The current leader of the Commission, who is the official head of the EPP list for the European elections, has rejected possible post-election agreements with groups that include “anti-rule of law” and “friends of Putin” members.
As was previously known, the European People's Party announced that only Ursula von der Leyen's candidacy for the presidency of the European Commission had been accepted. The party is convinced that it will continue to have a majority in the European Parliament after elections scheduled for the spring, and therefore will have no difficulty securing the Commission presidency again.
But German newspapers reported that the balance of power may change significantly – specifically through the growth of parliamentarians representing the far right – which may pose some obstacles to the plan. Certainly not in relation to the Commission, but in relation to the various bodies in the bloc's administrative building – which are traditionally run (in the eyes of some in a completely undemocratic way) between conservatives and socialists.
The head of the PPE, Manfred Weber, received only one letter of appointment – from the German Christian Democratic Party (CDU) – indicating the appointment of the current head of the group's executive authority to the position of head of the party's European reappointment list, according to what the British newspaper “Daily Mail” reported. Statement on this issue.
Von der Leyen's appointment must be confirmed at the European People's Party conference, scheduled for March 6-7, in Bucharest, joining the appointment of Nicola Schmidt, European Commissioner for Employment in Luxembourg, the candidate nominated by the Party of European Socialists. It is an abbreviation in English) which must also be officially confirmed at the plenary session on March 1 and 2 in Rome.
Currently, only the European Greens have two official list leaders, maintaining the tradition of going ahead with a woman, Thierry Rinthke, and a man, Bas Eeckhout, who were approved at the February 2 conference.
The character of the two main candidates emerged in the 2014 European elections, as the largest European parties presented their choices for the presidency of the next European Commission, with Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker receiving an absolute majority of votes.
In the 2019 vote, in which von der Leyen was elected President of the European Commission, this model was tried again, but due to disagreement between political groups, these main candidates did not hold senior European positions.
After the popular decision, von der Leyen said: “For me, it is important to work with pro-European, pro-NATO, pro-Ukrainian groups, which clearly support our democratic values. (…) As you know, all European elections involve a change in the composition of different political parties and different political groups, so the content is important and those who defend democracy against the eurosceptics and those who defend our values against Putin's friends… these are People I want to work with and know I can work with.
Reaching a possible agreement with parties “against the rule of law is impossible,” just as it is “impossible with parties of friends of Vladimir Putin.” When asked specifically about an agreement between the Italian People's Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists group, the candidate said that “there must be a very clear position on the politicians” who are in this group after the election.
Do they defend democracy? Do they stand up for our values? Are they very firm on the rule of law? Do you support Ukraine? Are they fighting Putin's attempt to weaken and divide Europe? These answers must be very clear.”
As the first woman President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen was approved by the European Parliament in November 2019, by 461 votes to 157, with 89 abstentions.
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