Brussels, 26/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 June, the EPP, S&D and ALDE Groups at the European Parliament agreed to form a “stable majority” between the three of them. They also informally agreed on several positions to be given to ALDE - vice-presidencies and parliamentary committees - in exchange for ALDE's support on several key decisions for the two leading parties in the European elections on 22-25 May. The first of these key decisions is the election of Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission - which is theoretically scheduled for 16 July in Strasbourg provided that the 28 EU member states agree on Juncker (the EPP candidate) on 27 June in Brussels. The other key decision is the election of Martin Schulz (S&D), planned on 1 July in Strasbourg, as president of the European Parliament.
This deal between the EPP, S&D and ALDE Groups does not, however, provide for Guy Verhofstadt - whose ALDE Group is the fourth largest at the European Parliament - to obtain the presidency of the Parliament from 2017, the EPP Group stated, countering rumours on Twitter. “We opened the game to ALDE yes, but sharing the presidency is absolutely not part of the deal”, said the EPP's press department. “The agreement on sharing the presidency between the EPP and S&D is being maintained”, it added.
“The agreement of 24 June between the EPP and S&D groups, relating to ongoing discussions on key EP positions, will now be extended to the ALDE Group, ensuring a broader base for building a stable majority for the next European Commission”, ALDE states in a press release. Nevertheless, among the Liberals in ALDE it was acknowledged that the terms of this agreement remained “confused”, according to one source. The ALDE Group reportedly argued its case on Thursday, suggesting that it could not support the election of Schulz as Parliament president, said a source - thus making the whole package agreed between the S&D and EPP groups fall. On Monday 23 June, an EPP source stated that the game would probably need to be opened to other political parties in the Parliament in order to guard against nasty surprises and to ensure especially that Juncker does not suffer the consequences of any dissenting voices within the two main formations. (SP)