Will they name names?

What’s driving the day in Brussels.
By SARAH WHEATON
with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH
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HOWDY. Welcome to this last pre-rentrée edition of Brussels Playbook. Your author has just returned from a fact-finding trip to Alaska, and can confirm the pace of lawmaking in Brussels is, indeed, “glacial,” after investigating the mammoth ice packs for herself. (Yes, we’ll be here all fall, folks.)
POLITICAL PROCRASTINATORS FACE DUE DATE: We’ve reached that end-of-August deadline for capitals to nominate their European commissioners, and three countries are taking it down to the wire: Playbook’s home base of Belgium, as well as Italy and Bulgaria. 
The dog ate my homework: Each has their excuse … 
BELGIAN HOT POTATO: “The name has not yet been decided, but I can tell you that Belgium will be able to submit a name within the deadline,” said Georges-Louis Bouchez, the leader of the Reformist Movement. The French-speaking liberal party is likely to get its pick for the EU position, although none of the five parties negotiating a new government actually wants it, since it would likely come out of their share of top jobs in the federal government.
Possible candidates: While current Belgian Commissioner Didier Reynders is the most obvious pick, the names of former Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès and current Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib are both floating around. Bouchez dodged the question of whether he ultimately supported Reynders in the wheeling and dealing with the other parties, saying: “I did what I had to do.”
BULGARIAN CARETAKER’S CHOICE: As Bulgarians prepare to head to the polls in October for the seventh parliamentary election in three years, it’s up to the interim prime minister, Dimitar Glavchev, to choose among the top parties’ nominees. Antoaneta Roussi walks us through the possibilities. 
Top contenders: The EPP-affiliated GERB party hopes former Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva can get the cohesion portfolio that oversees regional economic policy (€€€), while the liberal We Continue the Change party is optimistic that ex-Environment Minister  Julian Popov can win the energy portfolio, ideally with an assist from the French in light of his pro-nuclear stance.
ITALY’S ANTICLIMAX: Blame the summer break for the delay in formally naming the Meloni government’s preferred commissioner. Raffaele Fitto, the current EU affairs minister, is expected to be approved at the government’s first post-vacation Cabinet meeting, Hannah Roberts writes in to report. 
“He won’t be a trainee commissioner,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told broadcaster Rete 4 this week, citing Fitto’s Brussels experience, including in the European Parliament and as a manager of Italy’s EU recovery funds plan.
ALL THE NAMES WE DO HAVE SO FAR … are here.
WHAT’S NEXT: Sept. 11 is when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to present the final list of nominees — and, crucially, their portfolios — to the Parliament’s group leaders, as reported by Euractiv and confirmed by POLITICO. (That could change, of course — von der Leyen is free to adjust her own deadline.) The commissioner hopefuls will then be assigned to the relevant committees, with confirmation hearings expected to start at the end of September/beginning of October.
FAR LEFT EYES NEW EURO PARTY: Some national left-wing parties are set to create a new European bloc after abandoning the European Left (EL), my colleague Max Griera reports. Dubbed the European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet (ELA), the new party is already attracting members: A prominent member of Denmark’s Enhedslisten said in an op-ed earlier this week that it would jump ship to the ELA. 
Big picture: Europe’s leftist family is facing an intergenerational struggle as old-school communists compete for voters with more contemporary — and influential — political forces such as Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise. Recent events have made that even more complicated: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, for example, “has caused great disagreement and ended in a compromise formulation that no one was really happy with,” wrote Enhedslisten’s Mikael Hertoft in that op-ed. 
Hammering out: Those tensions reached a breaking point ahead of the European election in June. Some national left parties, both in and out of the EL, chose to sign on to an offshoot electoral platform, “Now the People,” instead of joining the EL’s campaign under lead candidate, Walter Baier, an Austrian communist. (Baier, incidentally, became Spitzenkandidat after the French Communist Party prevented Manon Aubry, a prominent La France Insoumise MEP, from taking the role.) 
Seeing red: The movement’s group in the European Parliament performed decently in the June election. The Left group saw its ranks grow by nine MEPs. Yet Portugal’s Left Bloc complained in June that the EL had “failed its task and is now seeing its capacity weakened by internal fragmentation,” and announced they’d create an alternative European party. Finland’s Vasemmistoliitto has quit the EL as well. 
Separating the wheat from the chaff: During the election, the EL “was more a liability than an asset,” someone involved in the negotiations around creating the ELA told Max, adding that the goal is to create a “useful” and “professional” left-wing party at the EU level whose members have political weight.
Left hanging: In a statement, the European Left told Max that “the unity of the left forces is more important than ever to defend peace, social justice and public services. In a plural left, there are political differences.” 
DIVIDED GERMANY, NO WALL NEEDED: Ahead of three state elections across eastern Germany this September — including in Saxony and Thuringia this Sunday — the once-fringe Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling first or close to it in all contests, Nette Nöstlinger reports from the small town of Großschirma in Saxony. The AfD’s support in these places illustrates how it has stepped into the void left by voters’ stark loss of trust in mainstream parties, the media and public institutions.
Jagged schism: Nearly 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a political schism runs along the former border between East and West Germany. On the east side of the divide, the AfD is surging despite its growing radicalism and persistent warnings from mainstream leaders of its extremist positions. A must-read article.
Last-ditch migration ploy: Germany’s governing coalition announced tougher migration measures on Thursday, in the wake of the deadly stabbing attack allegedly carried out by a Syrian asylum seeker in the western city of Solingen earlier this month, and in anticipation of what is expected to be a dreadful showing in Sunday’s local elections.
NOW READ THIS: How Britain took its eye off the far right.
And listen to this: This week’s episode of the EU Confidential podcast, hosted by your Playbook author, we talk to POLITICO’s Berlin News Editor James Angelos about how migration is driving voters not just to the far right, but to the far left as well, with a deep dive into Sahra Wagenknecht’s “left conservatism.” Listen and subscribe here. 
EU DEFENSE MINISTERS TALK UKRAINE: The EU’s defense chiefs will today discuss how to provide further help to Ukraine during a Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. Lifting restrictions on using donated weapons to hit targets in Russia and military training are on the menu.
FAC recap: Military support for Kyiv was also on the agenda on Thursday when foreign ministers gathered in the EU capital. The tone was bleak after Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on Europeans to deliver the air systems they have pledged, my colleagues Jacopo Barigazzi and Joshua Posaner report. 
Budapest vs. Borrell: The Council meetings were meant to be in Hungary as part of its rotating presidency, until foreign ministers opted to instead hold them in Brussels to protest Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s obstruction of EU foreign policy. So it’s no surprise that this week’s gathering was overshadowed by a spat between High Representative Josep Borrell and Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Elena Giordano and Jacopo get into the back-and-forth. 
HUNG OUT? “I’m not sure how much longer the European Union can take Hungary being inside it,” Anne Applebaum told yours truly in an interview for this week’s EU Confidential podcast. Noting espionage fears arising from Budapest’s move to give Belarusians and Russians fast-track entry to the Schengen area, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist added: “Soon, the EU may have to make a more dramatic decision about Hungary.” Listen here. 
Domestic disclaimer: Applebaum, who is promoting her new book “Autocracy, Inc.,” was emphatic that she in no way speaks for her husband, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
US SANCTIONS HIT RUSSIA’S ACCESS TO DUAL-USE GOODS: Chinese exporters are refusing to supply Russia with so-called dual-use products until payments clear, causing delays and delivery costs to increase by an average of 15 percent, according to Russian state media. Izvestia reported overnight that electronics, industrial equipment and other machinery are affected as a result of the August package of U.S. sanctions that targeted companies in China, among other countries.
SWITZERLAND’S NEUTRALITY QUESTION: In a bombshell report, a group of experts recommended neutral Switzerland work on a “common defense capability” with the EU and NATO, report Laura Kayali and Jacopo Barigazzi.
CAN THE WEST STOP TURKSTREAM? Martin Vladimirov, director of the energy and climate program at the Center for the Study of Democracy, argues in an opinion piece for POLITICO that Europe can’t look away as Gazprom tries to launder Russian gas exports via Turkey.
MEANWHILE, IN SERBIA: Aleksandar Vučić’s east-west balancing act is paying off.
GAZA’S STAGGERING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: Sigrid Kaag, the U.N.’s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, presented a dire picture of the situation in the besieged enclave during a visit to Brussels. “We will be heading towards 41,000 civilian dead in Gaza,” she told my colleague Suzanne Lynch after briefing EU foreign ministers Thursday. “It’s a matter of time, I fear. We know that 2 million people are seeking shelter in 15 square miles.” 
EU role: She called for a “full and complete” cease-fire and “immediate unconditional release of the hostages,” as well as unimpeded, continuous aid to those in need. Kaag, a former Dutch foreign minister, urged the EU: “Continue to give this priority attention, because these are man-made situations, and they require, ultimately, effective political solutions.”
Patients in need: The EU has yet to make good on promises to take in Gazans who need medical care. “There is a list of 12,000-plus Palestinian civilians in Gaza that need to be medically evacuated,” Kaag said. The EU shouldn’t leave it to Egypt, the UAE and Qatar to take those patients, but work with the World Health Organization to provide help as a “gesture of solidarity.”
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: Kamala Harris defended shifting policy positions in her first unscripted interview as the Democratic nominee for U.S. president. The sit-down with CNN was conducted alongside running mate Tim Walz. Read my Stateside colleagues’ analysis here.
Cheatsheet … courtesy of my London Playbook colleague Dan Bloom. Harris said: “My values have not changed” on climate — though she will not ban fracking (a U-turn) … she is committed to Israel’s defense, when asked if she could withhold weapons … she hardened her stance on immigration to “build consensus” … and she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet. She also dismissed her rival Donald Trump’s claim that she “happened to turn Black” as the “same old, tired playbook — next question please.”
Polling latest: Harris widened her lead over Trump in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll to 45 percent to his 41 percent. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, has Harris on 48 percent support to Trump’s 47 in a head-to-head, and leading 47 percent to the Republican’s 45 on a ballot that included independent and third-party candidates.
HOW PAVEL DUROV GOT HIS FRENCH PASSPORT: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov obtained French citizenship in 2021 through a procedure for French-speaking foreigners who contribute “to the influence of France and the prosperity of its international economic relations.” French President Emmanuel Macron admitted Thursday that he made the decision in 2018, “which I fully stand by.” My colleagues Victor Goury-Laffont, Océane Herrero and Eva Hartog have the full details here.
BOMBSHELL RULING KNOCKS POLAND’S PIS: Poland’s Law and Justice party faces a financial blow after the National Electoral Commission rejected its 2023 financial report, questioning 3.6 million złoty in improper spending. With potential cuts of up to 43.2 million złoty, the party’s campaign funds for next year’s presidential election are at risk. PiS has 14 days to appeal, reports Wojciech Kość.
MAKING BRUSSELS SEXY: In this week’s Declassified, Paul Dallison explores the absurdity of European politics as Ursula von der Leyen remains silent on gender equality while Donald Trump markets outrageous NFTs. With Brussels lagging in political excitement, Paul asks: can anyone make the EU capital sexy again?
In more weekend listening: Anne McElvoy is joined by Brett O’Donnell, a debate coach for U.S. Republicans Mitt Romney, John McCain and George W. Bush, and Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson in Britain for our Power Play podcast … and Jack Blanchard discusses Keir Starmer’s challenges over the coming months with Ben Zaranko from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and geopolitical analyst Sophia Gaston on Westminster Insider.
 — Informal meeting of EU defense ministers. Arrivals and doorsteps at 8 a.m. … press conference with EU High Representative Josep Borrell and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton at 3 p.m. Watch.
— Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Prague; delivers a keynote speech at the GLOBSEC 2024 Prague Forum at 12:30 p.m. and receives the Czech and Slovak Transatlantic Award. Watch.
— Commission Vice President Věra Jourová will also speak at GLOBSEC, on a panel that includes Czech President Petr Pavel, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the Bulgarian political thinker Ivan Krastev and top Google lobbyist Annette Kroeber-Riel. Stream.
— Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski is in Jasna Góra, Częstochowa, Poland, where he is participating in a conference on “the expectations of agricultural communities in the Polish context presidency of the EU in 2025.”
WEATHER: High of 20C, more sun.
NEW JOB 1: Nicolas Mackel will start as Luxembourg’s new ambassador to the EU on Sunday, succeeding Sylvie Lucas as she represents the Duchy in Berlin. Mackel, a career diplomat, was CEO of the development agency for Luxembourg’s financial industry, Luxembourg for Finance, and held various positions at the Luxembourg Perm Rep, including as Antici.
NEW JOB 2: DG TRADE’s Csaba Batyi will take over as communications adviser to the EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, following Vanessa Mock’s departure to Uruguay as head of trade at the EU delegation. In her new functions, Mock will also be in charge of Paraguay and Mercosur more broadly.
NEW JOB 3: Christian Wigand, European Commission spokesman, is swapping the press room for Vienna where he will be deputy head — and acting head — of the Commission’s Representation in Austria.
CONDOLENCES: Mary Minch, a longtime EU civil servant whose roles included head of the European Commission’s delegation to the World Trade Organization, died last month. Tributes here. 
LURED BY A DATING APP: A home invasion in Ixelles left one man dead and two injured. The attack was arranged on the Grindr dating app, the Brussels Times reports.
FESTIVAL 1: Five open-air parties will transform Brussels’ public squares and showcase the city’s diverse clubbing scene. Kickoff Saturday at 2 p.m.
FESTIVAL 2: L’Afrique en Couleurs returns to Brussels on Saturday, featuring vibrant performances and diverse cuisine from all over the African continent. 
BIRTHDAYS: MEP Philippe Olivier; Heather Grabbe, senior fellow at Bruegel; former MEPs John Stuart Agnew, Guillaume Balas, Branislav Škripek and Amelia Andersdotter; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s Laura Shevlin; Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett; Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
CELEBRATING SATURDAY: MEPs Ondřej Knotek and Tonino Picula; Matthieu Hébert, head of unit at Commission’s DG ECFIN; former MEPs Lefteris Christoforou, Massimo Casanova, Herbert Reul and Janice Atkinson; Laurent Donceel; POLITICO’s Mathilde Ciocci; European Commission’s Richard Coxon.
CELEBRATING SUNDAY: Former MEP Milan Brglez; European Commission’s Matteo Salvai; Puck’s Tara Palmeri; former Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi; Filip Vujanović, former president of Montenegro; POLITICO’s Antoaneta Roussi; Slovak Constitution Day.
THANKS TO: Max Griera, Camille Gijs, Pieter Haeck, Suzanne Lynch, Dionisios Sturis, Laura Kayali and Hannah Roberts; Playbook editor Alex Spence, Playbook reporter Šejla Ahmatović and producer Catherine Bouris.
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