The European Council's agreement on appointments to senior European positions undermines discussions on the coalition programme of the European Parliament's four main political families (see EUROPE 12287/1).
Indeed, the unity displayed so far by these groups has experienced a serious setback, starting Tuesday 2 July, in the evening. On behalf of the Greens/EFA group, Belgium's Philippe Lamberts and Germany's Ska Keller expressed their disappointment at the lack of environmental ambition they believe is reflected in the choice of the people to lead the EU in the future. They also criticised the lack of environmentalists in these high European positions, despite the good scores they obtained in the European elections at the end of May.
This disappointment convinced the environmentalists to put their participation in the discussions on hold for the time being. As a result, the Greens/EFA group is weighing its support for the German EPP candidate for the Presidency of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen.
And this Wednesday in Strasbourg, it was a firm no from both Mr Lamberts and the Frenchman Yannick Jadot, interviewed by EUROPE. The latter deplored the casting of weak personalities without a firm commitment to climate action beyond words, while the 26 May elections demonstrated the need for action.
In any case, the Greens have rejected Mrs Von der Leyen's request to meet in Strasbourg. As they are unavailable on 3 July, they will meet her later, probably on Monday 8 July, in Brussels, according to a group source.
The Greens want to know whether the political groups EPP, S&D and Renew Europe intend to support the German candidate on the basis of the European Council's agreement. At this stage, they have obviously not received a response. But what is the point of continuing discussions on the strategic agenda that do not make ecology a condition for supporting the candidate for President of the Commission? - the environmentalists ask.
We are not “closing the door” to discussions, Mr Lamberts said, but we prefer to “save energy” if the other groups are not ready to discuss, he commented in the European Parliament corridors on Wednesday afternoon.
On the Liberal side, there was indeed “an uncertainty about the text”, as Stéphane Séjourné (RE, France) described it. But for him, the will is still there to reach a coalition text soon, in theory on 12 July, just before Mrs Von der Leyen's election to the European Parliament.
“If [the Greens] left, it would be a bad decision, taken for the wrong reasons”, he said. Just because the Greens do not have positions of responsibility does not mean that they should forget their ability to have an impact in this institution, he explained.
A Green Commissioner?
Yet, for Philippe Lamberts, it is precisely the choice for a Member State to appoint an environmentalist commissioner to the Commission that could make the difference and demonstrate the integration of climate change at the heart of the challenges of the next institutional cycle.
The co-chair believes that with political will, an ecologist could be sent to Brussels from Finland or Sweden, where the Greens are in government. But, while the Social Democrats should make a gesture in the allocation of portfolios, Philippe Lamberts doubts that this political family is willing to do so.
On Wednesday evening, discussions on this strategic agenda therefore seemed to have stalled. How to get out of it? Some in the EPP group had their own ideas: “The Greens will be bought”, one source from this political family imagined, joined by another member of the liberal family.
Their plan? “Give the Greens a Commissioner because the end justifies the means”. According to these sources, it reportedly is Claude Turmes, former MEP and minister in Luxembourg. When questioned by EUROPE, Philippe Lamberts did not seem convinced. The Luxembourg government has already indicated that its Commissioner for the post-Juncker Commission would be Nicolas Schmit (see EUROPE 12280/16). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Marion Fontana)