Brussels, 28/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The meeting of European leaders in Brussels on 27 May - at the end of which European Council President Herman Van Rompuy was given a mandate to begin talks on the posts to be filled at the head of the European institutions and on the EU's priorities for the next five years - left a bitter taste with several Socialist political leaders (see EUROPE 11089).
With this informal meeting over dinner being far from a consecration for Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourg) - the leading candidate for the presidency of the European Commission from the European People's Party (EPP) which came first in elections - Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn criticised, on Deutschlandfunk radio, the fact that the heads of state and government had not endorsed Juncker's candidacy. Asselborn also criticised the slow pace of the process for appointing the new president of the European Commission, several Luxembourgish media report. Van Rompuy indeed stated that the negotiations on the nominations would only begin after the European Parliament's political groups were constituted. Van Rompuy plans to discuss the nominations and future EU priorities at the next European Council on 26-27 June. Juncker's candidacy was criticised by the UK, Sweden, Hungary and some Baltic countries, according to sources.
“This result is disappointing - indeed shameful”, said Asselborn. He stated that the European Parliament had officially proposed the name of Juncker, former prime minister of Luxembourg, for the post of Commission president on Tuesday morning. Asselborn regretted that the European Council, composed of heads of state and government from the EU member states, “seems not to want to have (a name) imposed on them”- in particular because the Conservatives of the EPP “are not united behind the head of their list”.
The leader of the S&D Group at the Parliament, Hannes Swoboda (Austria), who is soon to depart, was also rather sarcastic about the results of this informal meeting, believing it “comical” that Juncker had received the support of the Socialists, but “seems blocked by the EPP at the European Council”. The Council “is playing hide and seek. The European elections are over. The result is clear and accepted by everyone in the European Parliament. The conference of presidents sent a message to Van Rompuy which could not have been clearer - Jean-Claude Juncker, the candidate from the biggest group, must start the negotiations on a work programme”. Swoboda added that, “as the European Council refuses to assume its responsibilities, we are calling on Jean-Claude Juncker to begin the negotiations without the mandate of the Council”.
In the view of the French Socialist delegation at the European Parliament, these results are disappointing and the delegation regrets “the mandate given to Herman Van Rompuy to lead these consultations. The candidate of the party that came top in the European Parliament elections, Jean-Claude Juncker, should be the first to try to find a majority, as all the group presidents confirmed yesterday”.
This is “not only the meaning of the treaties, but also that of the democratic step of the whole campaign. The fact that the right-wing heads of state and government are blocking the candidate from their own political party says a great deal about their cohesion. We will be an obstacle to the fiddling between the states”, said the French Socialist MEPs, for whom it is clear that, “if Mr Juncker can't unite the necessary majority in the European Parliament and Council, it is Martin Schulz who will have to try to unite a majority around his progressive programme”.
In the view of the European Parliament's spokesperson, Jaume Duch, the results of the informal meeting do not change anything, however. “Jean-Claude Juncker has a mandate from the Parliament. He doesn't need a mandate from the others” to begin his work of seeking a majority. This work has, moreover, already started - with the political groups being in the process of formation and with possible majorities able to start emerging. Van Rompuy's role will simply be to observe the majorities formed in the Parliament and to see if they can come to an agreement with the forces in the Council. If the member states do not agree with the choice of the European Parliament, Van Rompuy would be entitled to devise other solutions and other candidates - whether or not they are official Parliament candidates.
In Duch's view, Tuesday's meeting of EU leaders should not be seen as a failure or as a rejection of Juncker to lead the Commission. “Giving a mandate to Herman Van Rompuy was the only concrete thing they could do”, said Duch. (SP)