 9 a.m. … meets Edgars Rinkēvičs, press point at 10:50 a.m. Watch.
— Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis also meets Edgars Rinkēvičs.
— College of Commissioners meeting, followed by a press conference by Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Innovation Commissioner Iliana Ivanova on the Talent Mobility package. Watch.
— The 46th ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States) — EU council of ministers takes place in Apia, Samoa. Signing ceremony of the OACPS-EU agreement with International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen. Watch the recorded signature ceremony.
— Countries’ deputy permanent representatives meet in Coreper I at 9 a.m.
— Press conference by Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on the 2023 Autumn Economic Forecast. Watch.
— Commission Vice President Dubravka Šuica is in Washington … meets U.S. Congress Representative Derek Kilmer … meets U.S. Senator Chris Murphy … participates in a discussion on demography and democracy at the EU-U.S. Defense and Future Forum.
— Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra is in Beijing, China … meets with climate experts including stakeholders, civil society and academics … meets with representatives of EU Chamber of Commerce China.
— Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders participates via videoconference in the IDH Market Transformation Summit … meets with Hungarian European Affairs Minister János Bóka.
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BRUSSELS CORNER
METRO DISRUPTION: Metro line 5 will face disruption this weekend between Jacques Brel and Erasmus stations, with bus line 73 extended instead.
ISRAEL TRAVEL UPDATE: Brussels Airlines is extending its suspension of flights to Israel until at least December 14. The decision applies to all airlines of the Lufthansa Group, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss.
WATER POLLUTION CRISIS: An environmental scandal has erupted in Belgium following revelations that residents of 12 Walloon villages have been drinking water polluted with PFAS — so-called forever chemicals — for almost two years. RTBF first reported that residents in the Ath region consumed water with PFAS levels exceeding the European standard by three to six times between October 2021 and March 2023.
The controversy: Questions have now been raised as to what extent the government — in particular Wallonia’s Environment Minister Céline Tellier — knew about the pollution. Tellier faced a hearing in the regional parliament on Tuesday, and said: “I can tell you in all honesty that I have at no time received any information about an imminent health hazard.”
What’s next: Brussels’ Environment Minister Alain Maron will face a hearing in the environment committee over Brussels’ tap water pollution concerns today. “The people of Brussels can be reassured about the quality of their water,” he said on X.
TRAFFICKING NETWORK DISMANTLED: An international gang of human traffickers smuggling Syrians and Palestinians to Belgium through Athens has been dismantled, the Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor’s office said. More from VRT.
BOOK SALE: There’s a book sale at Red Cross Brussels from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until Sunday, featuring tomes in French, Dutch and English, as well as games, CDs, toys, and vinyl records. Profits go to the Red Cross.
BIKE FANS: Cycling enthusiasts are heading to Ghent this week for an iconic indoor track-cycling race. Six Days of Ghent celebrates its 82nd edition this year.
BRUSSELS ART FILM FESTIVAL: Starting today and running until Sunday, the Brussels Art Film Festival will show art documentaries from all over the world.
FIFTY LAB 2023: There’s also a festival presenting international emerging music talent in Brussels, running until Friday.
SPOTTED … at Netflix’s special screening of the first episode of Spanish series Berlín at the Cinéma Galéries: Maria González Veracruz, Spain’s secretary of state of telecommunications and digital infrastructure; Fernando Sampedro, from Ursula von der Leyen’s Cabinet; the Commission’s Marie Frenay, Lucía Recalde, Marta Sanagustin and Wojtek Talko; MEPs Iban García del Blanco and Alícia Homs Ginel; Eduardo Fernández Palomares, attaché at the Spanish perm rep.
BIRTHDAYS: Former MEP Ashley Fox; FT’s Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli; Albert Rivera, former Ciudadanos leader and POLITICO 28 alum. Day of the German-speaking Community in Belgium.
THANKS to Jacopo Barigazzi, Eddy Wax, Aitor Hernández-Morales, Barbara Moens, Zia Weise, Playbook reporter Ketrin Jochecová, editor Jack Lahart and producer Dato Parulava.
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