Europe hails Gaza peace deal and shifts debate to reconstruction costs

Good morning. Big news to start: The German government has signalled it’s open to handing over more powers to a European financial regulator, three people with knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times, in a significant shift that would remove one of the biggest obstacles to a long-desired, long-stymied push to unify the bloc’s capital markets.

Today, I report on the European position on the Gaza peace deal from a gathering of foreign ministers in Paris last night, and our correspondent in Strasbourg has news of a push by some MEPs to make the European parliament more . . . fun.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The day after

Senior European foreign ministers gathered in Paris yesterday evening with counterparts from around the world for talks on the peace deal in Palestine and made one point clear: Europe won’t be paying the reconstruction bill alone.

Context: Israel and Hamas yesterday agreed the first phase of a peace deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, in a major step to ending a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, devastated Gaza and triggered conflicts across the Middle East.

The EU is the largest external donor to Palestine, and since October 7 2023 has provided €1.48bn in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said yesterday: “When the time comes, we will be ready to help with recovery and reconstruction.”

However, the bloc’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas and the foreign ministers of Spain, France, Italy, Germany and the UK used the hastily arranged gathering at the foreign affairs ministry on the Quai D’Orsay, hosted by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, to stress the point that this would need to be a broader effort.

“We’re here to help, as we have been many times before,” said one European official briefed on the discussions. “But only if others, especially from the Gulf, will chip in too.”

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan and the prime minister of Qatar also took part in the talks, in addition to the foreign ministers of Canada and Turkey.

The European sextet also pushed for a representative on the so-called board of peace that Trump has proposed to oversee Gaza’s governance.

“The work and the responsibilities do not stop at this first stage,” said Macron. “This is the reason why our meeting is very important,” he added, to work on “the day after”.

The move to push Gulf countries and other partners to fund a post-conflict Palestine appears to have some backing from Trump, too.

Speaking last night in the White House, he told reporters: “We’re going to work with very wealthy countries that love people.”

“They love Arab people, and they love Muslims . . . and they’re immensely wealthy, and they’re going to be involved in putting up money,” he added. “These are the wealthiest countries in the world, and they’ll be very much involved.”

Chart du jour: Matcha mania

Global consumer appetite for matcha has been ignited by lattes, flavoured KitKats and sweet treats from ice creams to cookies that use the Japanese finely ground powder.

Sex, drugs and roll calls

A group of younger MEPs are asking for the European parliament to spice up the chamber’s plenary sessions by making them actual debates rather than a series of speeches, writes Alice Hancock.

Context: The European parliament has 719 members, but its plenary sessions in both Strasbourg and Brussels were becoming increasingly poorly attended, until parliament president Roberta Metsola made changes in January to encourage MEPs to turn up. Debates are strictly timed with rounds of speaking, no interjections permitted.

That does not make for lively or engaged decision-making, argues a group of 60 younger MEPs who have sent a series of suggestions to Metsola, who is gathering support for a third term.

Damian Boeselager, one of the MEPs spearheading the initiative, said that the parliament “should be the house of European democracy. That means making laws, but also standing up visibly for the topics that matter to our voters, and exchange with those who disagree with us!”

Too many MEPs were just making short speeches to video that they could post on their social media channels, he said.

The letter, seen by the FT, is part of a response to Metsola tasking the political groups in the parliament to come up with ideas to make debates more dynamic. These ideas will be discussed in a meeting of group leaders next week.

The main request was for new 30-minute debates on important topics, in which “after short opening statements, members can respond and rebut directly, allowing for genuine dialogue”.

The president should also make sure that “the most relevant and controversial topics” were prioritised for plenary discussions.

What to watch today

1. EU finance ministers meet in Luxembourg.

2. Informal meeting of telecommunications ministers in Copenhagen.

Now read these

• ‘Lifestyle superpower’: The EU must use its €300bn aid programme to better compete with Russia and China for influence, its development chief has said.

• Voiceover as art: Polish television shows foreign films the old-fashioned way, but the age-old craft of dubbing is under threat from AI.

• Form an orderly queue: Transport operators say the multiple delays of the EU’s new biometric border checks mean they are prepared for its launch on Sunday.