Brussels, 12/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 10 November, the party of the European Greens launched its “primaries” to appoint its candidate for the post of president of the European Commission. Four candidates have already expressed their interest: José Bové (France), Rebecca Harms (Germany) - the co-president of the Greens/EFA Group - Monica Frassoni (Italy), and Ska Keller (Germany). All European citizens over the age of 16 who support the values of the European Greens will be able to give their online opinion on their ideal candidate during a consultation open until 28 January.
The two candidates at the top of the list will qualify - the aim of the Greens being to ensure male-female equality and also the representativeness of the different ecologist parties in the EU. The party states on its website that the candidate with the biggest number of votes will be elected. Second will be the candidate with the second highest score and coming from another national list, so as to ensure that our main two candidates represent two different parties in Europe. During this selection period, the party will organise several debates between the candidates - either online or in European cities, such as Athens or Cologne. These Green primaries, decided upon at a congress in May 2013, are a first for the party, which - in the thick of the NSA scandal - has also opted for transparency as regards personal data protection by explaining to internet surfers how their data will be used and kept.
As regards other European parties, movement is also underway. On 6 November, the PES unsurprisingly named the president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, as its candidate and the radical Left has already lined up behind the leader of Greece's Syriza, Alexis Tsipras. The ALDE Group will officially choose its candidates at the end of the month during a congress in London - with Olli Rehn and Guy Verhofstadt being the early front runners, Rehn even stating his desire to be the candidate.
The EPP is lagging behind and has postponed its choice until March 2014 during a conference in Dublin. The Right-wing party must especially deal with possible candidates who are currently in power, like the Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, and the hesitation shown by Angela Merkel who has expressed some criticism about the process of designating “candidates per party” - candidates that she does not want to see automatically heading the Commission if their party should win the elections. The party is holding its political assembly in Brussels on Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 November. This is a meeting which will officially serve to select Joseph Daul (elected on Tuesday by 112 votes out of 124) as the successor for Wilfried Martens - who died on 9 October and who had presided over the EPP for 23 years - but it will also be the opportunity to speak about the May 2014 elections. (SP/transl.fl)