The European People’s Party (EPP) is the only party on the right side of the political spectrum to select candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, the so-called spitzenkandidat, as the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy group (ID) oppose the process.
Party president Manfred Weber has already expressed his support for the process. Meanwhile, Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) leader Markus Söder said that he does not oppose the process.
“It is in the statue,” Söder told the press on Thursday (4 May) during the EPP Assembly in Munich, adding that he would “welcome” the incumbent Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen if she decided to run as EPP spitzenkandidat.
However, the issue was not among the main topics at the EPP Assembly in Munich on Thursday and Friday (4-5 May), which instead focused on emphasising unity between the two German parties, the Christian Democrats and the CSU, ahead of Bavarian elections this autumn and next June’s EU elections.
It's a pleasure, dear @_FriedrichMerz and @Markus_Soeder, to have you at our @EPP Political Assembly in Munich. To face the crises of our time, we need leadership, strength & unity. Europe needs strong peoples parties , Europe needs a strong EPP! @CDU & @CSU #EPPMunich #EPPMunich pic.twitter.com/PDMGfrY2I5
— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) May 4, 2023
Delegates also focused on agriculture policy challenges in rural areas, including opposition to key files in the green agenda of Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans.
In the draft resolution of the assembly seen by EURACTIV, the party said that it would “reject the proposal on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides as the reduction targets”, on the grounds that the plan is “not feasible” and does not “offer farmers viable alternatives”.
Similar opposition is expressed in an Assembly paper on the implementation of the Nature Restoration Law, “In too many regions or Member States the implementation of existing nature legislation has led to a bureaucratic nightmare and planning deadlock, endangering the economic viability in rural areas, food security, renewable energy production, crucial infrastructure etc…” the EPP resolution states.
Head of states vs the spitzen
National governments have been quietly playing down the significance and value of the spitzenkandidat process which emerged ahead of the 2014 EU elections as a means to clearly link the results of the elections to the allocation of the jobs leading the EU institutions.
However, following the elections in 2019, the process suffered a major setback when German Christian Democrat Ursula Von der Leyen was chosen as Commission president instead of Weber, who had been the EPP spitzenkandidat.
EU countries to reject Spitzenkandidaten and pan-EU election lists
EU governments are set to formally kill off plans for transnational lists and Spitzenkandidaten, or lead candidates, at the next European elections in 2024.
Since then, conservatives and nationalists in ECR and ID have vocally opposed the process.
Last year, the European Parliament voted on a proposal to make the spitzenkandidat a mandatory process for all pan-EU political parties and to create a transnational list to elect some members of the EU assembly. However, that plan has been blocked by EU governments and is unlikely to be adopted before next year’s elections.
[Edited by Alice Taylor and Benjamin Fox]
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Source: euractiv.com
