Germany's coalition government has not unconditionally backed Ursula von der Leyen's reappointment as European Commission President, with ruling party officials saying she would need to make concessions in exchange for German support.
Von der Leyen's party group, the European People's Party (EPP), is expected to win the most votes in June's vote, which would require EU leaders to nominate her as European Commission president if they go ahead with S's proposal.Pit Candidate system.
Asked by EuraActive about Germany's position on the main candidate system, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said the coalition agreement between the three ruling parties applied.
“As far as I know, there is no coalition agreement that says the lead candidate of the strongest parliamentary group should be nominated,” he said on Monday (May 27).
The coalition agreement between the Social Democrats (SPD), the Free Democrats (FDP) and the Green Party Regulatory The parties are calling for “partially cross-border lists and a binding European standardised electoral law”. Competition Director Hebestreit's comments suggest that while the government adheres to the principle of “elections,” it does not feel bound by the current electoral system.
It also suggests that Germany could pressure von der Leyen to extract concessions in exchange for securing the vote of Germany, the EU's largest member, in the 27-nation Council, which must approve the EU's new top post.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democrats, Social Democrats) has already Warned The next president of the European Commission must not work with far-right parties, he declared on Friday, suggesting such an arrangement is a red line that must not be crossed.
The coalition states its conditions
make Candidates in the competitionPreserving the EU system, as mandated by EU leaders, is primarily a “long-term” effort, explained Johannes Schlaps, deputy leader for EU affairs for Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD).
He told Euractive that the nomination of the next president this time required “transparency” above all else, echoing Scholz's comments by adding that the Social Democrats' support was conditional on the Commission giving up “a majority, which also requires support from right-wing extremists”.
Scholz's minority Green party supports the conditions.
“I particularly welcome that the chancellor expects the next European Commission leadership to rule out cooperation with right-wing extremism,” Green Party lawmaker Anton Hofreiter, chair of the European affairs committee in the German Bundestag, told Euraactive.
The second minority partner, the liberal FDP, said it supported conditionality in principle.
The Liberal Party is Competition Director Thomas Hacker, the Free Democrats' (FDP) lead lawmaker for European affairs, told Euraactive that any changes to the Brexit system would mean von der Leyen would have to make concessions to secure the support of the German government.
“If Ms von der Leyen is nominated she will need to work on practical policies that will bring relief.” [from bureaucracy] And technological neutrality (…). Only then can she seek the support of the German government,” he said.
France, the EU's second-largest member state, is also in the process of adopting a new policy under President Emmanuel Macron. Rumored He supports former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi for prime minister.
Against this background, the EPP representative addressed the political opposition: Competition Director system.
“I am hopeful [the European] “The Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals need to commit before the election to supporting the lead candidate of Europe's strongest parliamentary group,” Manfred Weber, leader of the European People's Party (EPP) and the CSU, said at the annual conference of von der Leyen's German party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
[Edited by Oliver Noyan]/Zoran Radosavljevic]
