MIDDAY BRIEF, IN BRIEF

Today at Commission, Brussels saves and Juncker’s past

Trial of Luxembourg intelligence officials accused of setting up illegal wiretaps gets underway next week.

On the agenda: Civil protection, Luxembourg spy scandal, Brexit date.

On the podium: Commission chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

Brussels to the rescEU: Ahead of the daily midday press conference, the European commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides, presented the revamped EU civil protection mechanism, rebranded as rescEU and designed to improve EU coordination on disaster management. The program aims to boost prevention measures, make available more equipment to tackle natural disasters, and provide €280 million over the next two years to improve cooperation between EU countries.

Meanwhile, in Luxembourg: Next week, the trial of Luxembourg intelligence officials accused of setting up illegal wiretaps gets underway. The scandal led to Jean-Claude Juncker’s resignation as prime minister of the Grand Duchy in 2013. The Luxemburger Wort said Juncker would testify although no date has been set. Schinas confirmed that Juncker was willing to appear in court but added that his busy agenda and institutional obligations meant no official date had yet been approved. Schinas said he was not aware of a letter in which Luxembourg chief spy Marco Mille claimed Juncker approved illegal wiretapping, as reported in Le Quotidien.

Brexit: Schinas confirmed that Juncker will have dinner with British Prime Minister Theresa May on December 4.

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