Follow Us

Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on LinkedIn
 

25 October 2013

EUobserver: EU vote not decisive on Commission President, says Merkel


German Chancellor Angela Merkel has poured cold water on hopes that the European Commission President candidate of the most popular political party after next year's EU election will automatically get the post.

"I don't see any automaticity between top candidates and the filling of posts," said Merkel in Brussels. "The treaty says that it should be taken into account. Otherwise the Commission president will be voted by the parliament based on a proposal by the [EU leaders]", she noted. She added that this means there will be "many considerations" and "many discussions" after the 22-25 May European Parliament vote on how to divide the vacant posts.

With the entrance into force in 2009 of the EU's newest set of the rules - the Lisbon Treaty - several [EU leaders] had hoped that the EU elections would become more political, with the rules stating that EU leaders should propose a Commission president "taking into account" the European elections.

Those in favour of the idea say that giving EU voters a real outcome for their vote will make the election more European - rather than the national affair it is today - and buck the continuous downward trend in voter turnout. This has led to European political parties promising to field candidates for the post. Merkel's own faction, the centre-right EPP, is set to make a nomination in March next year.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz is set to stand for the centre-left while the far-left is set to field Alexis Tsipras, head of Greece's Syriza party, as its candidate. Jean-Claude Juncker, long-term Luxembourg leader, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the centre-right.

Merkel said there are important posts to be distributed by EU leaders and that should be "distinguished from" political parties putting forward top candidates. The Chancellor added that the parties' candidates cannot necessarily expect to become president and said "false promises" should not be made.

Full article



© EUobserver.com


< Next Previous >
Key
 Hover over the blue highlighted text to view the acronym meaning
Hover over these icons for more information



Add new comment