Brussels, 30/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - Despite the fall in their vote in the European elections, the European Liberal party is not planning to sell itself short in any coalition at the new European Parliament. ALDE may have lost 20 seats at the EP but it remains the king-maker, as was made clear in an interview with EUROPE after the ALDE summit on 28 May by the party head, Sir Graham Watson of the United Kingdom.
Watson said the slump in EPP and Socialist votes was worse - losing 70 seats between them. ALDE remains the third-biggest party with 64 MEPs and is negotiating with six countries to boost the figure.
“I can say that Spain is key to our strategy; we hope to recruit new parties from Spain and we were pleased today to have with us Pavel Delitchka, head of list for the Ano party in the Czech Republic,' said Watson. He said the Liberal Democrats would be key to any parliamentary majority: “We draw that the people of Europe have expressed dissatisfaction with the European Union as it is today and we will need an agenda of reform. Liberal Democrat commissioners have been key to the successful reforms that we've seen in recent years and we believe that Liberal Democrat member states and others will be important to continue that process of reform”.
He went on: “We would expect the candidate for the presidency of the European Commission to come to Parliament and debate his or her ideas in advance”.
“When I talk about the need to involve the ALDE, that will of course involve discussions over who holds the key posts and also over which people become European commissioners and which portfolios they will hold”, Watson stated. Similar comments were made by Finnish national Olli Rehn, whom the Liberal party has appointed as candidate for a job in economic or foreign affairs on the same footing as Guy Verhofstadt, of Belgium, ALDE's candidate for the job of European Commission president. Rehn, who has returned to his position of European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, told this newsletter that he would take up his seat at the EP on 1 July, pointing out his party's decision on one person holding two jobs (see EUROPE 11090).
In view of the election results, people in the party say ALDE will not get two of the five top jobs (president of the European Commission, president of the European Council, president of the European Parliament, EU high representative for foreign affairs and potentially president of the Eurogroup). Jyrki Katainen has made it known officially that he wants one of the top European jobs, thus competing with Rehn. Katainen said in Brussels on Tuesday that he was prepared to take up work at the European Commission on 1 July, aware that Rehn will need to be replaced in his job as a commissioner by another Finn on that date. “My goal and hope is that I can work as a member of the Commission, if my experience and expertise are deemed sufficient for the position”, Katainen told Helsinki Times.
Graham Watson lost his seat in the European elections. He commented that his term of office as head of the ALDE “runs until November 2015 and I hope to see it through”. (EL)