Who’s afraid of whom in Brussels?

POLITICO’s spook-tacular Halloween guide to the EU bubble’s most frightful relationships.

By EDDY WAX,
BARBARA MOENS
and MAX GRIERA
in Brussels

^{Illustrations by Shane Cluskey for POLITICO}

Fall is a creepy time in the European Union capital.

Ghosts of ex-commissioners are haunting the Berlaymont, cobwebs are growing over dormant EU institutions, and bonfires of red tape are crackling.

As the nights draw in there’s a lot more to fear as new commissioners fret about the skeletons in their closets, or as ghoulish figures in the United States freak Eurocrats out. Over in the European Parliament, lawmakers prepare to pose that dreaded question: “Trick or treaty change?”

Here’s our guide to who’s scared of whom. 

Everyone is scared of Björn Seibert

Don’t be fooled by the low-key, soft-spoken charm of this German official.

As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s chief of staff, Björn Seibert is the guy who makes or breaks careers in the European institutions. “When Björn calls, you know it’s not good news,” said one senior diplomat, who like others spooked by Seibert was granted anonymity to speak nervously.  

Von der Leyen’s most trusted adviser, Seibert followed her in his inevitable sneakers from Berlin to Brussels in 2019. Their whispering in German about key personnel decisions in the Commission is now a common feature of life in the Berlaymont, the Commission HQ.

“The worst thing that can happen is if your file goes to the 13th floor,” said one Commission official, referring to the floor where von der Leyen’s Cabinet works.

“You never know whether it comes back down or not.” 

Von der Leyen is scared of Court of Justice of the EU

There are plenty of good reasons to be creeped out by a bunch of old men in Luxembourg wearing weird, flowing robes.

But Ursula von der Leyen has an additional one: her alleged lack of transparency over Covid-19 vaccine contracts. 

The European Commission is challenging an EU court decision reached in July that partly ruled against its decision to redact large parts of the contracts signed between the executive and pharmaceutical companies before making them available to the public.

In parallel, the Court of Justice will hear details of a second case next month — the “Pfizergate” legal battle over access to alleged text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the run-up to the EU’s Covid-19 vaccine deal.

Everyone is scared of Donald Trump

The pumpkin-themed president is on the cusp of a comeback — one that might even shock the EU into standing on its own two feet.

With just days to go until the U.S. election, Brussels is bracing for a potential second Trump presidency and what the emboldened Republican candidate could mean for the European Union. The bloc is preparing contingency plans if Trump holds back American financial and military support to Ukraine.

MEPs are scared of Olivér Várhelyi 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s man in Brussels has built a reputation for producing jump scares, whether it comes to enlarging the bloc or unilaterally cutting funding for Palestinians.

But the horror movie — as many would see it — could yet have a sequel. Olivér Várhelyi is preparing for a big interview to become the EU health commissioner, and his own comments and actions — like when he called MEPs “idiots” in the European Parliament last year — might come back to bite him.

There has also been an outcry among health-focused European lawmakers and organizations, who were spooked by his inexperience in healthcare policy.

The scariest part of the equation could be what happens if Várhelyi doesn’t make it through his parliamentary hearing. Rumors abound that Orbán could propose a replacement with even closer ideological ties to him, or even delay the process for months.

Orbán is scared of the European People’s Party

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is the nightmare keeping EU leaders awake at night, not least because he blocks decisions among heads of government and flies to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But he has his own demons in Brussels. 

The European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament has thrown its doors open to Orbán’s main nemesis, opposition leader Péter Magyar, who is now polling above Orbán’s Fidesz party in Hungary.

Back home, that warm welcome is bolstering Magyar in his campaign against Orbán, who was himself an EPP member before they parted ways three years ago.

“You did not win the [EU] elections, Fidesz is not the winner of the elections … the EPP, we win elections,” EPP chief Manfred Weber recently told Orbán during a debate in the European Parliament. “I know you are nervous … Péter Magyar will defeat you in Hungary,” he added. 

Socialists are scared of Raffaele Fitto 

Europe’s Socialists don’t think Italy’s new commissioner is Fitto for office.

What’s scaring them is that Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, elected in 2022, has managed to put one of her strongest allies at the heart of the EU project in Brussels, a city that has traditionally been run by a firm handshake between Socialists and the center-right EPP.

Fitto, who could be in charge of cohesion policy if approved in commissioner hearings next week, would be a top player in the European Commission, and an executive vice president no less, meaning other commissioners will need to report to him.

In the days before the commissioner hearings, that will jangle the nerves of Socialists who don’t want to see their influence on the policy agenda disappear.

Diplomats are afraid of the French ambassador

Philippe Léglise-Costa, the French ambassador to the EU, is so notorious in the Brussels bubble that he’s known as “PLC.”

He is one of the key members of Coreper, meetings where envoys of the EU’s 27 member countries try to bridge their differences on a wide range of EU policies.

Léglise-Costa doesn’t just represent French interests, he is also one of the most experienced and skilled political operators of all the ambassadors.

Newcomers to Brussels know how important it is to get PLC and his German counterpart, Michael Clauss, on their side to get deals done. Speaking French helps, but the main thing is not to be intimidated when PLC tries to corner you with his technical savviness on key files. 

Migrants are scared of Magnus Brunner 

Don’t even try coming to Europe or you’ll end up in a “return hub” — that’s the message the EU is now aggressively sending to people trying to enter the bloc without the needed paperwork.

Magnus Brunner, set to be the new commissioner for migration, will have the job of hammering home that message — and making the threat real. The Commission is also planning a revamped law on deporting people back to their home countries.

The incoming Austrian commissioner is a tennis enthusiast who plans to use his court skills to swat away asylum claims.

No one is scared of the European ombudsman 

EU transparency and ethics czar Emily O’Reilly is about to step down from the job she’s held since 2013 — but the only thing that could scare you is the “O” in her name. 

That’s because the ombudsman only has the power to slap the European Commission on the wrist and accuse it of “maladministration” — basically being shoddy at its job — rather than actually punish it.

Giedrė Peseckyte and Jacopo Barigazzi contributed reporting.