The nominee for President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was heavily involved on Wednesday 10 July in the European Parliament in convincing MEPs that she is suitable for such a position and has a sufficiently ambitious pro-European vision.
“I am working hard on a majority in the European Parliament”, said the Christian Democrat, calling herself “European of heart and conviction” - and the Parliament, “the heart of European democracy”.
In two public hearings of the political groups Renew Europe and Greens/EFA, the German Christian Democrat tried to give MEPs some guarantees on issues such as the climate, the democratisation of political life or respect for the rule of law in the European Union, but without making too many promises about the portfolios that will be allocated to the future Commissioners until she has been elected by an absolute majority (376 MEPs) to Parliament.
Following a meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Political Groups, the nominated candidate promised to support a possible initiative based on a majority position of the European Parliament to revive the process of top candidates (‘Spitzenkandidaten’). She also considered that “CO2 has to have a price” and promised that she “will fight for minimum wage in Member States”. On Brexit, she hopes that ultimately the United Kingdom will remain in the EU, the decision being the sole responsibility of the British.
However, at this stage, the comfortable pro-European majority – ideally composed of the Christian Democratic (EPP), Social Democratic (S&D), Liberal (Renew Europe) and environmentalists (Greens/EFA) groups with whom Mrs von der Leyen needs to start her term in the best possible conditions – does not seem fully guaranteed.
The EPP and Renew Europe groups will not be very difficult to convince. "Our intention is to be able to support her”, said the chairman of the Liberal Group, Romanian Dacian Cioloș, even though German Liberal Ulrike Müller said she would be opposed.
Mr Cioloș described the debate between his group and the nominated candidate as “very useful”, but he also warned that the Liberals' vote was not automatic, calling for stronger commitments on issues such as the Spitzenkandidaten process and full equality between the Dutch Social Democrat Frans Timmermans and the Danish Liberal Margrethe Vestager in the next Commission's hierarchy.
On this point, calling for a Commission composed of as many women as men, Mrs von der Leyen promised the Liberals that Mrs Vestager would have a portfolio commensurate with the “exceptional” work she had done in the Juncker Commission.
The S&D group holds the key.
Support for Mrs von der Leyen will be more complicated on the left of the political spectrum. The S&D group is very divided. It seems certain that the German Social Democrats and the French Socialists will reject Mrs von der Leyen's candidacy.
After hearing Mrs von der Leyen this morning, “I don't have the impression that support within the group has increased”, Jens Geier, head of the SPD party's delegation to Parliament, told EUROPE. Not only would they make it a “principle” of maintaining the Spitzenkandidaten, but they are also disappointed with the positions taken by the nominated candidate, he added. He found her too soft on the rule of law and economic issues. He wondered how the Germans would react to the résumé of a candidate commissioner with the same problems with the law that Mrs von der Leyen faces as a result of her position as Minister of Defence (see EUROPE 12288/5).
It should be noted that Mr Geier himself asked his compatriot whether Mr Timmermans will keep the rule of law dossier in the Commission. According to the SPD representative, the nominated candidate replied that it would be up to Mr Timmermans alone to decide.
At the beginning of the closed hearing, S&D group President Iratxe García of Spain informed the German Christian Democrat of the group's “bitterness” after the European Council, led by Poland and Hungary in particular, rejected the candidacy of Social Democratic Spitzenkandidat Frans Timmermans in the race for the Commission presidency, according to one source (see EUROPE 12287/1). According to this source, Mrs von der Leyen was “not convincing” on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, while the Socialists call for investments to combat climate change to be exempt from European budgetary rules. And the source predicted that about “50 [social-democratic] deputies” will reject Mrs von der Leyen, no matter what.
The Greens/EFA almost in opposition.
As previously anticipated (see EUROPE 12291/1), the environmentalists' opposition took shape on Wednesday, after Mrs von der Leyen's hearing in the Greens/EFA group.
The Christian Democrat certainly said she was “absolutely committed” to having the EU set itself the 2050 target of achieving carbon neutrality by pursuing a more ambitious CO2 emission reduction target – “50%” – by 2030, whereas the previous Parliament had declared itself in favour of a 55% threshold. It considered that the ETS mechanism for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading should be extended to include the aviation and maritime sectors. She endorsed the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron of creating a “European Climate Bank”. She called for massive investment in energy and technology transition, while arguing that the starting point differs from one Member State to another. And she said that the EU could challenge a free trade agreement if its environmental clauses are not respected. Finally, on the migration challenge, she opened the door to a reflection on the opening of legal channels for the arrival of migrants in the EU.
But, questioned by Transport Committee Chair Karima Delli on the creation of a European Pollutant Emissions Control Agency in response to the ‘dieselgate’ involving the German automobile industry, Mrs von der Leyen remained vague, advocating an ‘ambitious’ policy and the mobilisation of resources from industry to invest in research on clean technologies. On the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), it considered that the CAP should become a “food policy”, while the Frenchman Yannick Jadot asked to withdraw the legislative proposal on the table.
The candidate-designate must be able to make bolder and more concrete promises in order to enjoy a comfortable majority in Parliament.
Already, the possibility of postponing the vote on Mrs von der Leyen's candidacy, scheduled for Wednesday 17 July, to September has been raised. At the end of the Renew Europe group's hearing, Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné did not rule it out. On the German SPD side, Mr Geier said that the idea of postponing the vote “was becoming more coherent”.
According to a parliamentary source, a postponement could occur if Mrs von der Leyen understands that she will not obtain a sufficiently comfortable majority on her person or if she needs the votes of Eurosceptics such as members of the ECR group to be elected. However, the sovereignists were particularly upset after MEPs from pro-European groups rejected the candidacy of Polish PiS MEP Beata Szydło as head of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (see EUROPE 12293/3).
Describing this rejection as an “insult” to Ms Szydło's voters, ECR group co-chair Ryszard Legutko said that “it hardly encourages us to support a cross party consensus next week”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Lucas Tripoteau)