Brussels, 23/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May, in the middle of the European elections and a few days ahead of the informal dinner of heads of state and government of the EU to discuss their results, British Prime Minister David Cameron is starting an intensive lobbying campaign among his counterparts to make sure that no candidate for the Presidency of the Commission will be imposed upon him against his will.
There are several reports in the British media that Cameron will spend his weekend ringing round the other European leaders. His aim is to do all in his power to block the paths of Martin Schulz, the candidate of the Party of European Socialists, and of Jean-Claude Juncker, the choice of the European People's Party. Cameron is believed to oppose the appointment of either man to the helm of the European Commission and wants to pave the way for another figure. “If the results of the elections are favourable to the PES or the EPP and if there is a clear winner, it will be very difficult for David Cameron to oppose an official candidate”, a European source commented on Thursday 22 May. This source does not believe that Cameron will manage to convince his opposite numbers to bend the rules laid down by the European Parliament. Politically, he is playing an extremely dangerous game, the source added.
According to the agency Reuters, Cameron will use a meeting scheduled for early June with Fredrik Rheinfeldt to get his opinion across and seek allies. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is not wildly enthusiastic about the official candidate procedure, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel,will also attend this meeting in Sweden. Merkel has long dismissed any link between the European Parliament's campaign for its five candidates and the person who will ultimately lead the Commission. In an interview with Passauer Neue Presse on Thursday 22 May, she seemed to change her tone slightly when she said that “in theory”, those who turn out to vote in the European elections would be voting for the President of the European Commission, thereby seeming to get on board with the wishes of the European Parliament.
On Tuesday 27 May, the leaders of the EU will meet in Brussels for an informal dinner, which will mark “just the start of the process”, a European source explained, warning that “there will be no white smoke” to be seen after this meeting. The idea is to give Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, a mandate to start talks with the EP, specifically its president, Martin Schulz, who will be seen as the “outgoing President of the EP”, to work towards a consensus between the two institutions. “But no names will be named”, this source took pains to stress. Nor is any discussion on an “external candidate” likely, the source added, in reference to IMF boss Christine Lagarde, or Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Danish prime minister), whose names are still regularly bandied about by the media as possible successors to José Manuel Barroso. (SP)