BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2019) The voters in the European Union will go to polls later this week to choose members of the European Parliament (EP), but the parliament will then have a say in who will head the European Commission (EC).
The European Commission is the EU government's executive branch. It proposes new laws, enforces the existing ones, allocates funding and represents the union internationally. The commission is made up of 28 members, one from each member state.
The incumbent president, Jean-Claude Juncker, belongs to the European People's Party (EPP) group, which held 217 seats in the parliament in its latest composition. The second largest group, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), had 186 seats. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) had 68 seats.
The current commission is comprised of representatives of the three groups. The new commission is expected to be elected in October.
CANDIDATES FOR COMMISSION PRESIDENT
In the parliament, political groups represent parties or serve as coalitions of several parties. Each group in the parliament usually designates a Spitzenkandidat, a top candidate, expected to lead the commission if the party wins. If the European Council endorses the candidate, the candidature then goes back to the parliament for final approval.
So far, the most likely candidate among the six potential successors, who were officially nominated by the parties, is the one from the leading European People's Party, Manfred Weber from Bavaria, who opposes the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and lifting of anti-Russia sanctions.
However, there will not be an automatic appointment of the new European Commission president, as not all the countries are satisfied with the current selection system. It is possible that during the negotiation process an "ace" will appear in the game, for example, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who did not confirm or deny his interest in the commission. The candidacy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been discussed in the press, but there have not been any tangible signs of this becoming reality.
The sources on the margins of the EU summit in the Romanian city of Sibiu told Sputnik about the complexity of the upcoming discussions. According to them, there are concerns that the selection of the new commission may take more time than usual. The EC should be fully formed by November 1, which means that the approval from the EP should be obtained in October, and all candidates for the posts of European commissioners should also go through the necessary procedures in the EP by this time.
The participation of the United Kingdom in the elections leaves open the question as to when its seats in the parliament and the EC will be redistributed, given that Brexit was postponed until October 31, 2019. After the UK withdrawal from the European Union, the number of seats in the European Parliament will be reduced from 751 to 705.
The latest projections say that Juncker's party, which nominated Weber as a successor, will have the biggest result: from 169 to 180 seats, which is still fewer than its current share. A political group needs at least 376 seats to form the majority. So in a pre-Brexit composition, the EPP would need a coalition with the Party of European Socialists (PES), the second largest party that can claim up to 152 seats, which is also fewer than it has now. The candidate from ALDE, First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, is also fighting for the post of the EC President.
But then the element of surprise comes into play: if united with supporters of French President Emmanuel Macron, ALDE, who are predicted to increase their presence in the parliament to up to 109 seats, can compete for the third place, as well as the supporters of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's group European Alliance for People and Nations. Politicians from this movement support strengthening national sovereignty and lifting the anti-Russian sanctions.
There is another parliamentary group of euroskeptics �Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy, where UK lawmakers were setting the tone. The European Conservatives and Reformists parliamentary group, which supports a balance between national and European competencies, is hot on the heels of the nationalists. The Greens and various left partie together can pull over 100 seats.
Thus, the diverse composition of the new parliament may complicate the formation of new parliamentary groups and coalitions. Parliamentary rules require the parliamentary group to have at least 25 members and represent at least a quarter of the EU countries.
The system of nominating spitzenkandidaten is formally intended to bring the head of the EC closer to the voters and emulate primaries that exist in national elections.
Official candidates include a Spanish-born Belgian unionist Nico Cue, who represents the party of the European Left; German politician Ska Keller from the European Green Party; Czech politician Jan Zahradil from the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe; Danish politician serving as the European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; as well as a Bavarian politician Manfred Weber from the EU-led European People's Party; and the European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans from the Party of European Socialists.
Matteo Salvini was interested in becoming a spitzenkandidat, but did not participate in the debate in this capacity.
An engineer by training, Weber, who served in the armed forces, represents the center-right political family and Christian Democrats in the elections. He supports maintaining sanctions against Russia, speaks in favor of reducing "energy dependence" on Moscow and, in contradiction of Germany's official position, stands firm against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. He has also advocated for the creation of an FBI-like structure in the European Union, spoken out against Turkey's accession to the bloc, and even suggested that the European Union can build a missile defense system with the participation of Ukraine.
Timmermans is the second in line for Juncker's post. Born in the Dutch city of Maastricht, he served as the Dutch foreign minister. He worked at the embassy in Moscow in the early 1990s and later participated in negotiations with Russian high-ranking delegations. Timmermans spoke out against lifting sanctions against Russia, and, during the debate, he called on EU countries to unite in order to resist the possible ultimatums of Russia and the United States. According to him, the current US president wants to weaken Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe has nominated a team of politicians running for top positions in Brussels. Brexit Coordinator for the European Parliament and former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, and EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager are among them. As well as her competitors, Vestager favors maintaining sanctions against Russia. She is known for fining Google a record 4.34 billion Euros ($5 billion at the time) and saying that "a tax haven is a place where everyone pays their taxes." Vestager became Denmark's minister of education at the age of 29, and has been nicknamed the "tax lady" by US President Donald Trump.
Salvini, who became a convinced Eurosceptic after his election to the EP in 2004, as well as the European Left candidate Slovenian politician Violeta Tomic, support lifting sanctions against Russia in this campaign.
Nevertheless, foreign policy and sanctions are not included in the list of the main themes of the elections campaign. The debates showed that the voters are more concerned about the EU internal problems, migration, taxes, unemployment, social rights, and the climate.
