You’re reading Rapporteur on Thursday 19 February. This is Nicoletta Ionta, with Eddy Wax in Brussels.

Need-to-knows:

🟢 Von der Leyen’s Frontex dream hits capitals’ resistance

🟢 EU countries push back on Šuica’s ‘Board of Peace’ trip

🟢 Germany sends official to Trump’s Gaza peace meeting

Ursula von der Leyen wants a bigger, stronger Frontex. Much bigger. Her headline proposal – to expand the EU border and coast guard agency’s standing corps to 30,000 officers – would triple the target set under the bloc’s 2019 regulation, which foresaw 10,000 border guards by 2027.

There’s just one problem: governments aren’t buying it.

According to a recent Council summary of discussions among national capitals, seen by Rapporteur, a majority "do not perceive at this stage an added value or operational need for any significant enlargement."

Created in 2004 to help manage mounting pressures at the EU’s external borders, Frontex has since grown rapidly in budget, personnel and political visibility. It has also accumulated controversy, including allegations of fundamental rights violations and pushbacks, culminating in the 2022 resignation of its then-executive director, Fabrice Leggeri, now a far-right MEP. The agency’s operational credibility remains under scrutiny.

Brussels nonetheless wants to press ahead. Tripling Frontex’s border guards would require a review of the agency’s regulation – a change that the executive is expected to present later this year. Even meeting the existing 10,000-officer target has proved difficult, with the number of officers currently hovering around 8,000. The leap to 30,000 is therefore being received in national capitals with a degree of scepticism bordering on disbelief.

EU capitals will revisit the agency’s future next week at technical level, in the first such discussion under Cyprus’ Council presidency.

Political signals are already emerging. Last week, a coalition of ten countries – Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovenia – sent a non-paper, seen exclusively by Rapporteur, to the Commission ahead of the 2026 reform, warning against any dramatic expansion of Frontex’s mandate.

Where there is greater alignment is on returns. Several diplomats say that, if there is appetite for strengthening Frontex, it lies in turning the agency into a more effective deportation arm for EU countries. Beyond that, consensus frays. Governments remain divided over whether Frontex should take on more security or defence-related functions.

Read the full story by my colleague Charles Cohen and me.

Capitals side-eye peace trip

Led by France, several EU capitals pushed back against plans to send Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica to Donald Trump's “Board of Peace” meeting in Washington today. Three diplomats said governments were frustrated that the European Commission appeared ready to insert itself into sensitive geopolitical discussions without a formal mandate.

One EU diplomat said Wednesday’s clashes were “unusually tough,” reflecting tension between some countries and the EU executive. While capitals guard their own right to engage internationally, several argued that Brussels needs a green light first.

Ahead of her trip, Šuica told Rapporteur she would “reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the Palestinian people” and seek to “facilitate regional and international partners acting together for Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that over 20 countries are expected to attend the meeting.

Norway’s diplomatic elite in scandal

Norway’s carefully curated image as a high-minded broker of peace is under strain as corruption charges, missing archives and years-old ties to Jeffrey Epstein reach deep into its diplomatic elite, my colleague Jacob Wulff Wold writes in his deep dive into how the scandal is shaking the country’s political establishment.

Prosecutors have charged key architects of the Oslo Accords, while scrutiny now extends from former prime ministers to the royal household. For a country that has long traded on trust as a strategic asset, the scandal risks eroding the moral authority that underpinned its global clout.

Maritime row over sanctions

EU ambassadors failed to strike an agreement on the bloc’s 20th sanctions package against Russia yesterday.

The measures include a full ban on providing insurance and other services to Russian oil tankers. Malta and Greece have raised concerns about the potential impact on their shipping industries. But other issues remain, including over specific listings of vessels linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” several diplomats briefed on the talks told my colleague Thomas Møller-Nielsen and me.

Ambassadors are due to resume discussions on Friday, with further talks possible over the weekend, in an effort to finalise the package before 24 February – the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Do you know you have 30 days?

Von der Leyen has reopened one of Europe’s most sensitive energy debates, catching both Brussels officials and power companies off guard by signalling possible changes to the EU’s electricity market design.

Under the "merit order" system, the most expensive plant required to meet demand sets wholesale prices. The mechanism came under intense scrutiny during the 2022 gas price surge, particularly from Greece, but reform efforts stalled. With leaders expecting proposals by 19 March, officials at the Commission’s energy department have been given 30 days to produce options.

Read my colleague Nikolaus J. Kurmayer’s full story.

Creative accounting for migration

References to “innovative solutions” on migration have been inserted into the EU’s €200 billion Global Europe instrument, three diplomats told Rapporteur.

Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and other like-minded countries pushed for the wording, which can encompass policies ranging from offshore asylum processing and expanded “safe country” lists to proposals for EU-managed return hubs, Rapporteur first reported.

The language appears in a recital rather than in the binding provisions of the legislation, potentially limiting its legal force. However, one diplomat said it still “creates an opening” that could later be used to justify funding.

Enlarged team: Jack Parrock, the Brussels-based DW journalist, will join the cabinet of Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos as communications adviser.

BERLIN 🇩🇪

Germany will send Christian Buck, a foreign ministry official responsible for Gaza, to Thursday’s meeting of Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Washington, the ministry said. His attendance signals high-level engagement without Berlin formally signing up to the initiative. Germany reiterated its support for peace in Gaza, while stressing that the UN remains the appropriate forum for conflict resolution and that participation does not constitute official endorsement.

– Nicoletta Ionta

PARIS 🇫🇷

Police briefly evacuated the Paris headquarters of France Unbowed (LFI) on Wednesday after a bomb alert, as the hard-left party faced mounting scrutiny over alleged links to the dissolved antifascist group Jeune Garde. Several former members, including two aides to LFI MP Raphaël Arnault, were arrested over the fatal assault of a far-right activist. Party coordinator Manuel Bompard condemned the bomb threat and warned against “intimidation” in political debate.

– Laurent Geslin

WARSAW 🇵🇱

The ruling coalition was jolted after Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska and more than a dozen MPs quit junior partner Poland 2050 to form a new caucus, Centre. The split follows a bruising leadership contest and months of dire polling. Donald Tusk insists his majority remains intact, but the fragmentation of the centre underscores growing strain inside his pro-EU governing camp.

– Christina Zhao

STOCKHOLM 🇸🇪

Sweden’s centre-right ruling Moderate Party has proposed offering chemical castration to convicted paedophiles, potentially as a condition for early release. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said the treatment would remain formally voluntary but could be tied to parole eligibility. The proposal forms part of what the party calls an “offensive” against child sexual abuse before next year’s election, alongside a register of high-risk offenders and curbs on internet access, modelled on the UK.

– Charles Szumski

MADRID 🇪🇸

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told parliament he would resign only if the alleged victim of sexual abuse by a senior police official felt “let down” by him. The country’s second-most senior police officer has stepped down over the allegations, fuelling calls from police unions and the conservative opposition for the minister to quit. Critics say he knew of the claims. Marlaska also dismissed another officer accused of silencing the complainant.

– Inés Fernández-Pontes

VIENNA 🇦🇹

President Alexander Van der Bellen backed extending compulsory military service, citing the geopolitical climate and the need to improve troop readiness. A January commission recommended lengthening the current six-month term and expanding reserve training, with reforms slated for 2027. The conservative ÖVP supports an eight-month model, but coalition partners remain cautious, leaving the government short of the two-thirds majority required for change.

– Kjeld Neubert

As Washington and Tehran talk in Geneva, the Pentagon is speaking in a different register – surging carriers, stealth fighters and refuelling tankers into the Gulf in a show of force that dwarfs last year’s 12-day clash. Diplomacy may be inching forward, but with Iran accused of stalling and Israel warning of a “strategic” missile threat, the military balance is shifting faster than the negotiations.

In his latest column, Euractiv’s Simon Nixon makes the case that Europe’s ambitions for strategic autonomy will falter without common borrowing.

Joint EU debt, he argues, would help finance shared investments in defence and technology while strengthening the euro’s global role. The political resistance, especially in Germany, reflects old anxieties about fiscal union. But Nixon suggests that in a more volatile geopolitical landscape, Europe may find the greater risk lies in caution.

Contributors: Charles Cohen, Thomas Møller-Nielsen, Jacob Wulff Wold, Nikolaus J. Kurmayer, Magnus Lund Nielsen

Editors: Christina Zhao, Sofia Mandilara, Charles Szumski