BERLIN — Germany’s opposition Greens are pressuring Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government to launch an investigation into potential German links to the Epstein files. The demands come as several other large European countries have set up task forces to investigate ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While the release of the files has shaken politics in the U.K., France and beyond, German politicians and business leaders remain relatively unscathed. That doesn’t mean an investigation is unwarranted, say the center-left Greens, if only to instill confidence in the public that possible links to Epstein have been fully probed. “It is extremely irritating that while all the other countries around us are taking action, pushing for clarification and taking measures, the German government has so far remained largely indifferent,” Irene Mihalic and Konstantin von Notz, senior lawmakers for the Greens, said in a joint written statement to POLITICO. “The government must take matters into its own hands and do its part to investigate these truly horrific acts — for the sake of the victims, but also for the security interests of our country.” Green party leaders note that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said earlier this month that Warsaw would investigate whether any links exist between Epstein and Russian secret services, including to establish whether still-active European officials are at risk of blackmail. Tusk called the matter a serious concern “for the security of the Polish state.” The Greens, hawkish on Russia, say Germany should follow Warsaw’s example, including by having domestic intelligence probe the matter. “Investigative mandates or investigative needs are the responsibility of the competent authorities,” Stefan Kornelius, Merz’s spokesperson, said last week in response to a reporter’s question on whether Berlin would launch a special investigation. “In this respect, the federal government has nothing to add to the statements made so far on Epstein.” In response to a yet-to-be published parliamentary inquiry from the Greens seen by POLITICO, the German interior ministry said it was “currently reviewing investigations” related to the Epstein files, and that it “does not comment publicly on measures taken by security authorities.” CONSPIRACY THEORIES PROLIFERATE Green party leaders counter that the German public needs an open investigation in order to counter proliferating online conspiracy theories related to the Epstein files, many of them propagating antisemitic worldviews. There was a “sustained surge” of antisemitic content across major social media platforms following the U.S. Department of Justice’s latest drop of documents related to Epstein and his crimes at the end of January, according to a study by Democ, a Berlin-based nonprofit that researches anti-democratic movements. In Germany, social media accounts associated with the extreme right have “adopted and amplified” such conspiracy theories, the study says. “If you leave it to others to explain and comment, conspiracy theories and narratives will sprout up,” Mihalic and von Notz said in their statement to POLITICO. “The federal government must finally counter such wild and sometimes absurd speculation with decisive and transparent action.” While no high-profile individuals in Germany have been directly connected to Epstein, German companies have been linked to the financier — most notably Deutsche Bank, which counted the convicted sex offender as a client. Germany’s largest bank had said it would cut ties to Epstein at the end of 2018, according to a Reuters report based on U.S. documents, but the institution only cut those ties following Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, the report says. “As repeatedly emphasized since 2020, the bank acknowledges its mistake in accepting Jeffrey Epstein as a client in 2013,” Deutsche Bank said in a statement sent to POLITICO. “Since then, the bank has invested substantially in training, controls, and improving its operational processes, and has significantly strengthened its controls to combat financial crime.” “We deeply regret our business relationship with Epstein at that time.” German lawmakers will discuss calls for an investigation during a Friday parliamentary debate initiated by the Greens.

LONDON — The European Commission has referred disgraced British politician Peter Mandelson to fraud investigators over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Commission is assessing whether Mandelson, a former EU trade commissioner, broke the bloc’s rules after recently released files suggested he gave Epstein information about a €500 billion bailout to save the euro in 2010.  A spokesperson for the European Commission told POLITICO: “Given the circumstances, and the significant amount of documents made available publicly, the European Commission also asked OLAF [the European anti-fraud office] on 18 February to look into the matter. Pending the ongoing assessment, we are not in a position to comment further.” Mandelson’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has previously said he was wrong to have continued his association with Epstein, who died in 2019, and apologized “unequivocally” to Epstein’s victims. Mandelson has said none of the Epstein emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice “indicate wrongdoing or misdemeanor on my part.” Mandelson served as a European commissioner between 2004 and 2008 and is now at the center of a scandal that has rocked the government of Keir Starmer in Britain. Police arrested Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct in public office on Monday, before releasing him on bail. Mandelson’s lawyers have previously said he is cooperating with the U.K. police investigation, and that his overriding priority is to “clear his name.” Recently published files suggest Mandelson helped provide Epstein with information about a €500 billion bailout to save the euro in 2010.  Mandelson was a senior British minister at the time and Epstein a financier. The Commission has previously said that former Commissioners remain bound by rules on ethical conduct.

ROME — Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is taking a big gamble by holding a referendum on judicial reform next month that could puncture her aura of invincibility.  For now, Meloni looks like an unstoppable force in Rome and Brussels, leading the most stable government Italy has seen in years. That makes the March 22-23 referendum a high-stakes maneuver. A win would cement her grip on power, and reinforce her image as politically invulnerable, but the vote could equally backfire. Referendums in Italy can easily morph into votes of confidence in the government, and Meloni will be acutely aware that former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had to step down after a failed referendum on constitutional reform in 2016. By seeking to overhaul the justice system, Meloni is venturing into one of Italy’s most combustible arenas, laying herself open to accusations that she is interfering in a fiercely independent judiciary, which right-wingers have often attacked for leftist bias. It’s a bitter debate with a long political heritage. Italy’s right is still smarting over landmark corruption cases that purged the Christian Democrat establishment in the 1990s and the ghost of Silvio Berlusconi, the former playboy prime minister and billionaire media tycoon who died in 2023, looms large over the vote. He complained that the 35 criminal cases against him were motivated by left-wing judges and magistrates, whom he slammed as a “cancer of democracy.” For decades, however, most governments have been wary of major restructuring of the legal system. But Meloni is now ready to move. Her supporters say the reforms proposed in March’s referendum will modernize a judicial system that is often criticized as slow, politicized and unaccountable, bringing it more closely into step with other European models. In practice, the changes sought are very technical. They address how judges and prosecutors are governed, hired and disciplined, separating their career paths and restructuring judicial oversight bodies. By elevating those questions into a flagship cause and taking them to the ballot box, Meloni has transformed this technical shake-up into a direct test of her authority. MODERNIZATION OR REVENGE? For Vice Justice Minister Francesco Paolo Sisto, the reform is long overdue. Disconnecting judges from prosecutors, he argued, would strengthen fairness and public trust in the courts. “A defendant who enters the courtroom knowing that his judge has no ties to the prosecutor will be reassured,” Sisto told POLITICO. “I’ve never seen a referee from the same city as one of the teams.” For Vice Justice Minister Francesco Paolo Sisto, the reform is long overdue. | Vincenzo Nuzzolese/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Critics, however, see something more insidious. They reckon the reform looks less like a neutral push for modernization, and more like an attempt to weaken judicial independence and increase political control over prosecutors. That perception is reinforced by the government’s increasingly confrontational rhetoric toward the courts. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has accused parts of the judiciary of acting as political “opposition” to the government, while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who has repeatedly faced prosecution over his hard-line migration policies, routinely casts judges as politically motivated and disconnected from public sentiment. Meloni herself has often framed judicial rulings as obstacles to her agenda. At a January press conference, she blamed court decisions for undermining her attempts to pass tougher law-and-order measures, asking: “How can one defend the security of Italians if every initiative meant to do so is systematically annulled by some judges?” To her opponents, that is exactly the sort of language that fuels the impression the reform is more about trying to assert dominance in a decades-long power struggle rather than striving for courtroom efficiency. Tension between Italy’s judicial and political classes dates back to the Mani Pulite (Clean Hands) prosecutions of the early 1990s, when prosecutors exposed a vast corruption network that wiped out an entire generation of politicians. On the right, that purge hardened into a lasting grievance: The belief that the judiciary is an unelected political actor, with unwarranted moral high standing. That was only compounded by the seemingly endless legal sagas around Berlusconi. Former prosecutor Piercamillo Davigo, who was part of the Mani Pulite team, has no doubt the reform was a political attempt to tame the judiciary. “It’s an attempt to control the judiciary as in Italy they are strong and really independent, not ruled by politicians,” he told POLITICO. “This reform will be damaging to independence and weaken [the] power of courts, giving government more power as government controls the disciplinary court.” Davigo rejected the government’s claim that judges obstructed policy for political ends, arguing that courts were instead enforcing legal constraints, including European law, on government initiatives such as plans to send migrants to processing centers in Albania. Opposition leaders echo that critique. Giuseppe Conte, leader of the populist 5Star Movement, said the reform did little to address chronic delays in the justice system and instead formed part of a broader institutional power grab. “The real goal is to divide and rule,” Conte told POLITICO, accusing the government of seeking a justice system “that no longer disturbs those in command.” INVINCIBLE OR VULNERABLE? The risk for Meloni is not legal or procedural, but political. Justice reform pits Meloni against a vocal and well-organized constituency with deep roots in the state. Similar proposals floated during Berlusconi’s first government in the mid-1990s triggered protests and contributed to the collapse of his coalition. Successors drew a lesson: avoid the fight. Similar proposals floated during Silvio Berlusconi’s first government in the mid-1990s triggered protests and contributed to the collapse of his coalition. | Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images Meloni’s decision, unforced by Brussels, market pressure or crisis, can be partly explained by her personal trajectory. She entered politics during the upheaval of the 1990s, and carries no personal baggage from that era. She is operating from a position of strength, leading a stable government and canvassing well. Polls suggest the gamble is finely balanced. Recent surveys show opponents of the reform slightly ahead, though awareness of details remains low. A recent poll by YouTrend forecast a win for opponents of the reform if turnout is low, with 51 percent voting against, whereas with higher turnout, the supporters of the reform would win, by a margin of 52.6 percent to 47.4 percent. A poll by SWG found 38 percent of the electorate supported the reform versus 37 percent against, with 25 percent undecided. Lorenzo Pregliasco, of the YouTrend polling agency, described the vote as an “unprecedented challenge” for Meloni. Mobilizing opposition, he noted, was often easier than building support for a complex reform, and center-left voters have historically been more reliable in turning out for referendums. Meloni could attempt to politicize the vote, turning it into a plebiscite on her leadership. But that strategy carries risks of its own. She has instead sought to distance herself from the outcome, stressing that she would not resign in the event of defeat. Even so, she will have to take ownership of the result. “If you’re the prime minister and you put a reform to a referendum, it’s inevitably also a vote on your government,” Pregliasco said. If she wins, the government could build on that momentum, and even attempt to force early elections, according to political analysts and polling experts such as Pregliasco. Meloni said in January that early elections “are not on her radar.” But equally the opposition could be revived by a defeat of the proposed reform, opening up the field in elections scheduled for 2027. If Meloni loses, she would no longer be seen as “invincible” said Pregliasco. “Her image as an effective and decisive winner would be damaged, and the political climate would change.”

PARIS — Jack Lang, a former French culture and education minister, tendered his resignation from his position as the president of the Paris-based Arab World Institute after the latest revelations about his and his family’s financial ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot “took note of his resignation” and launched the procedure to replace him, according to a statement dated Saturday. Lang, who first acknowledged financial ties to Epstein in a 2020 interview with POLITICO, was under mounting pressure after the prosecutor’s office for financial crimes opened a preliminary investigation for suspected “laundering of tax fraud proceeds” after French investigative outlet Mediapart reported the existence of an offshore fund based in the Virgin Islands and jointly held by Epstein and Lang’s daughter, Caroline Lang. Caroline Lang was also to inherit $5 million in Epstein’s will, according to Mediapart. Caroline Lang told the outlet that the fund was to support emerging artists and that she knew nothing of the will. “The accusations against me are inaccurate, and I will prove it, beyond the noise and fury of the media and digital courts,” Lang said in his resignation letter sent to Barrot. Contacted by POLITICO, Lang shared the resignation letter. In the latest wave of Epstein correspondence released by the U.S. Justice Department, Lang appeared in a picture with Epstein outside of the Louvre, and shared by Epstein with Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for U.S. President Donald Trump.  “Now at the pyramid,” Epstein wrote in March 2019. “With the entire govt.” Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and the Lang family maintained a close relationship over the years, Jack Lang and his daughter admitted last week. Jack Lang told POLITICO last week that he “never knew of Epstein’s crimes.” Jack Lang, 86, is a well known name in French politics and history after having served as culture minister under former President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and early 1990s, during which he initiated the renovation of the Louvre and the construction of the pyramid. He also launched the Fête de la musique, a fixture of France’s festive calendar celebrated on June 21.

BRUSSELS — Disgraced British politician Peter Mandelson is facing demands to be stripped of his pension as a former European commissioner if investigators found he broke EU rules over his contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.  Mandelson served as a European commissioner between 2004 and 2008 and is now at the center of a spiraling scandal in Britain. Newly released files showed how Mandelson, who was a senior British minister at the time, helped provide Epstein, then a financier, with information about a €500 billion bailout to save the euro in 2010.  The European Commission is looking into whether Mandelson broke its rules, which apply even after commissioners have left office, though ethics campaigners have called for a full fraud inquiry by independent investigators. Mandelson should lose the commissioner’s pension to which he is entitled if he’s found to have breached the rules, the campaigners said.  “Given the severity of allegations concerning Peter Mandelson’s deplorable relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the European Commission and European Anti-Fraud Office must pursue an immediate investigation to establish any potential misconduct both during and beyond his tenure as European Commissioner,” Nick Aiossa, director at Transparency International, a leading anti-corruption campaign group, told POLITICO. “Should it do so, Mandelson must be stripped of his Commissioner’s pension.” Daniel Freund, a Green MEP from Germany, condemned the lack of action and investigations against “the most powerful people on earth” over their links to the disgraced financier. “That EU commissioners were somehow involved with this universe is just outrageous,” he told POLITICO. “Taking away the pension would be justified if he broke any EU rules.” Mandelson, 72, was entitled to an inflation-linked pension reportedly worth £31,000 a year when he turned 65 for his four years as a European commissioner. This is on top of other any pensions from his time as an elected politician in the U.K. and in other roles. Mandelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has previously said he was wrong to have continued his association with Epstein and apologized “unequivocally” to Epstein’s victims. In a statement, the EU’s anti-fraud office, known as OLAF, said: “We cannot provide details regarding cases which OLAF may or may not be treating. This is to protect the confidentiality of any possible investigations and of possible ensuing judicial proceedings, as well as to ensure respect for personal data and procedural rights.” In London, Britain’s Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Mandelson should lose the severance payment he was entitled to when his career as U.K. ambassador to the United States ended over the Epstein scandal. Speaking to Times Radio, Streeting also suggested Mandelson could potentially be stripped of related pension entitlements. The opposition Reform UK party said Mandelson should lose the pension he’s entitled to receive as a former government minister. Noah Keate contributed to this report.

BRUSSELS — Senior European Commission officials hardly ever get the sack. On Thursday, one did. That was the twist in a tale that up until that moment had been classically Brussels. The protagonist: A little-known bureaucrat who had spent two decades working in the EU civil service. The allegations: Taking expensive gifts that aroused suspicions over conflicts of interest. “After nearly 22 years at the Commission, I am obviously disappointed,” Henrik Hololei told POLITICO only hours after he was informed of the decision. “But I’m happy that this long process has finally come to a conclusion.” While commissioners, the EU’s 27 political appointees, have been known to fall on their swords, there are few precedents for the dismissal of such a high-ranking civil servant, two senior officials familiar with the inner workings of the Commission said. Neither of the officials, who have several decades of EU experience between them, could remember any previous examples. Like other people interviewed for this article, they were granted anonymity so they could speak freely about Hololei and his downfall. The “long process” Hololei described totaled three years. It was in 2023 that POLITICO first revealed that the Estonian, who was then the EU’s top transport official, had accepted free flights from Qatar at the same time as negotiating a transport deal with the Gulf state that was beneficial to the country’s airline.   It couldn’t have come at a more inauspicious time. The initial reports emerged just a few months after the so-called Qatargate corruption scandal in the European Parliament, named after one of the countries linked to allegedly offering cash and gifts in return for favors. Hololei was not involved in that affair, but it added fuel to the argument from politicians and transparency campaigners that the EU needed to clean up its act. He resigned from his job within a month but didn’t leave the Commission. Soon after, he became special adviser in its international partnership division. The following year, French newspaper Libération reported additional allegations, including that he exchanged confidential details of the Qatar aviation deal in return for gifts for himself and others, including stays in a five-star hotel in Doha. This led to a probe by the EU’s Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which in turn led to the Commission’s investigation. On Thursday, the Commission announced that a senior official had breached the EU institution’s rules. These concerned conflicts of interest, gift acceptance and disclosures, according to three officials with knowledge of the investigation. They later confirmed the person in question was Hololei. ‘A LEGEND’ By his own admission, Hololei is a colorful character. Belying the clichéd image of a faceless bureaucrat, he’s known to do business over a drink or two. Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Irish airline Ryanair, who shared the occasional tipple with him, told POLITICO in 2023 that Hololei was “terrific.” His colleagues are just as glowing. On Thursday, a lower-ranking official who worked with him at the Commission described him as a “legend,” while a former transport lobbyist recalled seeing selfies of him holding up beers with industry representatives. “The feeling is they’re making an example of him,” said a person who works in the aviation field and met him during the course of his work. “He was undoubtedly passionate and determined to make EU transport better. He was a guy who just enjoyed the position he had. He was a people person.” Hololei talks to Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka at the European Transport Ministerial Meeting in Prague in 2022. Colleagues and industry figures might mourn the departure of a gregarious, engaging figure, | Martin Divisek/EPA What ultimately led to his dismissal was an investigation by IDOC, the Commission’s internal disciplinary body, the result of which is not public.  IDOC’s conclusions were shared with a disciplinary committee made up of staffers who have equal or superior rank to Hololei — a relatively small pool given his seniority. Following a series of interviews with Hololei, the committee sent its recommendation to the College of Commissioners for a final vote. That decision was taken in the past few days.  ‘LONG OVERDUE’ While colleagues and those in the industry might mourn the departure of a gregarious, engaging figure, European propriety campaigners are less sympathetic. “It’s almost three years to the day since revelations of Mr. Hololei’s impropriety broke,” said Shari Hinds, senior policy officer at Transparency International, an accountability-focused NGO. “Though long overdue, it is encouraging that the European Commission finally appears to be dealing out consequences proportionate to the gravity of these ethics violations.” Hololei, 55, who had taken a pay cut when he moved to the role of hors classe adviser from DG MOVE, as the transport department is known, will receive his pension from the Commission when he reaches retirement age. He has three months to lodge a complaint against the decision with the Commission. “Good to see there is an actual reaction,” said Daniel Freund, a Green member of the European Parliament, who campaigns on issues of accountability in the EU institutions. “So far, so good.” ‘MUCH MISSED’ A decade in Estonian politics — where he largely focused on European affairs — preceded his time at the Commission, starting in the cabinet of then-Estonian Commissioner Siim Kallas, the father of current EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, before moving into transport. It was in that role he became a “very much-loved boss,” according to the person who worked with him. “Even now he is still very much missed in DG MOVE. He was a good person to be around.” In the comments Hololei gave to POLITICO on Thursday afternoon, he was as gracious as so often described by those who know him. But in the end, the personality traits that endeared him to so many he worked with, in the Commission and in industry, weren’t enough to save his job.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Brussels was jolted this week by dawn raids and an alleged fraud probe involving current and former senior EU diplomats. Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Zoya Sheftalovich — a longtime Brussels Playbook editor who has just returned from Australia to begin her new role as POLITICO’s chief EU correspondent — and with Max Griera, our European Parliament reporter, to unpack what we know so far, what’s at stake for Ursula von der Leyen, and where the investigation may head next. Then, with Zoya staying in the studio, we’re joined by Senior Climate Correspondent Karl Mathiesen, Trade and Competition Editor Doug Busvine and Defense Editor Jan Cienski to take stock of the Commission’s first year — marked by this very bumpy week. We look at competitiveness, climate, defense and the fast-shifting global landscape — and our panel delivers its score for von der Leyen’s team.

BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen is separating herself from the corruption allegations engulfing the EU’s diplomatic service, with staffers saying it is a non-issue for the Commission chief. After Belgian authorities conducted dawn raids on Tuesday and detained the EU’s former top diplomat Federica Mogherini and ex-European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino, Commission officials dismissed it as an EEAS problem — noting that while Sannino took on a top job at the Commission earlier this year, the probe dates back to his previous role. “It’s not the Commission distancing itself, it’s a different institution that’s being investigated,” an EU official said. Helpfully for von der Leyen, Sannino fell on his sword Wednesday, with the Commission announcing he was gone from the helm of its Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf department (DG MENA). Three Commission officials forcefully argued the investigation launched Tuesday — into allegations the EEAS fraudulently awarded a tender to run a training academy for future EU diplomats to the College of Europe in Bruges — had nothing to do with von der Leyen, given the diplomatic service is a separate institution from the Commission. An EU official characterized attacks on the Commission chief as unfair and unwise, coming at a sensitive time when von der Leyen is attempting to shore up support for Ukraine ahead of a crunch December summit of EU leaders. The events take place against the backdrop of tensions between von der Leyen and the current boss of the EEAS, Kaja Kallas. Kallas, who was not in office at the time of the alleged corruption, has also sought to distance herself from the probe. On Wednesday, the former Estonian prime minister sought to drive home the idea that she had been working to clean up the EEAS since her appointment as the EU’s high representative in December 2024. In a letter to EEAS staff seen by POLITICO, the top EU diplomat wrote that she found the allegations against Mogherini and Sannino “deeply shocking,” but that these had predated her time at the EEAS. In the months since then, her team had launched internal reforms including setting up an “Anti-Fraud Strategy” and building stronger cooperation with the EU’s anti-fraud agency, OLAF, and the EPPO, she said. But at issue is who knew what in relation to the claims against Sannino. According to four EEAS employees, speaking to POLITICO in interviews prior to Tuesday’s raids, wider questions were raised about the way Sannino handled appointments for coveted diplomatic posts during his time at the service, including allegations that he had awarded them to favorites. Officials from OLAF visited the secretary-general’s offices prior to his departure from the EEAS, according to two people familiar with the matter. Kaja Kallas, who was not in office at the time of the alleged corruption, has also sought to distance herself from the probe. | Dursun Aydemir/Getty Images But an EU official said the Commission was not aware of prior complaints about Sannino when he was hired to be the head of a new department covering the Middle East and North Africa. In its statement announcing Tuesday’s raids, the EPPO said it had requested that authorities lift the immunity ― typically given to diplomats, protecting them from legal action ― of “several suspects” prior to the probe, and that this was granted. It did not specify which bodies it had made the requests to. The EU official mentioned above said the EPPO had directed a request to lift Sannino’s immunity to the EEAS in September, and that the Commission had not been made aware of it. An EEAS official did not respond directly to a question about whether such a request had been received. The official said the EEAS would have followed the law in such circumstances. The allegations are not proven and Mogherini, Sannino and the other individual who was detained are presumed innocent until deemed guilty by a court. Sannino did not immediately respond to a request for comment via his European Commission office. Tuesday’s events could also aggravate tensions between EU politicians and Belgian authorities. Two officials questioned the quality of the Belgian justice system, noting that authorities had held flashy press conference and detained suspects but then failed to advance cases in the 2022 “Qatargate” scandal and this year’s bribery probe into Chinese tech giant Huawei’s lobbying activities.

BRUSSELS ― Belgian police raided the EU’s foreign service and the College of Europe on Tuesday in a bombshell corruption probe — and detained two of the EU’s most powerful officials. Federica Mogherini, who once served as the EU’s top diplomat, and Stefano Sannino, a director-general in the European Commission, were questioned over allegations of fraud in the establishment of a training academy for diplomats. Mogherini was born in Rome, the daughter of a film set designer. She was elected to the Italian parliament in 2008 as an MP with the center-left Democratic Party and became Italy’s foreign minister in 2014, an appointment that, at the time, took many by surprise. The 52-year-old’s tenure was short-lived, as she was made the EU’s high representative — the foreign policy chief — the same year, a position she held until 2019. Her time in the job is perhaps most notable for her work on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. At the end of her five-year term, she became the rector of the Bruges-based College of Europe, a position she’s been in ever since. But her appointment was mired in claims of cronyism, as professors and EU officials argued that she was not qualified for the post, did not meet the criteria and applied after the deadline. She has also served as the director of the EU Diplomatic Academy, a program for junior diplomats across EU countries that is run by the College of Europe, since August 2022. It’s the academy that is at the center of the probe. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said it has “strong suspicions” that rules around “fair competition” were breached when the EEAS awarded the tender to set up the academy. Sannino, a career diplomat from Naples with a packed CV including various roles in Rome and Brussels, has served as director-general of DG Enlargement, permanent representative of Italy to the EU, Italian ambassador to Spain and Andorra and secretary-general of the European External Action Service (EEAS). He has championed LGBTQ+ rights and is married to Catalan political adviser Santiago Mondragón. He started his current role as director-general of DG MENA, the EU’s department for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf, in February. He has lectured at the College of Europe and at the diplomatic academy. None of the people questioned has been charged. An investigative judge has 48 hours to decide on further action.

BRUSSELS — Platforms including Meta and TikTok will be held liable for financial fraud for the first time under new rules agreed by EU lawmakers in the early hours of Thursday. The Parliament and Council agreed on the package of rules after eight hours of negotiations to strengthen safeguards against payment fraud. The deal adds another layer of EU regulatory risk for U.S. tech giants, which have lobbied the White House to confront Brussels’ anti-monopoly and content moderation rules. “This is a big win. A big, big step forward. We are coming from a reality where platforms are not liable under any law,” Morten Løkkegaard, the Danish Renew MEP who shepherded part of the package through Parliament, told POLITICO. “It is a historical moment.” Social media has become rife with financial scams, and MEPs pushed hard to hold both Big Tech and banks liable during legislative negotiations. EU governments, meanwhile, believed banks should be held responsible if their safeguards aren’t strong enough. As a compromise, lawmakers agreed that banks should reimburse victims if a scammer, impersonating the bank, swindles them out of their money, or if payments are processed without consent. But social media companies will have to compensate banks if it’s clear that they failed to remove an online scam that had been reported. Some MEPs had called for more amid concerns that EU consumer safeguards on social platforms have proven insufficient. “Especially, as AI and social-engineering fuel an unprecedented rise in scams,” said Lithuanian Greens lawmaker Virginijus Sinkevičius. The new rules build on the EU’s Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, which respectively limit the spread of illegal content and prevent large online platforms, such as Google, Amazon and Meta, from overextending their online empires. Breaching the DSA and DMA can come with huge fines, triggering pushback from the tech sector and U.S. President Donald Trump, who has accused the EU of discriminating against American companies. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has threatened to keep 50 percent tariffs on European exports of steel and aluminum unless the EU loosens its digital rules. Thursday’s deal triggered immediate criticism from the tech industry. “This convoluted framework undermines simplification efforts and conflicts with the Digital Services Act’s ban on general monitoring — ignoring multiple studies warning it will be counterproductive,” said CCIA Europe Policy Manager Leonardo Veneziani, whose trade body represents Amazon, Google, Meta and Apple. “Instead of protecting consumers, today’s outcome sets a dangerous precedent and shifts responsibility away from those best placed to prevent fraud,” he said.