04/10/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 3 October, Benoît Hamon, the founder of the Génération.s movement, confirmed that he wanted to put forward a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission (‘Spitzenkandidat’) as part of the 2019 European elections. The announcement was confirmed on the occasion of the creation of an autonomous Génération.s delegation within the S&D Group (see EUROPE 12109). Hamon said the nomination process will be carried out within the European Spring (see EUROPE 12001), the European movement that brings together Génération.s, DiEM25, Razem (Poland), DemA (Italy), Alternativet (Denmark) and LIVRE (Portugal). When contacted by EUROPE, Guillaume Balas MEP, a member of the new delegation within the S&D, said that this will be a voting and nomination procedure by members of the European Spring. The timetable and appointment procedure still need to be clarified, he nevertheless added. (PH)