You won’t believe how Huawei is trying to make up for a private call to EU industry czar!

Good morning. We have an agreement on a new EU asylum and migration system, reached last night in Luxembourg after seven years of negotiations. Laura has the details.

Two pieces for you today that you won’t read anywhere else. First, our competition correspondent reveals that Chinese tech firm Huawei called the EU industry chief on his private mobile phone just as the bloc was discussing limits on Beijing’s participation in telecoms projects, in a flagrant breach of protocol. And the German finance minister tells our Berlin bureau chief that we should remain calm about the surprising increase in support for the far right.

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Huawei has apologized to EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton for a breach of protocol that indicates how intensely the Chinese group is exerting pressure on Europe.

One of the Chinese firm’s executives called the senior EU official on his private number, according to documents seen by the Financial Times, at a time when the EU was trying to curb Beijing’s influence in key 5G projects , writes Javier Espinoza.

Context: For years, Huawei has fought to be included as a key supplier for crucial telecom projects in the EU. Last December, the EU issued guidelines for member states to ban high-risk suppliers (e.g. Huawei) from crucial projects.

The exchange between the company’s current president, Ken Hu, and Breton highlights how important Europe is for the Chinese group.

On December 11, 2020, Hu wrote to Breton: “I am sorry for the distress this incident has caused you. The responsible member of staff has been made aware of the seriousness of this error and I am confident this will not happen again.”

Breton responded by saying he was concerned about the “gravity of the event”, according to a letter seen by the FT. “I am willing to put this episode behind us and pursue any future discussions we may have in full compliance with the highest standards of transparency and ethics.”

Correspondence between the Chinese firm and the EU official highlights a breach of protocol but also raises concerns about lobbying tactics pursued by Huawei, Brussels officials say.

This comes after the revelations the EU is considering making it mandatory for member states to ban Huawei from the block’s main telecommunications infrastructure assets. A report next week will say that only a third of countries have introduced a ban.

Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chart of the Day: The Flood

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine has inundated Russian-controlled towns and villages and left thousands stranded. Russian-backed authorities they said five people died.

Nothing to see here

Few polls have raised more alarm in Germany than last week Deutschlandtrend. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved 18 percent support, putting it on a par with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), writes Guy Chazan.

Background: The AfD appears to have benefited widespread disenchantment with Scholz’s coalition of SPD, Greens and Liberals (FDP), e anger over his botched plans to ban gas boilers. Concerns about rising migration have also boosted the AfD’s fortunes.

Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner, however, is catching up with the latest polls. “The current situation is not unique”, he told the FT in an interview, pointing to a 2018 poll that also put the AfD and SPD head-to-head at 18%. All parties, Lindner said, have experienced ups and downs. The of him was at 7%.

“You will not cut [the AfD] debunking it by acting nervous and frantic, placating it or demonizing it,” Lindner said. “You’ll do it by solving people’s problems.” His priority was “to implement good policies and move this country forward, and if we succeed, the approval ratings of the coalition will improve.”

The big question on many people’s minds, however, is whether this government is capable of implementing good policies, with the boiler ban debacle give ammunition to those who have doubts. Lindner said “some people” (i.e. his coalition partner, the Greens) was more concerned with getting the ban passed quickly than with ensuring that it was a well-written law.

He said Scholz’s coalition had a lot to be proud of and was carrying out an “enormous number of big and important projects,” such as reform the welfare statespeeding up urban planning procedures and granting tax relief to the middle classes.

And a particular source of pride for an FDP finance minister: to reintroduce Germany’s debt brake, its constitutional restriction on new lending, “after years of very expansionary fiscal policy.”

“Yeah, there’s this narrative that it’s all just a traffic jam and we’re always fighting,” Lindner said. “But this is not reality.”

What to watch today

1. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at the University of Toulouse.

2. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola opens the European youth event.

3. EU justice ministers meet in Luxembourg.

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