The European People's Party (EPP) leading candidate in the European elections, Germany's Manfred Weber, said he was “surprised” by the position of his Party of European Socialists (PES) competitor, Frans Timmermans, on the end of unanimity in the Council of the EU on foreign policy, a project launched by the European Commission (see EUROPE 11861/10).
On Thursday 2 May in Florence, a few minutes after the Spitzenkandidaten debate, Mr Weber told EUROPE “I was surprised” (see EUROPE 12246/2).
During this debate, Mr Timmermans, the current Vice-President of the Commission, had considered that the move to qualified majority voting for decision-making would not solve all the problems encountered in the Council in the field of foreign affairs.
On the contrary, for Mr Weber, it is a problem that really “obstructs” the EU. So does the question of the EU's “leadership”, he argued.
European Army. Another bone of contention between the two men was the creation of a European army. While he agreed that the project must be considered in the long term, Mr Weber defended the idea of starting work on the next steps leading to the creation of a European army, of which he said he “dreamed”. According to the Bavarian, it is about a duty towards the safety of future generations.
During the election debate, Mr Timmermans urged his competitors not to make false promises about this European army which, in his opinion, “is nowhere near becoming a reality”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)