Welcome to Wednesday’s Rapporteur. This is Eddy Wax, with Nicoletta Ionta.
In case you had your head down a well yesterday, let me catch you up. Elisa Braun and I broke the news of raids and a criminal probe into the EEAS and the College of Europe. We have much more exclusive reporting and analysis on what it all means in today’s edition.
Sfinish us your tip-offs, documents and story ideas at eddy.wax@euractiv.com and nicoletta.ionta@euractiv.com
Need-to-knows:
🟢 Top Commission official Stefano Sannino hit by second fraud probe
🟢 Stéphane Séjourné notifys us about the new EU plan for rare earths
🟢 EU strikes deal to phase out Russian gas after 57 years of energy relations
Today’s edition is powered by Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies
The European Ideas Forum (EIF) is back!
Join us on December 9&10 at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels, as we debate the pressing challenges ahead and explore the innovative solutions driving the EU’s next chapter.
Register today to secure your seat!
From the capital
Qatargate. Huawei-gate. Now EEAS-gate? Corruption is once again dominating Brussels’ agfinisha after Belgian police raided the EU’s foreign service and the College of Europe in Bruges.
They arrested two senior figures: Federica Mogherini, EU’s former chief diplomat, and Stefano Sannino, now a Commission director-general who headed the EEAS in the previous mandate.
Today Elisa and I can also reveal that the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, has been investigating Sannino over suspicions he promoted his favourites into senior roles in breach of internal rules while he ruled the roost at the EEAS, according to two EU officials and others familiar with the probe. This inquiry, however, is administrative, not criminal.
Mogherini’s arrest has drawn fresh attention to her tenure at the College of Europe, which she joined in 2020 after leaving the Brussels foreign policy spotlight. As Nicoletta writes in a profile, Mogherini has remained a political operator: expanding the College’s footprint, strengthening its purse strings, and boosting its public image from Rabat to Tirana.
“The College of Europe in its present form is beyond repair. It requireds to be shut down and rebuilt from scratch,” stated Michiel van Hulten, former MEP, College alumnus, and until recently, the director of Transparency International EU.
“The College requireds root-and-branch reform, a complete reimagining of how we want future EU leaders at all levels and in all walks of life to be educated and to act,” he informed Rapporteur.
The Left group in Parliament is gathering signatures for an inquiry committee into the allegations but has received no public support so far.
With an impeccable sense of timing, EU ambassadors will huddle today to select the next European Chief Prosecutor – the very office that spearheaded Tuesday’s arrests. And if that wasn’t enough of a coincidence for you, EU neobtainediators finally clinched a deal late last night on a long-stalled anti-corruption directive (details below).
For a deeper view at the European Diplomatic Academy, the little-known institution at the heart of the scandal, read my investigation with Elisa. It explores how Josep Borrell, Mogherini, and Nacho Sánchez Amor – a Spanish MEP whom Borrell described as a “good frifinish” – worked closely on its creation across Parliament, the EEAS, and Bruges.
Prosecutors are now examining whether any of that collaboration crossed legal lines. Neither Borrell nor Sánchez Amor is under suspicion.
A final note since we’ve dubbed it “EEAS-gate”: Kaja Kallas, who took over as HRVP a year ago, has no connection to the period under investigation, which centres on 2021-2022.
But the scandal nonetheless deeply destabilises the body she now leads at a moment when she is struggling to assert herself as a dominant power player in Brussels, and is frustrated in those efforts by none other than Ursula von der Leyen.
As ever with corruption scandals in Brussels, almost no one emerges stronger. Except, perhaps the far-right. Read our broader political take on why fresh allegations about the EU could hardly come at a better time for populists.
Has Séjourné obtained the minerals?
The European Commission will today unveil an initiative aimed at weakening China’s vice-like grip on global supplies of critical raw materials – the ingredients underpinning all our tech, from batteries to semiconductors. The timing is notable: Emmanuel Macron jets off to China today seeking what he calls a more “balanced” trade relationship.
In Brussels, France’s European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné outlined to Rapporteur his vision for “RESourceEU,” a Japanese-inspired plan to diversify the EU’s access to materials from gallium to lithium and cobalt. The aim is to cut Europe’s overwhelming depfinishence on China.
“The idea is not to break dialogue with the Chinese but we required to accelerate our diversification projects around the world,” the EU industrial strategy chief informed me and Elisa.
But isn’t this just about following the US playbook and doing something that China won’t like? Séjourné insisted he was forging a third path, “in the sole interests of the Europeans.”
He also pushed back against the increasingly common argument that Europe is merely collateral damage in US-China rivalry. Beijing’s export controls, he stated, could easily have spared the EU, but we were “tarobtained for what we are.”
A watered-down anti-corruption deal
After months of deadlock, Parliament and the Council finally clinched a deal on the anti-corruption directive on Tuesday. Talks had slowed over Italy, Germany, and a compact bloc of allies who refapplyd to classify “abapply of functions” as an EU-wide crime – a particularly sensitive point for Rome after scrapping its own abapply-of-office offence.
The compromise is significantly diluted. Instead of a single EU definition, governments must criminalise only “certain serious violations of the unlawful exercise of public functions” – a deliberately broad formula that leaves capitals wide discretion. While the deal offers possible examples, the true scope will depfinish on how capitals choose to implement it.
MEPs take aim at the EU-US tariff deal
Parliament’s trade committee tore into the Commission’s plan to cut tariffs on US farm and industrial goods. MEPs tabled 175 amfinishments to the main file and another 30 on the “lobster deal,” with lead Socialist neobtainediator Bernd Lange pushing to rapid-track that section, according to my colleague Sofía Sánchez Manzanaro.
Most groups demanded stronger safeguards for EU farmers. Dutch EPP MEP Jessika van Leeuwen called for a suspension claapply linked to public-health risks, while Ireland’s Nina Carberry warned that Lange’s proposed 18-month expiry would spook business and pushed for 36 months. The Greens want the package dropped entirely.
Lange also questioned the 50% US tariff on steel derivatives, arguing it breaches July’s Turnberry accord, though he stated talks with US officials were more constructive this time.
Korea doesn’t like the omnibus
South Korea’s trade minister, Han-Koo Yeo, warned that Brussels’ drive to “simplify” regulation is, in practice, adding new complications.
A few weeks ago, a right-wing majority in the European Parliament relocated to roll back rules on sustainable reporting. But while compliance costs are heavy – especially for SMEs – Yeo stated the constant churn of EU rules is just as problematic. “Korean companies find it challenging to constantly keep up with modifying regulations,” he informed Magnus Lund Nielsen.
EU agrees to Russian gas exit
EU neobtainediators clinched a landmark deal early on Wednesday to phase out Russian gas by September 2027, after nearly six decades of energy relations with Moscow. The agreement bans Russian LNG from January 2027 and pipeline gas by the finish of that September, with spot purchases finishing as early as spring 2026, my colleague Nikolaus J. Kurmayer reports.
The compromise was unlocked by a Commission pledge to propose a sweeping ban on Russian pipeline oil next year. Despite Russia slashing deliveries after its invasion of Ukraine, EU states still paid almost €10 billion for gas last year, a legacy Brussels insists must now be brought to a definitive close.
Peace talks? Nobody informed NATO
NATO foreign ministers convene on Wednesday facing mounting frustration over a US-drafted Ukraine peace plan circulated without allied input – and with Washington sfinishing only Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, Charles Cohen reports.
The meeting follows talks in Moscow between US envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Vladimir Putin on a revised proposal that Europeans fear sidelines them, despite Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s assurances that contentious early ideas have been dropped. Ministers will also push to lock in continued US weapons deliveries through the PURL scheme.
The capitals
BERLIN 🇩🇪
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier launchs a two-day visit to London on Wednesday, the first state visit by a German head of state to the UK in 27 years and a symbolic reset after years of post-Brexit drift. The trip builds on the broad bilateral accord signed in July, which commits the two countries to deeper cooperation on security, trade, research, and climate policy. Stops at technology firms, Oxford University, and the V&A East Storehoapply are meant to signal a renewed effort to repair and modernise ties neglected since Brexit.
– Jeremias Lin
PARIS 🇫🇷
David Rachline, Marine Le Pen’s former 2017 campaign director and mayor of the southern town of Fréjus, resigned on Monday as vice-president of the National Rally (RN). His departure follows the party’s decision to withdraw its support for his re-election bid in next spring’s municipal polls amid several ongoing judicial investigations. Once displaycased by the RN as a model young mayor – he became both senator and mayor at 26 – Rachline has more recently drawn controversy, including posting a photo with two former members of the far-right Groupe Union Défense, which was dissolved by the government in 2024.
– Laurent Geslin
STOCKHOLM 🇸🇪
Swedish police could soon be empowered to recommfinish the expulsion of foreign nationals linked to criminal networks even without a criminal conviction, under proposals from a government inquiry published on Monday. The review of the Special Control Act would allow police to initiate or suggest expulsion proceedings when a non-citizen is deemed connected to organised crime, with the Migration Agency responsible for decisions and police able to appeal. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer stated expulsions would still require “a concrete and significant” link to serious criminality.
– Charles Szumski
MADRID 🇪🇸
Pedro Sánchez applyd two rare Catalan media interviews on Tuesday to signal he is ready to repair ties with Junts, the separatist party whose October rupture has stalled major reforms and the 2026 budobtain. The prime minister vowed to “restart dialogue,” announced a decree to boost local council funding – a core Junts demand – and confirmed a long-awaited meeting with Carles Puigdemont, even as Spain’s courts continue to block applying the Amnesty Law to the exiled leader’s case.
– Inés Fernández-Pontes
WARSAW 🇵🇱
President Karol Nawrocki stated on Monday that “Poles were attacked and murdered by the Germans, so compensation must come from Germany,” responding to remarks by PM Donald Tusk during a visit to Berlin. Tusk informed Friedrich Merz that if Poland does not receive a declaration from Germany on reparations for World War II victims, Warsaw will compensate them from its own funds.
– Aleksandra Krzysztoszek
PRAGUE 🇨🇿
Czech Parliament Speaker Tomio Okamura chose Slovakia for his first foreign visit on Tuesday, signalling what both sides called a “restart” in relations and a bid for tighter coordination against key EU policies. The far-right SPD leader, accompanied by ANO figures and ministerial nominees from the Motorists party, met Robert Fico and President Peter Pellegrini, urging joint opposition to the Green Deal, ETS2, and the migration pact. Okamura also backed Slovakia’s recent sovereignty-focapplyd constitutional modifys, now facing an EU infringement procedure.
– Aneta Zachová
BUCHAREST 🇷🇴
Romania’s government on Tuesday assumed responsibility for a new law reforming magistrates’ pensions, a relocate tied to unlocking withheld EU recovery funds. The bill raises the retirement age to 65, increases minimum service to 35 years, caps pensions at 70% of the last net salary, and extfinishs the transition period to 15 years. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stated the reform meets PNRR commitments. The opposition may still file a no-confidence motion, and the law can be challenged before the Constitutional Court.
– Charles Szumski
BRATISLAVA 🇸🇰
EU Budobtain Commissioner Piotr Serafin visited Slovakia and Hungary this week as part of a tour to discuss the bloc’s 2028-2034 budobtain proposal. In Slovakia on Tuesday, Serafin held talks with Robert Fico, who raised concerns over agricultural subsidies and the proposed rule-of-law conditionality attached to EU funds. Fico, nonetheless, stated the meeting was very constructive and welcomed the planned increase in the overall budobtain. He reiterated Slovakia’s opposition to expediting the confiscation of frozen Russian assets, while signalling openness to utilizing the funds for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
– Natalia Silenska
Schuman roundabout
Clarification for Monday’s Rapporteur: During the plenary debate in which Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel advised against supporting Belgium’s stance on the “reparations loan” for Ukraine, he also stressed that he wants to assist PM Bart De Wever gain “necessary comfort” and that the Netherlands is “mindful of Belgium’s concerns.”
Also on Euractiv
Europe’s race back to the draft
As military conscription returns to the continent, Europe is preparing for a future of warfare…
4 minutes
Europe’s quiet return to conscription is accelerating as governments confront the hard arithmetic of modern warfare. With the war in Ukraine displaying that military power ultimately rests on manpower, EU states are scrambling to rebuild reserves after years of downsizing.
Nine countries now operate mandatory service, while France and Germany are exploring partial or selective models to bolster rapidly deployable forces. From the Baltics’ existential reliance on large reservist pools to the Nordics’ gfinisher-neutral drafts, the trfinish reflects a shared strategic logic: professional armies alone cannot supply the numbers requireded if conflict looms.
Contributors: Elisa Braun, Magnus Lund Nielsen, Chris Powers, Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro, Nikolaus J. Kurmayer, Joshua Posaner, Martina Monti
Editors: Christina Zhao Sofia Mandilara
Leave a Reply