The German and Spanish socialist parties announced on Monday evening (15 January) that they support Nicolas Schmit as the Party of European Socialists (PES) lead candidate for the EU elections, making it all but certain that the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights will become the primary challenger of current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The so-called ‘spitzenkandidaten’ or lead candidates that are nominated by European parties for June’s EU elections compete for the post of the next Commission President. By convention, this will be the lead candidate from the party that secured the most seats after the election.
On Monday, the German Social Democrats (SPD) officially confirmed Schmit’s nomination for the Party of European Socialists (PES) lead candidate post for the first time, as well as its support for the Luxembourgian. A spokesperson from the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) confirmed to Euractiv that the party will also back Schmit.
“The Labour Commissioner in Europe, Nicolas Schmit, from Luxembourg, is currently running as the European Social Democrats’ lead candidate for the upcoming European elections,” SPD Secretary General, Kevin Kühnert, told reporters, confirming Schmit’s bid.
“We have discussed this in our committees today and have jointly and unanimously decided that we would like to support Nicolas Schmit in his candidature,” SPD’s Kühnert said.
Neither PES nor the Commissioner had so far officially confirmed the candidacy.
But, asked by Euractiv, the Commissioner confirmed that the Luxembourg socialist party (LSAP) has now nominated him to be the PES lead candidate, which he has accepted.
With German and Spanish support, the Social Democrats’ nomination is all but confirmed for Schmit, with no opposition candidates having come forward yet, Euractiv understands.
The Spanish and German socialists are the most influential national parties at the PES, as both are leading their country’s governments and are represented in the European Council with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Chancellor Olaf Scholz. They also hold the biggest delegations in the socialist parliamentary group with 21 and 16 MEPs respectively.
The deadline to put forward candidacies is on Wednesday (17 January), after which the PES has to verify that all candidacies comply with the conditions that have been set. Candidates need to be nominated by one PES full-member party and backed by eight others.
MEP Katarina Barley out
The only other name previously floated around for the top job was German MEP Katarina Barley. However, with her own party supporting Schmit, she is effectively out of the race as each party can only nominate or support one candidate.
In comments to Euractiv, Barley praised Schmit as “someone who has fought very resolutely for democracy within the Commission, whose democratic heart is in the right place”.
A former diplomat, Schmit was “battle-proof” in international affairs and thus an ideal choice for the Commission Presidency with its increasing geopolitical importance, she said.
If Schmit also runs to be an MEP, his candidacy could spell trouble for his colleague, Luxembourgish socialist party (LSAP) MEP and Parliament’s vice-president Marc Angel, since LSAP only scored one seat in 2019. For now, though, current projections award LSAP two seats.
The lead candidate will be ultimately elected in the PES Congress in Rome on 2 March, alongside the adoption of the electoral manifesto.
The ‘spitzenkandidat’ system, however, is not a guaranteed path to the Commission top spot. After the 2019 elections, EU countries overrode the candidates in favour of an outsider, with some people now considering the system a symbol of European democracy rather than a functional appointment process.
Developments in other parties
The Greens will select their lead candidate during a congress in Lyon on 2-4 February, with four contenders for the top job, the frontrunner being German Terry Reintke, co-president of the Greens in the European Parliament.
The Party of the European Left’s lead candidate will be presented during the party’s electoral General Assembly on 24-25 February in Ljubljana, Slovenia, following an internal nomination process where national parties, within and outside the party, can bring forward nominees.
Party president Walter Baier told Euractiv in November that MEP Manon Aubry, co-president of the Left Group in the European Parliament, is blocked for the race to avoid infighting between the French communist party and La France Insoumise.
The other co-president, Die Linke’s Martin Schirdewean, “is definitely an option”, he said.
The European People’s Party is still to decide whether to put forward current Commission President Ursula von der Leyer as their EU lead candidate.
The nationalist-conservative ECR and far-right eurosceptic ID announced back in June they would not have lead candidates.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Read more with Euractiv
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Source: euractiv.com
