Several European leaders confirmed on Friday 21 June that none of the top candidates (‘Spitzenkandidat’) of the pro-European political parties – the German Manfred Weber for the EPP, the Dutch Frans Timmermans for the S&D and the Danish Margrethe Vestager for Renew Europe (Liberals) – was able to secure a political majority (see EUROPE 12279/1).
“What we saw yesterday was that there is no majority support for the three Spitzenkandidaten”, said the Spanish Prime Minister at the end of the second working session. He also added, “It pains me that Mr Timmermans was not accepted, but that's the way it is. From now on, we must look ahead and negotiate”.
Building on the good results achieved by the PSOE party in the parliamentary and European elections, Pedro Sánchez took on a new dimension at the Euro Summit, in particular by participating in informal discussions with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, on the appointments to senior European positions that will be vacant by autumn.
“The negotiation is based mainly on the representation of the three political families”, he said.
In addition to Mrs Merkel, who reiterated her opposition to being appointed as President of the Commission, and Mr Macron, the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, said the same thing as Mr Sánchez. “Perhaps the EPP, having won the European elections, will say what position it wants as a European party”, he asked.
“The Spitzenkandidaten process is not taking off”, said Italian leader Giuseppe Conte. Other criteria, other than political affiliation, must be taken into account, he added, citing geographical origin and gender equality.
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, admitted the lack of a majority. But he did not seem to definitively bury the Spitzenkandidaten process, through which the top candidate of the European political family who reached the top of the European elections can claim the presidency of the Commission, provided that he reunites a political majority in his person. There are “three more names on the table”, he said.
The Twenty-Eight will meet again on Sunday 30 June at a new summit devoted to appointments to senior European positions, with the aim of reaching a package decision for the posts of President of the European Commission, President of the European Council, President of the European Parliament, President of the ECB and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Preliminary negotiations will take place at the G20 summit in Osaka.
As early as Friday, Mr Tusk resumed consultations with the European Parliament. In the European Assembly, the Social Democratic Group was the only one to respond formally to the blockage in the European Council, reiterating its support for the Spitzenkandidaten process.
Its new president (see EUROPE 12277/14), Iratxe García, considered that there was still room for a compromise on the presidency of the European Commission among the top candidates on the list.
“The Lisbon Treaty also says that the European Parliament and the European Council are ‘jointly responsible’ for the smooth running of the process and that the relevant consultations ‘will focus on the backgrounds of the candidates’. If we look at the background of the candidates, Frans Timmermans has a very strong one”, said Iratxe García, openly reiterating her support for the Dutchman. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Sophie Petitjean and editorial staff)