MIDDAY BRIEF, IN BRIEF

Today at Commission, Trump and Romania anxiety

And a healthy dose of comitology.

There was plenty to report from the college of commissioners’ meeting and, unsurprisingly, it started with Donald Trump.

The official topic was European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič delivering “state of the energy union” talking points, but that was never going to last long.

‘Growing anxiety’ over Trump’s world

Šefčovič said commissioners discussed the “complex international environment” and how the EU must choose between the “inequality [and] national egoism” displayed by the Trump administration or the “openness, social equality and solidarity” that defines the EU. The Slovak commissioner added there was “growing anxiety” about the transatlantic relationship and reminded the Trump team that “the U.S. never had a better ally than Europe.”

Dizzied by the non-stop executive actions from the White House, Šefčovič lamented “House of Cards has become too slow” as preparation for understanding Washington.

Interestingly, after Donald Tusk’s letter slamming Trump’s “worrying declarations,” the Commission is pushing EU leaders to take a common line on the transatlantic relationship. Why? Brussels wants the EU to assert itself as the United States’ top foreign investor.

Fight against corruption …

Jean-Claude Juncker and Frans Timmermans said in a statement: “The fight against corruption needs to be advanced, not undone. We are following the latest developments in Romania with great concern. The irreversibility of the progress achieved in the fight against corruption is essential for the Commission to assess whether at some point monitoring under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism could be phased out … The Commission warns against backtracking.”

Šefčovič backed the big dogs up, saying Romania’s new decree decriminalizing graft cases that cost the public purse less than €45,000 “sends the wrong signal.”

Words you never want to hear: “Orientation debate on comitology”

Lawyers, lobbyists and other EU geeks are feeling the heat after the Commission confirmed that on February 14 it will present its reforms on the comitology procedure (for the uninitiated, it’s a classic made-up EU word for complicated implementation rules).

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Intended reforms include to re-open a European Pandora’s Box, the 2011 regulation on how EU law implementation is shared between member countries and the Commission. Thousands of decisions are decided under those rules annually.

Šefčovič expressed frustration at national governments, saying they “are hiding behind the screens” on controversial issues, leaving “the Commission to take the political responsibility.”

State of the Energy Union

The Commission vice president said the report was a “wake-up call” for 11 EU states that produce less than 10 percent of their electricity from renewables sources. He said €379 billion will be needed for the EU meet its 2030 climate goals, the Commission now estimates. That’s ratcheting up the rhetoric from the written report launched today, which paints a quite sunny picture of national renewable efforts.

Asked by a Polish journalist to comment on the reluctance of Polish authorities to cut investment in coal power plants, Šefčovič said: “Air pollution is extremely dangerous for Polish society and future.” Read of all POLITICO Pro’s energy and environment takeaways here.

There will be no midday briefing on Friday because of the EU leaders’ summit in Malta.