Today at Commission, Trump’s climate call and EU-China

The Commission won’t be lobbying Trump on climate change.

With Donald Trump expected to soon confirm that he’s pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, the European Commission said it did everything it could to prevent the situation arising.

There will be no last-minute lobbying of the U.S. administration to try to persuade Trump to change his mind, chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.

“Our president was clear yesterday night,” Schinas said of Jean-Claude Juncker’s warning to Trump that he should “stick to” the Paris agreement. Schinas said he hoped the message was “heard and understood” on the other side the Atlantic.

“For Europe it is planet first,” Schinas added, echoing Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, who said on Wednesday that “for Europe there is no Plan B because we do not have a Planet B.”

The European commissioner for energy and climate action, Miguel Arias Cañete, will issue the formal reaction of the Commission on Thursday night after Trump’s official announcement.

The Commission also confirmed that after several months of tough negotiations, the Commission, EU financial institutions and the Italian government reached a agreement on a restructuring plan for the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

The European commissioner for justice, Věra Jourová, presented a Commission’s evaluation of how online hate speech is tackled by the big social media companies.

Schinas also previewed this week’s EU-China summit, calling it an opportunity “to take stock” of the relationship between Brussels and Beijing. Juncker will this evening have dinner with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

Peter Baugh contributed to this article.

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