Canadian love-in bears online-trade fruit

CIAO THERE. Gerardo Fortuna back, wishing good luck to foreign ministers attending the G20 in Atlanta … including Kaja Kallas, who, I hear, has been invited by Marco Rubio to attend an American football game, featuring the team of the secretary of state’s son. Hopefully someone will explain the rules before kickoff.

— An army of undertakers rises from the dead to warn of Chinese competition. 

— Why EU budget talks will stay on track, no matter who wins Spain’s election.

On this week’s Brussels Playbook Week Ender: With the U.S. midterms just four days away, Dasha Burns gets the view from both sides of the aisle, talking to Republican and Democratic strategists about what’s happening — and what to watch.

**A message from TikTok: Did you know TikTok advertising generated €31 billion in economic output across the EU in 2025? New research shows the platform helped businesses grow, supporting €13 billion in additional economic output for small and medium-sized businesses and helping millions of businesses reach customers across borders.**

MONTREAL DISPATCH: At today’s EU–Canada summit, Brussels and Ottawa are expected to announce a deal to make it easier for businesses to trade online — the first concrete result of their push to bring their economies closer. 

“This was one of the most intense negotiations,” EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told Playbook’s Zoya Sheftalovich on the sidelines of the summit in Montreal yesterday, describing the talks that began this spring to make trade easier for businesses. 

Keeping in step: The digital deal is part of a broader effort to align trade policies. Canada is concerned it could be excluded from the EU’s “Made in Europe” preference for public procurement, while Ottawa is developing its own Buy Canadian procurement framework. The EU is working with Canada to ensure neither scheme harms the other, Šefčovič said. 

The wider push goes beyond trade: Officials have been exploring cooperation on critical minerals, education, skilled workers and Arctic security — while trying to avoid stoking the ire of Washington and Beijing. 

The name game: The summit is meant to mark a closer partnership, but the label for that relationship has become a sticking point. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen restated her proposal to make Canada the EU’s first “associate member” again yesterday, which an EU official said she is expected to repeat today. But Germany is pushing back against the term, which it says is wrong for a country that isn’t seeking EU membership.

Berlin previously floated an “associate membership” of the EU for Ukraine, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected that as a “half-measure.” 

Berlin has instead opted to use the phrase “Alliance for the Future” to describe the EU–Canada relationship. But associate membership and the proposed Alliance for the Future are separate ideas, a senior EU official said. Associate membership would be a bilateral arrangement bringing Canada closer to EU “policies, programs and governance,” where the alliance would be a broader “common space for economic prosperity” with trusted partners including Japan, South Korea and Australia. 

What’s in a name? “This new alliance is not a marketing exercise. The name doesn’t matter,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday when asked about the disagreements over the term.  

Next up: With areas of deeper cooperation expected to be laid out in more detail today, the full College of Commissioners and the Canadian government are due to meet in six months to do take stock of their progress, ahead of the next EU-Canada summit in Brussels. 

Heated rivalry: The diplomacy is in full swing, with von der Leyen taking a walking meeting with her right-hand man Björn Seibert, chief diplomatic adviser Simon Mordue and other aides yesterday before tucking into a St-Viateur bagel — picking a side in Montreal’s long-running rivalry with Fairmount. She was also given a Canadiens jersey bearing the name of Slovak forward Juraj Slafkovský. Watch the bagel diplomacy on Instagram. 

NOVEMBER SUPER SUMMIT: EU leaders are aiming to agree on the new president of the European Central Bank by the end of the year, an EU official told Gregorio Sorgi. Discussions on Christine Lagarde’s successor are set to kick off at a special summit on Nov. 26-27, which will also deal with Ukraine financing and the EU’s next long-term budget.  

All in play: Spaniard Pablo Hernández de Cos and Dutchman Klaas Knot, whose governments sit on opposite sides of the budget debate, are widely seen as the frontrunners. But the ECB race might be entangled in broader budget horse-trading. 

FROM MONTREAL TO ATLANTA: Kaja Kallas is heading from Canada to the U.S. for the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, where she’ll push for freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, oppose shipping tolls and warn against Russia weaponizing food, her team told Playbook.

WHO’S AFRAID OF WHOM? Halloween is almost here, and so is a new edition of Brussels’ favorite horror show: from political nightmares to bureaucratic bogeymen, here’s who’s keeping the wildlife of the EU’s capital awake at night.  

CRYPTO HEIST: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that a security breach has had a $6.3 billion impact on the business, in what could amount to the biggest crypto heist in history, Reuters reports. Binance says it has worked to freeze the affected assets.

 DON’T BURY US: European coffin makers fear they will be left lifeless, becoming the next casualty of Europe’s industrial decline as cheap Chinese imports threaten one of the continent’s oldest sectors. 

Knocking on DG TRADE’s door: Coffin manufacturers are forming a coalition and have met Commission officials, including those from its trade department last week, the initiative’s organizers told Playbook. The move comes after MEPs raised the alarm with Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič last year, who invited the industry to file a complaint.  

“The EU takes robust action to protect its industries from unfairly traded imports,” a Commission spokesperson told POLITICO. But about the discussions with coffin makers, mum’s the word — talks over potential trade defense complaints are confidential, the EU executive says. 

A grave situation: Cheap imports have helped bury a quarter of Europe’s coffin makers over the past five years, with their ranks shrinking from 120 to 90 companies, according to Folco Ciulli, a consultant preparing the trade complaint. Smaller firms couldn’t compete, he said, while survivors have picked up only half of their lost production. 

But cheap imports alone don’t prove dumping. Selling a product in Europe below its normal value, usually its price on the Chinese market, is where the definition could be triggered. The manufacturers must also show that the imports are harming European producers. The coalition, which has yet to choose a name, is still gathering evidence — a process that could take another six months. 

The mystery of the missing coffins: Mathematician Emiliano Inguscio, hired by the industry to organize the data, said he found an unexplained gap in expected supply and demand for coffins in Italy last year, with around 30,000 fewer coffins being supplied to the market than anticipated. And demand is predictable, he explained, as it’s closely tied to … mortality. 

Assemble your own Likkista: The discrepancy could be because some Chinese coffins evade proper identification by customs, the manufacturers say. Their suspicion is that some coffins arrive flat-packed, IKEA-style, and declared as wooden components, or that some are imported as packaging for other goods.   

From EVs to RIP: The case shows how Europe’s trade tensions with China are spreading beyond cars, steel and chemicals. In January, Brussels slapped duties of 56% to 60% on Chinese candles. Between candles and coffins, the EU is one trade dispute away from regulating the your entire funeral.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the European Union should use its Anti-Coercion Instrument against the U.S. over Washington’s push to raise EU drug prices … But what is the ACI? Sometimes called the “trade bazooka,” it allows Brussels to impose or increase customs duties, restrict exports or imports through quotas or licenses and impose restrictions on trade in services. It can also curb access to public procurement, foreign direct investment, intellectual property rights and access to the bloc’s financial markets. But it’s never been used. 

TALK TO PLAYBOOK:  WhatsApp us on +32 491 050629 and listen from 7 a.m. to hear if we give you a shout-out.

NO BUDGET PAIN IN SPAIN: The outcome of the Spanish election next month is unlikely to undermine the EU’s plan to conclude negotiations on its next seven-year budget by the end of December, five EU diplomats and officials told Gregorio Sorgi. 

Tranquilo: “The Spanish elections will not affect the approval of the Multiannual Financial Framework,” an official from the center-right opposition Partido Popular, which is leading in the polls, told Playbook’s Madrid colleagues. “The PP is following the negotiations closely and remains in contact with its fellow [European People’s Party] members across Europe to understand what lies ahead for the MFF.” 

Meanwhile, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez has signaled to fellow leaders that he will handle the budget negotiations until the end of the year, regardless of the election result, the officials told us. António Costa is aiming to strike a deal during a summit that starts on Dec. 17 — days before the new Spanish parliament convenes for its first session on Dec. 23.  

Even if Sánchez loses the election, there’s nothing stopping him from approving the budget in December as caretaker leader. Sweden and Latvia are currently represented in the European Council by interim prime ministers. 

Sánchez and PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo are at odds on most subjects, but they share similar priorities on the EU budget. “The budget should prioritize the Common Agricultural Policy, cohesion funds and adapting to today’s challenges,” the PP official added, broadly echoing the current government’s position.  

Nada cambia: “After all the political dispute, things will settle and the Spanish interests in agriculture and cohesion are not going to change,” said an EU diplomat with knowledge of the discussions. 

**Europe’s future is being decided now, and you can help shape it. Join the European Pulse Seminar in Brussels next week, with voices like Michel Barnier, Aura Salla, Victor Grigorescu, Axel Voss, Conner Rousseau, and many more and help shape the 2027 European Pulse Poll. Register in person or online.**

SPAIN’S RAILWAYS UNRAVEL: Once a European success story, Spain’s rail network is now in trouble. Here’s how it all went wrong.

WINTER IS COMING (ALONG WITH THE BILLS): Energy prices have hit four-year highs, and EU ministers are running out of answers. But there’s one thing they can rule out: Telling voters to use less electricity. 

EVEN SPIES FORGET WHERE THEY PUT THEIR USB STICKS: Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ can’t account for thousands of storage devices potentially containing sensitive information. 

POTASH SANCTION BUSTERS: The Trump administration is pressing Lithuania to open a central Baltic Sea port to potash exports from Belarus, despite European sanctions.

DON’T MENTION SLAVERY: U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham will have an unofficial goal when he meets members of Britain’s former empire next week: Avoid a fight about slavery reparations.

SEARCH PARTY: Google’s parent company Alphabet has suffered its worst-ever day on the U.S. stock market, falling more than 12 percent and losing around half a trillion dollars in value, the BBC reports.

HIGH STEAKS: In this week’s Declassified column, Paul Dallison looks at how meat has been weaponized by politicians.

WEATHER: Mostly sunny, with a top temperature of 14C. 

GET YOUR HALLOWEEN FIT: We told you in yesterday’s Playbook where to go on Halloween for a night out on the town. If you haven’t sorted your costume yet, Sebastian Starcevic has scouted the best spots in Brussels to grab a last-minute spooky outfit (there are quite a few in Europe’s capital, despite the naysayers who call it an American holiday). 

Suited and booted: Eldorado in Ixelles, which has been in the Halloween business for nearly 45 years, has costumes for rent from €50. Picard Megafun in the city center, across the street from queer bar The Agenda, has two whole floors of costumes ranging from vampire capes to Disney princess dresses, while Ilea near Hankar metro station also has a large assortment. 

NOW THAT THE COSTUME IS SORTED … Here are two ways to show it off without setting foot in a nightclub. 

Día de Muertos goes big: The Marolles’ Día de Muertos celebrations culminate in a grand procession of giant puppets, illuminated costumes, music and dancing. It kicks off at 7 p.m. at Boulevard du Midi/Rue des Tanneurs, reaching Place du Jeu de Balle around 8:30 p.m. Free, and everyone’s invited. Even the living. 

Run for your life: More of a running beast than a party animal? Serve the City’s Spooky Sprint brings costumed relay teams to Usquare in Ixelles on Saturday, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Prizes for speed, fundraising and the best costumes. Free to watch. Zombies welcome, presumably. 

Berlin: Elif Eralp kicks off Die Linke’s party conference in Berlin (at a venue with links to organized crime) facing mounting internal pressure. 

Paris: By officially announcing her decision to step down, ECB President Christine Lagarde has ensured Emmanuel Macron will have a say in who succeeds her.

Madrid: The Urda train accident was tragic but not unexpected, with reports, studies and official testimonies providing a tapestry of red flags before the event.

London: Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s desire for the U.K. to one day rejoin the EU has exposed divisions among his supporters.

Read more from our Playbook family: Washington … Ottawa … Canberra.  

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— The EU–Canada Summit continues in Montreal. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and attend the summit. Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall and other EU commissioners also participate. A press conference is scheduled for 5.25 p.m. CET. Watch here.

— Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera co-chairs ministerial cluster meetings between Canadian ministers and Commission officials in Montreal. She also meets Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Aviva Dabrusin. In related summit meetings, Šefčovič meets International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu; Kubilius meets Defense Minister David McGuinty and Joly; Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen also meets Joly; and Roswall meets Dabrusin and takes part in a roundtable on the circular economy. 

— EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas attends the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. 

— Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis represents the EU at NATO Fuse 2026 in Riga. 

— Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen meets Danish Science, Higher Education and Digital Affairs Minister Christina Egelund and Resilience and Preparedness Minister Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen in Copenhagen. 

— Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin meets Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov and the National Association of Municipalities in Sofia, and visits the EU-funded National STEM Centre and EnduroSat projects. 

— Research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva takes part in the BLACK SEA 2030: Security, Resilience, Innovation Conference in Burgas, Bulgaria. 

**Is Romania ready to attract the next wave of investment? Join us online on November 6 for keynotes and discussions on competitiveness and strategic priorities. Register now to watch POLITICO’s Spotlight panel at the Concordia Summit.**

MEP Gabriella Gerzsenyi; former MEP Clare Moody; Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas and former MEP Juozas Olekas; POLITICO’s Annabelle Dickson; Rapporteur’s Political Editor Bruno Waterfield; Blockchain for Europe’s Robert Kopitsch; TEILOR’s Olivia Drăgușin; Accountancy Europe’s Johan Barros; Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, former secretary-general of the Council and POLITICO 28 alum; The Future Governance Forum’s Executive Director Adam Terry; U.S. diplomat Pete Hoekstra; former Senior Adviser to the President of the United States Ivanka Trump. 

Celebrating Saturday: MEP Eric Sargiacomo; former Belgian PM and first permanent President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy; former MEP John Howarth; former MEP and Restore Britain Leader Rupert Lowe; Italy’s former Deputy PM Angelino Alfano; EPP’s Head of National Press Francisco Correia da Silva; Leonor, Princess of Asturias, heir presumptive to the Spanish throne. 

Celebrating Sunday: Former MEP Grzegorz Tobiszowski; MEP Pernando Barrena Arza; Czech president Petr Pavel; British MP Jeremy Hunt; European Commission’s Leonhard Weitz; former French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn; Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook; UBS’s Head of Group Corporate Communications Francesco Guerrera. Anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, which came into effect in 1993.

Playbook is brought to you by POLITICO’s EU Politics team: Gerardo Fortuna, Nicholas Vinocur, Gabriel Gavin, Zoya Sheftalovich, Max Griera, Mari Eccles, Hanne Cokelaere, Gregorio Sorgi and Sebastian Starcevic. And: reporters Milena Wälde and Daria Zakharova, editors Alex Spence and James Panichi, and producers Dean Southwell and Hugh Kapernaros.

**A message from TikTok: Did you know TikTok advertising generated €31 billion in economic output across the EU in 2025? New independent research shows the platform helped businesses grow, acting as a discovery engine for opportunity across the European economy. The impact goes well beyond the app. Advertising on TikTok helped generate €13 billion in additional economic output for small and medium-sized businesses, while more than 6.5 million EU businesses used TikTok to reach customers across borders. Discovery on TikTok helps small businesses connect with new customers, creators reach new audiences, and useful ideas and skills travel between countries. These connections can translate into real-world growth, from increased sales for local businesses to new opportunities for entrepreneurs and creators. Across the EU, TikTok is turning online discovery into economic activity, helping businesses grow and connecting people and products across borders.**

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