Wednesday, May 23, 2018

MARK ZUCKERBERG APOLOGIZED. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER GUYS? Facebook’s founder-owner finally talked to European Parliament leaders Tuesday in a session that was originally to be behind closed doors, but ended up live-streamed after vigorous protests in the name of transparency. As expected, Zuckerberg said “I’m sorry,” and he even looked ready to say it in all of the EU’s official languages if it had been required of him.

But who will apologize for the sorry spectacle of EP leaders posturing, grandstanding, uttering flat sound bites and basking in the sound of their own great voices? All of a sudden the reason for transparency became clear. This was not about Zuckerberg, about Facebook, about the need to understand and properly regulate the data giants. This was about a dozen parliamentarians pretending to take the high road and insisting the moment be televised. And these are the EP’s “leaders.”

Laurens Cerulus has the full rundown, and you can relive the hearing blow-by-blow via our live blog.

ONE YEAR TO GO: The European election will start exactly one year from today, and Maïa de la Baume reports that despite efforts to improve accountability in Brussels, the quest for a more democratic EU has stalled.

FINAL CONTEDOWN

A TALE OF 3 CONTES: I’ve been a fan of Paolo for more than thirty years, and some friends tell me this guy isn’t too bad in his line of work (who am I to say?). But who’d ever heard of Giuseppe Conte before the 5Stars and League chose him as their coalition government’s preferred prime minister? Not even the Italians, it seems.

It looks like this Conte has a few issues with his less-than-candid, or let’s say creative, CV. He may well have visited a few prestigious universities abroad, but not quite as a student or scholar. So it may not matter that much, after all, if you didn’t know his name or won’t remember it, because he may not stick around much longer (usual caveats about the peculiar nature of Italian politics apply here, of course).

The more serious matter: The fear gripping financial markets that Italy may shake up Spain or Portugal, or even Ireland, in its wake. Investors are jittery and the dreaded so-called “spreads” on some eurozone countries’ bonds are up. Translation: It is more costly for Italy and the governments it pulls in its wake to borrow money than it was a few weeks ago. Back in April, Italy could still borrow over 10 years at 1.7 percent a year. Now it must pay 2.3 percent. Interest rates haven’t risen as much for the other countries, but it’s the trend that counts. Can anyone say “dominoes?”

Markets worrying doesn’t mean markets are right, of course. For now, it’s mostly bad political and economic signals sent by Rome that may or may not translate into actual deeds in the next few months. And to begin with, even the appointment of Giuseppe Conte isn’t a sure thing: It looks like Italian President Sergio Mattarella is balking at appointing an inexperienced professor to the job and doesn’t like the would-be PM pledging in advance to implement the 5Star-League platform.

Mattarella also doesn’t seem ready to accept lightly the appointment of Paolo Savona, an 80-year-old Euroskeptic economist who once said the eurozone is a “German cage,” as finance minister. The FT has the story of the reluctant president — who in Italy may not have much power on a day-to-day basis, but can exert much influence in decisive moments.

WAITING FOR EUR RECOMMENDATIONS: As it happens, today is the day of the so-called European semester when the Commission publishes its “country-specific recommendations,” — i.e. what type of economic policies it advises respective member governments to follow. Watch the beeline of pundits and politicians rushing to dissect what Brussels suggests Italy do at this stage — then wait for the reaction from Rome of the two would-be governing parties.

SHOW ME THE (RUSSIAN) MONEY

NOW MR. OLIGARCH, HOW DID YOU MAKE YOUR BILLIONS? Bracing for some fun times in the U.K. if the Tory government follows through on its warning that it will ask individuals with  “tier 1” visas (meaning they invest more than £2 million in the British economy) about the origin of their wealth. According to the Guardian, Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, who is still waiting abroad for his visa renewal, could be the first targeted by the new procedure. Just imagine the questions: “Now these ‘aluminum wars’ in the 1990s in Russia, they seemed to have left many dead, didn’t they?”

With Putin on terror, or against him? “The U.S. considered declaring Russia a state sponsor of terror, then dropped it,” ProPublica’s Sebastian Rotella writes. But after hesitating, “the Trump administration continued a longtime U.S. policy of treating Russia as a partner in fighting terrorism even as evidence of its misbehavior mounts.” Key to the decision, the role of U.S. intelligence services, who “have emphasized their continued support for a better counterterrorism partnership with the Putin regime” and “want to have a channel open to the Russians.”

HOW TO STEAL AN ELECTION IN BROAD DAYLIGHT: Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas have this little primer in Foreign Policy magazine. Could come in handy if ever you need to.

ELSEWHERE IN EUROPE

MEET EMMANUEL MACRON, THE ‘AVOCADO PRESIDENT’: He’s deep green on the outside but a much lighter middle. Paola Tamma and Kalina Oroschakoff have a severe review of the French president’s environmental record in his first year in office.

Macron: 1 year on. Nice BBC4 Briefing Room episode on the first anniversary of the French president’s election. (Though if you ask me, David Aaronovitch should be more careful about whom he interviews.)

Wine wars, a game that French billionaires win in the end: According to this nice little story from French wine monthly Revue des Vins de France, billionaire François Pinault (controlling shareholder of the Kering group, with brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and the like) had his eye on a prestigious Bourgogne vineyard, Clos de Tart (no jokes please). Standing in his way: China’s Jack Ma, of internet behemoth Alibaba, with deeper pocket and as strong a will, who kept outbidding him.

So what’s a French billionaire in distress to do? Call the finance minister and the French president’s chief of staff, of course, to lean on the selling family to convince them to pick the “right” buyer. What arguments were used to convince them to bid farewell to much money, we can only guess. Is this what Emmanuel Macron had in mind when he promised to build a new Europe that would protect its citizens?

They weren’t calling it street art yet: If you feel a bit depressed by the sad, small demonstrations that seem to happen in Paris every other day to locals’ general indifference (on Tuesday, unhappy civil servants; next Saturday, the far left) here’s a bit of time travel to the days 50 years ago when France was paralyzed by a general strike that lasted the better part of “the merry month of May” (to use the title of a rather good James Jones novel). Here’s a small sample of the May 1968 posters that the students of Paris’ prestigious art school, les Beaux Arts, were producing feverishly night and day — their workshop was probably the only place in France where people weren’t on strike.

TWEET DU JOUR: “In a two-horse race, Corbyn is running third.” — Times leader writer Oliver Kamm on the Labor leader polling third behind Theresa May and Don’t Know.

THEY SAY ATHENS WAS A DEMOCRACY ONCE: The big EU debate about “European values” is these days mostly about Poland, Hungary and their tendency to play loose with the rule of law — when not trampling on it altogether. Considering the way Greek authorities are treating Andreas Georgiou, the former head of the country’s statistics agency, you’d hope Brussels and EU governments would notice that something is seriously wrong in Athens, too.

The Tsipras government accuses Georgiou of falsifying Greece’s accounts to justify the country’s third bailout. Greek and foreign economists and statisticians think it’s rather due to his refusal to fiddle with the numbers on the government’s orders that he ended up having to defend himself in court, accused of “false statements and complicity against the state.” The country’s Supreme Court last week ordered, after two previous acquittals by a lower court, for him to stand trial again, for the third time. His friends and colleagues have launched a crowdfunding bid to help pay for his legal fees and organize his defense both in Greece and worldwide.

WHY RUGBY DADS HOLD THE KEY TO IRELAND’S ABORTION REFERENDUM: Sarah Wheaton reports on the role of male voters in this crucial referendum, as polls narrow.

POLAND PROTEST UPDATE: A sit-in protest in the lobby of Poland’s parliament of half a dozen mothers and their disabled children enters its sixth week today, Michał Broniatowski wrote in to report. Protesters say they are preparing banners and leaflets to distribute among hundreds of participants of the NATO parliamentary assembly, which convenes on May 25-28 in parliament buildings. Protesters are camping on a gallery over the lobby that leads to the lower chamber hall, where main sessions of the assembly will be held. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa visited the protesters on Monday and called on “miners and other groups to act in solidarity” with them. Michał sent in this pic of one of the banners.

AND THE WINNER IS … Poland’s Olga Tokarczuk has won the Man Booker International Prize for “Flights,” which the New York Times calls “a philosophical rumination on modern-day travel.” H/t Nirvi Shah

STEVE BANNON IN BUDAPEST: Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon will this evening speak at a conference in Budapest alongside the Hungary’s foreign minister and other figures connected to the ruling Fidesz party. H/t Lili Bayer

Meanwhile in D.C.: Trump has demanded changes to his communications team in an effort to crack down on the leaks that have plagued his presidency, our U.S. colleagues report.