Brussels, 15/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Three weeks after the nomination of the Luxembourg Christian Democrat Jean-Claude Juncker to the presidency of the European Commission, European leaders will meet in Brussels on Wednesday 16 July, to complete the new institutional organigram of the EU.
At this mini-summit, the member states are expected at least to agree on the post of high representative of the EU for foreign affairs. The person to take over from Catherine Ashton of the UK is a key element of the College of Commissioners that Juncker, who was confirmed by the European Parliament on Tuesday 15 July (422 votes in favour, 250 against and 47 abstentions), will be starting work on putting together (see other article). The future Commission president “needs this nomination to form the whole College”, a diplomat commented. The aim is to finalise the composition of the Commission by the end of July or early August, so that the new team can prepare for their hearings before the EP with a view to taking up their duties in early November.
However, the heads of state and government of the EU are in the thick of negotiating a package of nominations. “It is hard to say that the result will be guaranteed, but that is the aim”, said the same source, who believes that, “if it is ready, the package will be announced before the dinner” to be given over to the strategic priorities of the Commission and which will be attended by Juncker.
This package includes the person to take over from Hermann Van Rompuy at the helm of the European Council, although this issue may not be resolved until the autumn. The name of Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a member of the Social Democrat family, is regularly raised in the predictions, but the matter is by no means settled. France has misgivings, as Denmark is outside the eurozone. And the promise to give France's Pierre Moscovici the economic and monetary affairs commissioner job will not necessarily close the debate. Paris feels that the issue of who will chair the Eurozone summits has not been settled and should be debated at the summit on Wednesday evening, according to another diplomatic source.
At the same time, the idea of putting a Liberal candidate or one from Eastern Europe into the post of European Council president out of concerns of political and/or geographical balance is still a hot topic. The names of Estonian Liberal Andrus Ansip and Latvian Conservative Valdis Dombrovskis have been suggested. As for the prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, who has the support of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he has officially turned down the offer, in favour of saving his own government, according to the Dutch press.
Link with allocation of Commission portfolios
Package of nominations or no package of nominations, this mini-summit will give the member states the opportunity to table their wish lists regarding the allocation of posts within the Commission. “Behind the question of the 'top jobs', there is of course the issue of the Commission portfolios the member states want”, a source from one of the larger countries said on Friday 11 July. This entanglement of national interests could drag the discussions out.
Italy's young foreign minister, Federica Morgherini, is favourite to take over from Ashton. Hot on her heels is the Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva, currently commissioner for humanitarian aid. However, the Baltic states and Poland do not want the Italian minister to have the job as they feel that she is not experienced enough and, in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, too conciliatory with Moscow due to the gas-related high stakes between Italy and Russia. On public radio, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius openly took position against Morgherini, whom Italy continues to push forward. From Strasbourg, Secretary of State for European Affairs Sandro Gozi immediately replied, not ruling out the possibility that the decision to nominate the Italian foreign minister could be made by qualified majority, as was the case for Juncker's nomination.
No serious rival to the two women has emerged for the post of high representative, with the exception of the Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski. At one point approached for the position, he has lost support over a bugging scandal in Poland and an attitude which is felt to be overly hostile to Moscow.
Speaking before the EP on Tuesday, Juncker stressed the need for the EU to have a high representative with solid experience and one who is capable of combining European and national requirements “more effectively than in the past”. This requirement does not necessarily sideline the young Italian minister, Juncker's entourage added.
On Tuesday, a number of countries were discussing the possibility that the presidency of the Eurogroup be included in the nomination package, with the mandate of its current Dutch boss, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, set to expire at the end of 2015. However, it is not believed that discussions will focus on the Franco-German bid to merge the positions of Eurogroup president and economic and monetary affairs commissioner.
Foreign affairs. At the start of the summit, the European leaders will discuss the situation in Iraq and Palestine (see other article). (SP/MB/CG)