EXCLUSIVE: Huawei’s former senior public affairs manager is cooperating with investigators as they probe the Chinese tech giant’s EU lobbying practices, and whether these crossed the line into corruption. You won’t want to miss this story by new colleague Elisa Braun, and Nicoletta Ionta.

Also, EU leaders are in Brussels for a European Council summit today. We have you covered on our live blog here.

Welcome to the Capitals, your concise and comprehensive summary of European news from Eddy Wax and Nicoletta Ionta in Brussels. We welcome feedback and tips here. You can sign up here.

In today’s edition:

• Manfred Weber comes out swinging
• France calls to rethink 2040 climate target
• Hungary threatens Pride-goers
• A bid to bring down the Commission rattles the ECR

EPP chief Manfred Weber has made no apologies for his push to kill an anti-greenwashing bill in a sit-down interview with the Capitals. As he told it, it’s all part of his strategy to head off the rise of far-right populists.

“We have to stop the authoritarian wave on this continent,” he said. “And the EPP is the number one party [doing that],” he argued, pointing to Hungary and Poland. His MEPs shot down the Green Claims law in Parliament last week, arguing it would be too burdensome for businesses. “We will never support a regulation that [means] you have to have a pre-approval of a claim to go to [advertise] in your media,” he said about the bill, which now looks doomed.

His political opponents say he’s playing into the hands of populists and have expressed doubts about whether they should stop formally cooperating with Weber and the EPP-led European Commission.

On Wednesday the Socialist groups’ Spanish leader Iratxe García, held an in-person meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, and warned her that without a “real and public commitment” to working with the centrist groups that elected her for a second term last winter, the only other option is to “step out”, according to an S&D official.

“We cannot support anymore a project that legislates with the far right,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella's far-right Patriots – the very forces Weber says he wants to keep from power – are cheering their newfound role at the heart of the political power games in Brussels.

But for Weber, this is democracy. “People must see that if they no longer vote for the Greens or the Socialists, things change on the European level. If this is not the outcome of an election, then it's not democratic,” he argued.

He also lashed out at Iratxe's Socialist group – who have 136 MEPs to Weber's 188 – as out-of-touch with the new right-to-far-right political reality around Europe, and even with their own socialist colleagues in Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. “Please consider again what is going on outside of this Brussels bubble,” he said, also directing that comment at Renew Europe, the liberal group.

Weber, though, also offered a little olive branch to the socialists and liberals. “On the big question of MFF, on the big question of [the] future of competitiveness, we need each other. The door is always open,” he said.

The bespectacled Bavarian, almost 53, is at the height of his powers in Brussels, after a 21-year career as an MEP. Recently re-elected to lead the EPP’s umbrella of national parties, he said he had spent recent days preparing a pre-summit coordination meeting with the highest-level politicians in Europe. Could he be next in line to be Germany’s commissioner, and take Ursula von der Leyen’s space in the College of 27 commissioners? He didn’t deny it.

Read the full Q&A – touching on why the EU is a “think tank” and his plan to make EU defence advances irreversible – here.

“Mark Rutte is speaking Trump" – Kaja Kallas, in an interview with Euronews.

Packed agenda as EU leaders gather

Today’s European Council will kick off with a now customary breakfast meeting of countries who want to clamp down on migration. That group – led by the Dutch, Italians, and Danes – has now ballooned in size.

Other topics include simplifying EU rules, the mess in the Middle East, supporting Ukraine, looming US tariffs, and the economic threat from China. Most leaders arrived Wednesday night fresh from setting new NATO defence targets in the Hague.

Not physically present is Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as he’s in Strasbourg for the launch of a special tribunal to get justice for crimes committed by Russia. But he will video-call in.

Middle East tensions are set to dominate, with Iran and Israel’s actions in Gaza under the spotlight. Still, when it comes to Israel, EU leaders aren’t expected to go beyond 'taking note' of the ongoing review of its human rights record under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico are also expected to push to delay the Russian fossil fuel phase-out in return for greenlighting the EU’s 18th sanctions package. Von der Leyen and Fico will meet one-on-one to hammer something out. If there’s a political deal, then ambassadors could rubber stamp the package as soon as Friday. “We’re pretty confident it will be adopted on Friday,” said one European diplomat.

And when it comes to defence, von der Leyen and Kallas wrote to EU leaders yesterday, outlining how they want to move towards “a more autonomous and stronger European deterrence capability”. Priorities include investing in defence wherever possible, such as through the European Investment Bank where the pair wrote “We look forward to further steps the Bank may take, including on the revision of exclusions”.

Read our full preview of the summit.

Surprise guest at leaders’ dinner: Climate. After both the 2050 and 2030 climate targets were decided at the leaders’ level in Brussels, a coalition of countries including France, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia has demanded that the EU's 2040 target (due to be announced by the Commission on 2 July) should also be put to them – each of whom has a veto.

The issue didn’t make the official agenda for the leaders’ meeting today – but will pop up at dinner anyway, following a push from France, according to three sources. “We can’t just give ourselves another numerical target,” said a European diplomat, pointing to the need for “pragmatism”.

While the latest draft conclusions make no mention of the issue, some leaders are expected to raise the issue anyway – potentially brute-forcing language on the 2040 target into the final version.
Hungary threatens to charge Pride-goers

Viktor Orbán’s government has escalated its threats about Budapest Pride on 28 June, saying that anyone who attends will be committing a crime.

Hungary’s Justice Minister Bence Tuzson sent letters to EU countries and institutions, seen by the Capitals, writing that the Pride parade has been banned “with a view to protecting children’s rights” and “those who take part in an event prohibited by the authorities commit an infraction”.

According to the government, organising it qualifies as a “criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for up to one year”. That’s a clear warning to Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, who has vowed to go ahead with the event, saying “freedom and love cannot be banned”.

The letter is dated 24 June. Last night Ursula von der Leyen, released a pointed video message, calling on Hungarian authorities “to allow the Budapest Pride to go ahead without fear of any criminal or administrative sanctions against the organisers or participants”. Read more.

Internal ECR fight over attempt to blow up Commission

Giorgia Meloni’s man in the European Parliament is calling one of his MEPs to order over a long-shot attempt to bring a motion of censure against Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission.

ECR Co-chairman Nicola Procaccini sent an email to his MEPs last night – seen by the Capitals – putting the Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea (AUR party), in his place. Piperea claims to have gathered 72 signatures, enough to start the procedure to bring a motion of no confidence to the plenary (where the votes it would need are politically out of reach). His motion attacks von der Leyen over the Pfizergate scandal, but also criticises her handling of recovery funds and the circumvention of MEPs on the SAFE defence loans program.

Procaccini wrote: “Given that the motion of censure would not affect President von der Leyen directly – but the Commission as a whole body – including commissioners appointed by ECR governments, do you not think that such a decision should have gone through a group’s decision first?"

The leaders of the groups will discuss it on 2 July, and it'll almost certainly end there. But it will have been a great PR stunt for AUR leader George Simion, who failed to be elected Romanian president recently. Rumour has it that there is one EPP lawmaker on the signature list. If you know who it is, get in touch!

Budget budges: According to the Commission’s tentative new agenda, the second part of the package on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will be presented on 3 September while the first part remains scheduled for 16 July. The original plan, had been to present the two parts a week apart.

GERMANY

Berlin’s new government will no longer fund civilian sea rescue missions in the Mediterranean, German media reported. The Foreign Office had previously provided €2 million annually to NGOs such as Sea-Eye and SOS Humanity, which assist refugees in distress. However, the new conservative Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, has cut the funding from the upcoming budget, having previously described it as a “waste of tax money”. The NGOs may now be forced to wind down their operations.

FRANCE
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) will not support the motion of no confidence tabled by the Socialist Party (PS) against Prime Minister François Bayrou, following the failure of the “conclave” on pensions. According to the far-right party’s vice-president, Sébastien Chenu, the real “moment of censure” will come in the autumn, during negotiations over the 2025 budget.

CZECHIA
Five teenagers have been arrested in Czechia on suspicion of supporting ISIS, inciting hate speech, and planning an attack, following a cross-border investigation with Slovakia, Austria, and the UK. Local authorities have raised concerns over the growing threat of online radicalisation, particularly among youth. Read more.

POLAND
As the Polish Supreme Court prepares to rule on the validity of the presidential election, escalating disputes over vote-counting errors, ballot irregularities, and the potential impact on the election's outcome have ignited widespread controversy, with a fierce clash between PiS and the governing coalition. Read more.

Documents seen by Euractiv expose key claims in one of the most significant EU corruption probes ever.

In a significant move, the EU has reversed its decade-long stance on subsidies, now allowing member states to cover up to 50% of energy costs for firms to prevent them from relocating to countries with cheaper power, like China and the US. This major policy change, expected to last until 2030, aims to support energy-intensive industries while avoiding market distortions. However, the shift has sparked debate, with larger countries in favour and smaller ones concerned about unfair advantages.


The Commission has unveiled a new space law aimed at positioning the EU as a global regulator in the growing space industry. The legislation will require companies, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to comply with strict safety, resilience, and sustainability standards to operate within the EU market. While the law will not apply to existing satellites until at least 2030, it sets the stage for potential conflicts with non-EU companies seeking market access.

According to a leaked draft of an upcoming legislative package, the European Commission is considering relaxing restrictions on harmful chemicals in cosmetics. The proposal suggests easing the authorisation process for carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic substances in cosmetic products, raising concerns about increased consumer exposure to dangerous chemicals. The move has sparked strong opposition from consumer groups.

Lost in translation: The LIBE committee held a discussion Tuesday about the more than 2,000 people from Cyprus missing since unrest in the 1960s and the 1974 Turkish invasion. Their relatives were invited but Greek translation was not provided.

Socialist MEP Kostas Mavrides ended up translating for 79-year-old Charita Mantoles, a symbol for missing persons in Cyprus who lost almost all her relatives. Following complaints by Greeks and Cypriots a translator came, but the discussion was interrupted several times due to technical problems. An MEP at the meeting told Euractiv that the incident was “really insulting” toward Cyprus.

Contributors: Nick Alipour, Aneta Zachová, Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Niko J. Kurmayer, Sarantis Michalopoulos.

Editors: Vince Chadwick and Sofia Mandilara.