euobserver: German ex-commissioner Oettinger lands Orban job

According to the commission's rules, former commissioners have to notify the EU executive with "a minimum of two months' notice of their intention to engage in a professional activity during a period of two years after they have ceased to hold office". [...]

Oettinger has informed the commission that the Hungarian government had discussed with him a possible function in the Hungarian National Science Policy Council, a commission official said when asked by EUobserver on the matter. [...]

In 2016, Oettinger used a private plane for a travel to Budapest offered by a German businessman with strong Kremlin ties, Klaus Mangold, which possibly broke EU ethics rules - even though the commission at the time considered it to fall outside of its transparency and ethics rules.

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Politico: Grazie Günther!

Instead of embracing the poll’s outcome, however, Tsipras fired Varoufakis. To keep the bailout funds flowing, Tsipras set about implementing everything the EU and other creditors had been demanding for months with the zeal of a convert. The reason? As tough as the bailout terms were, the alternative — default and ejection from the euro — was worse. [...]

Italians may opt to learn Greece’s lesson the hard way. If they do, there’s a good chance the euro won’t survive. Considering the difficulty Europe had coping with Greece, a country the fraction of Italy’s size, there’s little hope the common currency could withstand such a crisis.

The consequences of such a scenario would obviously be catastrophic, not least for Italy, whose savers would see the value of their assets decimated if the country reverts to the lira. Italy’s massive debt load, now at €2.4 trillion, would continue to balloon as its borrowing costs surged, assuming it could even find investors.

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Politico: Macron and Merkel talk … Martin Selmayr

Juncker, who told EPP colleagues Thursday that “if [Selmayr] goes, I go,” has faced sustained questions ever since about how his key ally — widely admired and feared in Brussels for his ruthless reputation — managed to secure a position that will see him stay at the apex of EU power after Juncker’s own mandate expires in 2019.

The affair caused such outrage that after sending more than a hundred questions to the Commission, the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee will hold a public hearing on the issue next week with Günther Oettinger, the human resources commissioner. MEPs are also set to vote on a resolution on the nomination of Selmayr on April 19 (although no matter the result, they can’t do anything about his appointment). [...]

Macron made a plea for transparency and praised the free press, admitting he “fully understood” the reactions to Selmayr’s super-fast promotion. He also encouraged journalists and the European Parliament to continue examining the issue. [...]

“To anyone who thinks because he’s a German citizen that he does what suits Germany, that’s not the impression that we have,” Merkel told reporters. “He makes decisions in a very European way. He’s also someone who pays attention to efficiency when it comes to decisions — who makes sure decisions are actually implemented. And I very much welcome that because some processes in Europe take a very long time

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Politico: Brussels goes to war against plastic garbage

The Commission certainly is. The strategy includes new requirements to design products that are recyclable, and EU-wide quality standards for plastic waste, which can then be more easily plugged back into the production chain. It will also encourage producers to use as much recycled material as possible. To help, Brussels will spend €100 million a year on plastics recycling and clean-up research.

A surprise proposal last week by Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger to bring in a plastic tax — aimed both at shoring up the bloc’s finances after Brexit and making it more expensive to litter and widely resisted by industry and some NGOs — managed to get a mention in the strategy. [...]

The Commission also focused on seas, where each year between 150,000 and 500,000 tons of plastic waste enters the oceans. The strategy calls marine litter — debris from items such as plastic products and abandoned fishing gear — a “visible and alarming” sign of the problem of waste.

The EU also wants to crack down on microplastics — minuscule bits of plastic less than 5 millimeters in size. Brussels is considering a ban on intentionally added microplastics found in cosmetics, body washes and paints. It also wants to carry out more research into unintentional microplastics, like the rubber worn off tires.

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