On Tuesday 28 May in Brussels, the Heads of State or Government of the European Union reaffirmed their prerogatives for appointments to future high-level posts, but they wish to respect the role of the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12264/1).
“We did not discuss names” for appointments to senior European positions, but only the procedure for achieving them, said European Council President Donald Tusk at the end of the informal European summit.
The European Council will have to “exercise its role at the time of the election of the President of the Commission”: it will have to present its candidate and it is the European Parliament that will have the task of electing him, Mr Tusk recalled. Therefore, the President of the Commission will have to “have a qualified majority in the European Council and a majority of MEPs in the European Parliament”, he explained.
According to him, the process of the top candidates (‘Spitzenkandidats’) does not disqualify anyone. On the contrary, it could, in his view, “increase the candidate's chances”. But, according to the Treaty, “there can be no automatism and no one can be excluded”.
That very morning, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament groups reaffirmed its commitment to the Spitzenkandidat process (EUROPE 12265/2).
However, “no one wants an interinstitutional conflict between the European Parliament and the European Council”, Mr Tusk hammered.
“We want to avoid an institutional crisis, but it is not the European Parliament that proposes, we keep the initiative”, added Xavier Bettel, the liberal Prime Minister of Luxembourg, unconvinced by the Spitzenkandidat process.
On the contrary, the Portuguese Socialist Prime Minister, António Costa, defended the process of top candidates.
Respect for balances. Mr Tusk recalled that the procedure should reflect the diversity of the EU, in terms of geography, country size, gender and political affiliations. “But in the real world, a perfect balance is difficult to achieve”, he conceded.
The President of the European Council stressed that he wanted, with the support of most EU leaders, at least two women in these key positions. This parity is also highlighted by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
Regarding the European Central Bank (ECB), Mr Tusk confirmed that this position will not be open to competition between the parties, since independence must prevail. But the obligations of the Treaty will have to be taken into account (hearing in the European Parliament and the Heads of State will decide).
Mr Tusk will engage in consultations with the European Parliament (he will meet as soon as possible with the Conference of Presidents of the Political Groups) and will continue his consultations with the Heads of State or Government on the future Presidents of the Commission and the European Council, as well as on the next President of the ECB and on the future High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
An agreement if possible in June. Mr Tusk promised to be as transparent as possible and pledged to “bring clarity to these positions as early as June”. The European Council on 20 and 21 June will discuss appointments with a view to a possible agreement, a few days before the new European Parliament takes office.
Franco-German differences?
The summit confirmed the existence of differences within the Franco-German pair.
On the one hand, the Chancellor renewed her support for the Christian-Democratic Spitzenkandidat, Manfred Weber. “There is a commitment by Parliament to the Spitzenkandidat system, even if not all Member States are convinced of it”, Mrs Merkel admitted. She also explained that the German government agreed to apply this system, despite internal differences over the identity of the person.
On the other hand, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, rejects any party logic, criticising the European People's Party (EPP) for its refusal to follow through with logic by accepting the creation of transnational lists (see EUROPE 11956/1). “I have always drawn attention to the fact that it is the same people who do not want transnational lists. They are for democracy when it is democracy decided by the parties”, he said.
Mr Macron stressed the importance of respecting “what comes out of the ballot box, and the candidates who are ultimately chosen must correspond to these different political sensitivities”.
As for the strategic priorities for the next institutional cycle, France highlights the climate emergency, the construction of a new growth model, the protection of citizens and the social pillar, security and defence, and the deepening of the euro area.
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, defended the need to focus in particular on social Europe, job creation, climate change and migration.
Negotiators by political family. The Latvian Prime Minister, Krisjanis Karins, and the Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenković, have been appointed by their respective political families to negotiate on behalf of the Christian Democrats (EPP), the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, on behalf of the Social Democrats (PES), and the Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, and Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, on behalf of the Liberals (ALDE).
Outcome of the elections. EU leaders also discussed the results of the European elections (see EUROPE 12263/3), welcoming in particular the turnout.
For Donald Tusk, the new European Parliament will be “slightly more complex”, since it will take at least three parties to form a majority. This will make Parliament more representative and reflect a greater diversity of views, he said. He concluded, “Brexit has been a vaccine against anti-EU propaganda and fake news”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur, with the editorial staff)