Welcome to Rapporteur, the newsletter formerly known as The Capitals. I’m Eddy Wax, joined by Nicoletta Ionta in Brussels. Each day we’ll bring you up to speed on the stories shaping the EU and European politics.

Need-to-knows:

• Gaza: Britain, Canada, and Australia recognise Palestinian state

• Commission: Ursula von der Leyen’s interview with 8 papers exposed as pre-scripted

• Ukraine: Russian drone incursions revive EU talks of a no-fly zone

But first, we turn to a foreign policy play taking place across the Atlantic...

The EU’s top brass are descending on New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly, bringing with them a diplomatic push heavy on symbolism: recognition of Palestine.

France has announced plans to move ahead, joining Britain, Canada and Australia, which acted over the weekend. At a world leaders conference today, several European countries – including Luxembourg, Malta, Belgium, and Portugal – are expected to follow suit, issuing a rebuke to Israel even if it carries little practical weight.

Palestine has no settled borders and no single government. And as Israel pushes into Gaza, the territory lies in ruins, its people hungry and still under the control of Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, firmly backed by Washington, has built his politics on rejecting precisely this statehood.

With the two-state solution already the consensus across much of Europe and beyond, the question is whether recognition makes a difference.

For Emmanuel Macron’s Middle East adviser, Ofer Bronchtein, it does. In an interview with my colleague Laurent Geslin in Paris, he called it a “small diplomatic tsunami” – a move that could paradoxically bolster Israel’s security by easing its isolation and forcing its right-wing to far-right coalition to rethink the Gaza war.

Macron has argued that the two-state solution framework runs counter to Hamas’ aims, and that revitalising it is necessary if Israel is to avoid pariah status.

In a recent CBS interview, he stressed that France would not open an embassy in Palestine until Israeli hostages are freed, underscoring the delicate balancing act in Paris. He also urged isolating Hamas while condemning Israel’s campaign in Gaza as excessive.

So far, 25 EU countries – including Germany, but not Czechia and Hungary – have joined a statement led by France and Saudi Arabia calling for two states and declaring Hamas must not govern Gaza. Still, recognition by many countries this week, celebrated by Hamas, is not contingent on Hamas relinquishing power.

The push comes as Europe’s role on the world stage appears increasingly diminished. Leaders in Brussels make lofty speeches and symbolic gestures but are absent from the negotiating tables on Gaza and Ukraine. The EU has also stood by despite multiple Russian forays into its airspace in recent weeks. By contrast, Turkey in 2015 shot down a Russian jet in 17 seconds.

Meanwhile, the bloc has barely begun implementing Mario Draghi’s economic recovery plan. Ursula von der Leyen deflected blame onto other EU institutions, floated measures on Israel unlikely to pass, and signed a trade deal that locks the continent more tightly into American energy.

Talk of European independence rings increasingly hollow. Von der Leyen’s latest interview, a written Q&A with little journalistic engagement, seemed emblematic of retreat.

As with the elusive security guarantees for Ukraine, Europe’s declarations on the Middle East are loud but largely disconnected from the realities of war. 

The interview that wasn’t

In contrast to Donald Trump’s near-daily jousts with the press, von der Leyen prefers short videos or carefully placed op-eds. Press conferences and sit-down interviews are rare.

So it came as a surprise when eight major newspapers – including Die Welt, El País, and Le Figaro – splashed what they called an “exclusive” interview with her this weekend. The Leading European Newspaper Alliance claims over 90 million online readers and boasts that its journalists “regularly conduct interviews with leading politicians.”

But only Le Soir revealed the backstory. As reporter Agathe Decleire explained, the newspapers “used all their weight” to secure an actual sit-down with von der Leyen, but Brussels imposed conditions: no in-person meeting, only pre-submitted written questions, then answers drafted by von der Leyen’s communications team without the possibility of edits.

This “control freak” format, Le Soir wrote, made it impossible to ask follow-up questions or deviate from the Commission’s jargon. To add insult, the EU executive messed up the papers’ plans by sending approval 24 hours later than agreed.

Rapporteur has learned that the question list was whittled down from 18 to 15, after months of wrangling. No news was made in the Q&A, still, they all published anyway.

What the eight papers – two of them Swiss, and thus not even EU media – got in return was face time of a different kind: a private lunch last Wednesday at the Berlaymont with von der Leyen and their CEOs, top editors, and publishers – not their reporters. The meeting, not on the Commission chief's official calendar, was billed off the record.

It gave media executives an opportunity to lobby von der Leyen about their battles with tech giants – apparently a higher priority than holding her to account.

Should the skies be closed?

Russian drones straying into Poland and Romania have reignited calls for a Ukraine no-fly zone, though allies remain divided.

Brussels and eastern capitals are instead testing smaller steps – from anti-drone funding to a proposed “Drone Wall,” Aurélie Pugnet reports in Firepower, Euractiv’s defence newsletter, now firing off daily.

Capitals snub tobacco tax for EU budget

€122 billion hangs in the balance as EU countries push back against the Commission’s plan to bankroll its next budget with new tobacco and corporate levies, Jacob Wulff Wold reports.

The proposed Corporate Resource for Europe (CORE), an up to 0.1% levy on the net turnover of large companies, drew fire from Germany and others as potentially illegal and harmful to competitiveness. About 14 countries rejected the tobacco tax outright, arguing EU revenues should add value rather than simply shift money from national budgets.

BERLIN 🇩🇪

A new poll puts the far-right Alternative for Germany neck-and-neck with Merz’s Christian Democrats, each backed by 26% of voters. The result, coming days after the AfD surged in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state, signals that the party’s rise is no longer confined to the east, and that it could pose a durable challenge to Germany’s traditional parties well ahead of the next federal election in 2029.

PARIS 🇫🇷

Michel Barnier, the Fifth Republic’s most short-lived prime minister, appears ready for a return to the National Assembly a year after censure. In a Paris by-election, the Les Républicains veteran drew about 45% of the vote, far ahead of the Socialist candidate, Frédérique Bredin, on 31%. The race in the second constituency – spanning the 5th-7th arrondissements – followed the annulment of Macronist Jean Laussucq’s victory for campaign finance violations. A September 28 run-off looms.

ROME 🇮🇹

Italy is again weighing a €1.5 billion deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink, with his representative Andrea Stroppa predicting an agreement is inevitable. A government review, reported by il Fatto Quotidiano, concluded that both Italy and the EU lack viable alternatives to Musk’s satellite network, calling it superior to the bloc’s Iris2 project. The plan, long dormant amid concerns over strategic autonomy, now appears back in play.

MADRID 🇪🇸

PM Pedro Sánchez on Sunday accused former conservative leader José María Aznar of ignoring what he called Israel’s “barbarity” in Gaza, after Aznar charged him with exploiting the conflict to distract from domestic troubles. As the war of words unfolded, Spain’s foreign minister headed to New York to unveil this capital’s proposals on ending wars in Ukraine and the Middle East at the UN.

THE HAGUE 🇳🇱

Dutch politicians from across the spectrum united over the weekend to condemn violence by far-right rioters in this capital, where an anti-immigration protest turned ugly with a highway blockade, a police car set on fire, and vandalism of liberal party D66’s offices. Its leader, Rob Jetten, blasted the rioters as “scum,” VVD’s Dilan Yeşilgöz and caretaker PM Dick Schoof also denounced the attacks, and even far-right PVV leader Geert Wilders called the scenes “unacceptable.”

WARSAW 🇵🇱

NATO plans to send Turkish Merops airspace surveillance systems to Poland and Romania after recent violations of their skies, the German Press Agency reported. The technology, introduced in 2022 and able to spot enemy systems through cloud and dust, can be mounted on helicopters or drones. Training to operate it, with Ukrainian support, is expected to start in the coming days.

BUDAPEST 🇭🇺

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has urged EU foreign chief Kaja Kallas to label Antifa a terrorist group, citing the case of Ilaria Salis, a far-left MEP arrested in this capital in 2023 but released after winning her seat. He warned that suspects had “found safe haven” in EU states and that trials were suspended once immunity applied, as Parliament’s legal affairs committee prepares to decide on lifting Salis’ protection on Tuesday.

European farmers, reeling from what they describe as a “black summer,” are weighing street protests in Brussels as trade disputes and looming subsidy cuts strain their ties with Brussels.

The EU has launched the process to ratify its Mercosur trade pact, is negotiating with Washington and Beijing, and is considering a proposal to reduce the Common Agricultural Policy budget by 30% – moves that could sharply test its relationship with the bloc’s farmers.

The EU opens political negotiations today on a plan to strengthen its defence industry, but fights over money and eligibility threaten progress.

The European Defence Industrial Programme would pool procurement and support Ukraine, but while the Commission, Council, and Parliament initially earmarked €1.5 billion, MEPs have pitched for billions more. A deadline in October looms, highlighting Europe’s difficulty forging common defence policy even as war rages on its doorstep.

➡ Costa attends the UN General Assembly through 25 September

➡ Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 22-23 September

➡ Ribera delivers the closing speech at Climate Week NYC: “The Opportunity Case for Acceleration"

➡ Brunner meets Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees

➡ Metsola meets Andrew Puzder, US Ambassador to the EU

Outside the Berlaymont building, NGOs plan to stage a protest this morning urging Competition Chief Teresa Ribera to break up Google.

The demonstration follows the Commission’s €2.95 billion fine over the firm’s dominance in digital advertising and is backed by more than 150,000 signatures. Organisers include LobbyControl, Rebalance Now, WeAct by Campact, and WeMove Europe.

Contributors: Bryn Stole, Catalina Mihai, Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Inés Fernández-Pontes, Alessia Peretti, Anupriya Datta, Laurent Geslin, Théophane Hartmann, Jacob Wulff Wold

Editors: Christina Zhao, Sofia Mandilara