"This time is about the very soul of Europe", said Frans Timmermans, a Dutchman who is likely to be the leading candidate of the social democratic family in the May 2019 European elections on Tuesday 6 November, before participating in a debate in the S&D group in the European Parliament on the future campaign.
The first Vice-President of the Commission considered that the political confrontation that is about to take place must not be reduced to a battle between pro-Europeans and Europhobes.
Because, according to him, among the supporters of a strong Europe, there are "huge differences" among neoliberals, advocates of outdated socio-economic models, and social democrats, who place social justice and equity at the heart of their concerns.
I will fight for "those who tell us: ‘the system doesn't work for me’", Timmermans promised. For him, there is hope of a social-democratic victory, as evidenced by the "radical changes" that have taken place in Spain and Portugal and the good conduct of the socialists in the Swedish parliamentary elections.
After having renounced the appointment of Spitzenkandidat Social Democrat (see EUROPE 12030) the day before, Slovak Maroš Šefčovič was given the task of leading the drafting of the resolutions to be adopted at the PES Party Congress in early December in Lisbon.
These texts will reflect our political priorities during the election campaign and "hopefully become the next European Commission work programme", said the Commissioner for the Energy Union. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)