Emergency gas plan + Rule of law in the EU + Thierry Breton

In the gas crisis, the EU community is anxiously holding their breath while waiting for next Wednesday, when Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans presents the joint emergency plan for the winter. Manuel Berkel took a sneak peek at the draft paper and reports on the strategy the Commission is using to minimize the cuts in industrial production.

Yesterday, the EU Commission presented its annual Rule of Law Report. Unsurprisingly, the authority sees the biggest problems in Hungary and Poland. The Commission gives the German rule of law a good report card but also criticizes it: While there has been improvement in the transfer of politicians to the business world, the “cool-off period” is too short. But this is precisely where Brussels fails to live up to its own standards, as Eric Bonse reports.

Thierry Breton is once again in crisis mode. He is currently on the road a lot, saying he wants to be “very present in all member states during this difficult period”. Breton played a key role during the COVID crisis. And then there are the numerous major legislative projects that fall within his remit. Yet at the beginning of his time in Brussels, Breton had trouble gaining a foothold in the Commission, as Stephan Israel and Till Hoppe write in their profile of the EU Internal Market Commissioner.

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Sarah Schaefer