After a whirlwind 5 years, Breton’s back for more

BRUSSELS — Thierry Breton is heading back to the Berlaymont for another fun-filled five years and aiming for a hefty economic portfolio after his last stint governing the internal market and defense and digital policy. POLITICO takes a look at some of his greatest hits (and misses) so far.

The time he blabbed on Trump: Breton spilled the beans on a private 2020 meeting with then-President Donald Trump on the United States not coming to the European Union’s aid if it were attacked militarily.

The time he blitzed his boss: Breton on social media took a swipe at lackluster support for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at her party congress, saying the European People’s Party (EPP) “does not seem to believe in its own candidate.” That angered his French boss, President Emmanuel Macron, who had backed von der Leyen. It also displeased the EPP, with which he’s been trying to nurture relations since, according to a French minister who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

The time he helped blitz his boss’s business envoy: Breton and other commissioners called on von der Leyen to rethink her pick of a party colleague as a new small business czar, saying there were “questions about the transparency and impartiality” over how he’d been chosen. The would-be envoy resigned hours before starting, and the role has yet to be filled.

The time he helped oust Vestager’s economist: Breton and colleagues asked von der Leyen to reconsider a star U.S. academic for a top EU antitrust post. EU digital and competition chief Margrethe Vestager had offered the job to Fiona Scott Morton and asked the Commission to waive a requirement for the job to go to an EU citizen. A French lobbying campaign against Scott Morton then ensued and she withdrew days later. There’s still no one in the role.

The time he out-tech bro’d the tech-bro-in-chief: Breton filmed himself with a surprisingly sheepish tycoon Elon Musk in Austin, Texas, where Musk said he was “on the same page on digital regulation.” That love affair quickly soured; just months later Breton was warning Musk that his takeover of Twitter’s blue bird would mean “the bird will fly by our rules.” His social media spats could be an issue for a sensitive EU job, said Scott Morton, who’s a former target of his ire.

Thierry Breton took a swipe at lackluster support for President Ursula von der Leyen at her party congress. | Frederick Florin/Getty Images

The time he scooped the X probe with an X post: Breton was first with the news on X that the EU suspected the social media platform of breaching digital rules to “deceive users” with its blue tick policy.

The time he spooked Big Tech: The ex-chief executive of France Télécom (now Orange) alienated tech giants, online content providers and digital rights groups when he endorsed telecom operators’ so-called fair share proposal to get data-hungry internet services — for example, TikTok, Netflix or Google’s YouTube — to help foot the bill to roll out faster 5G and fiber networks.

The time he tried to save Europe from Covid-19: In the dark days of the pandemic, Breton took over the EU’s vaccine task force to try to speed up production, telling reporters he was on the phone with vaccine producers every day. (Spoiler: The EU dumped excess vaccines last year.) When governments put up barriers to EU trade, he tried to keep goods flowing and criticized senseless travel restrictions. He also pushed hard for a raw materials action plan to help fix supply chain problems.

The time he tried to get bullets for Ukraine: Breton did a whistle-stop tour of European arms suppliers and defense ministries to get them to ramp up production and make more ammunition for Ukraine. He claimed success in getting capacity up — but getting the arms delivered is far harder. He’s also called for a €100 billion EU defense fund. That’s proving more difficult.

The time he started a Starlink-esque satellite program: Breton’s team sourced €2.4 billion in EU financing to get a communication satellite network program called  IRIS² off the ground. It’s designed to rival SpaceX’s Starlink, and feed Europe’s aerospace giants (many based in France) with a pipeline of fresh contracts. That’s an impressive power move, given few capitals were asking for such a program in the first place. And that helps explain why IRIS² is delayed and set to cost upwards of €11.4 billion.

The time he got nominated in a hurry: Breton was put forward for a second term by Macron’s government just after an adverse election result, which sparked some fury from the opposition. “We couldn’t have waited; it would have created uncertainty and our allies would have pounced on the opportunity to grab our portfolio” on the economy and industry, said the French minister.

This article has been updated with more detail on the satellite program.