SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER! European Parliament’s gone for the rest of the season … The next Council meeting is scheduled for the end of August, when defense and foreign ministers will meet in Helsinki … And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, eager to prove the Commission is always open for business, has sent round the customary roster of stalwarts on duty over the next five weeks.
En permanence: Violeta Bulc has the first shift. Next Monday, Johannes Hahn takes over for a week, according to the memo seen by Playbook. Cecilia Malmström is on duty from August 3-9, passing the baton to Neven Mimica for the central week of summer holidays. Maroš Šefčovič will be in charge August 21-25. Future “executive” vice presidents Margrethe Vestager and Frans Timmermans will get a taste of being the (acting) boss: Vestager will run the place from August 18-20; Timmermans from August 26-September 1.
What will they do? It’s Juncker’s way telegram data of showing other EU institutions, national capitals and even citizens that politics can’t always wait until the rentrée. There must always be someone in the office to answer the Berlaymont’s phone, sign official papers, or to react to any emergency.
GOOD FRIDAY MORNING. Playbook will be with you all summer as usual (though we’ve got a summer rota in place too from August 5). Enjoy your cool and wet weekends, after Thursday’s Europe-wide heatwave smashed records.
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