Brussels, 03/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The EPP, S&D and ALDE groups at the European Parliament fear that they may lose out in the European elections and therefore be sidelined by heads of state when it comes to choosing the next president of the European Commission.
The heads of the three groups, Joseph Daul (of France), Hannes Swoboda (of Austria) and Guy Verhofstadt (of Belgium) published a joint statement on Thursday 3 April for the heads of national governments, in which they make a commitment to dialogue and consultations with the Council when the European election results come out. They point out that in accordance with Declaration 11, annexed to the Treaty on the European Union, “the European Parliament and European Council are jointly responsible for the smooth running of the process leading to the election of the president of the European Commission.”
EP and Council representatives “will thus conduct the necessary consultations,” adds Declaration 11. Daul, Swoboda and Verhofstadt say “The candidate from the largest group will be the first to attempt to form the required majority. On this basis, we will jointly submit a proposal to the European Council, to start inter-institutional consultations in conformity with Declaration 11.”
Speculation is rife about the likely successors to Barroso, and many names are doing the rounds that are not the official candidates selected by the European political parties; Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt, for instance. The three biggest political parties at the EP want to stamp out any rumours and warn that the “next elected Commission president will be the result of a transparent process, and not the product of back-room deals,” intending the joint statement, explains a source from one of the parties, as a warning to the Council.
In other words, the Council would do well to assess the consequences before ignoring the opinion of the European Parliament. The MEPs' ultimate weapon is to simply reject the candidate chosen by the heads of state, who will be meeting informally on 27 May, two days after the European elections. (SP)