Liberal Renew manifesto sneak peek and bits from Bucharest congress

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Welcome to EU Elections Decoded, your essential guide for staying up to date and receiving exclusive insights about the upcoming EU elections. This is Max Griera, writing from Bucharest. Subscribe here.

In today’s edition

Sneak peek into liberal Renew Europe Now platform’s manifesto and lead candidates
Notes from Bucharest: the ins and outs of the European People’s Party (EPP) congress
Flash updates: Socialists place “security” at the core of their campaign, French radical left unveils electoral list, fresh polls indicate head-to-head race between Socialists and centre-right in Romania and Portugal.

Ahead of Renew Europe’s grand electoral launch on 20 March, Euractiv took a sneak peek at their lead candidates and manifesto, which focuses on competitiveness, defence, and the need to shift from creating new Green legislation to implementing the existing laws and give the industry breathing space.

The several factions composing the liberal group in the European Parliament will gather on 20 March to launch the joint ‘Renew Europe Now’ platform, including a 10-point electoral programme and a team of three lead candidates to guide them through the elections.

While the liberals have stayed silent on their campaign plans, their joint electoral plan is starting to take shape. And, as their grand electoral launch approaches, Euractiv was briefed by a well-informed source on the Renew manifesto’s content.

The common points, which bring together the priorities of ALDE, EDP, and France’s Renaissance – the most important liberal factions -, outline the general priorities the liberals will follow in the campaign and the upcoming legislative term, such as defence, farmers, rule of law, and the EU’s reform.

However, it seems the manifesto will lack specific policy proposals, instead agreeing on the lowest common denominators and leaving some ambiguity for future flexibility on specific files.

The common priorities focus on boosting Europe’s competitiveness, to face off against competition from China and the US, while looking inward by embracing a ‘Made in Europe’ strategy. Such a standpoint echoes ALDE’s manifesto, reported by Euractiv, which affirms the EU’s single market needs to be completed

“We advocate for a frictionless single market that ensures an equal and competitive business environment at the EU level,” the ALDE draft manifesto states, while criticising the outgoing Commission’s management of the internal market.

In doing so, ALDE also casts doubt on the performance of the commissioner in charge of the internal market, Frenchman Thierry Breton, though any mention of a neglected internal market has been ditched from the Renew manifesto, possibly as a result of French pressure.

On the Green Deal, echoing the ‘regulatory pause’ called for by French President Emmanuel Macron, the manifesto places a strong emphasis on the need to move away from further regulation and ensure that the implementation of Green Deal files does not hamper Europe’s businesses.

On migration, the liberals have opted to reject the harsher stance of the European People’s Party and embrace a “humane, clear, and stable” approach. However, the manifesto seems to play on ambiguity by broadly calling to help the countries of departure to handle migration flows, as well as further migrant talent integration.

Among other points, the manifesto also brings back Europe’s reform debate by demanding to reopen the EU treaties to get rid of qualified majority voting, and turn the Commission into a “proper democratic government.”

Such a perspective likely draws on the manifesto of the European Democratic Party, a member of Renew, seen by Euractiv, which contains 300 actions to be taken after the EU elections.

With a strong pro-European narrative, the EDP manifesto proposes implementing the conclusions of the long-forgotten Conference on the Future of Europe, and the direct election of an “EU president” with transnational lists.

Just like the Socialists and the centre-right parties, the liberals have also embraced the pro-farmers rhetoric as their own, echoing the pledges that the Renew Europe group’s president, France’s Valérie Hayer, made after being elected the group’s chief.

Brussels is also waiting to see who will head the Renew Europe Platform in the campaign, as the liberals are the last EU political force to make their pick.

As reported by Euractiv on Tuesday (7 March), the liberals have now confirmed they will have a “Team Europe” composed of three Spitzenkandidaten to represent each liberal faction: ALDE, EDP, and France’s Renaissance.

What we know so far is that MEP Sandro Gozi will almost certainly become the lead candidate from EDP, while Commissioner Breton seems to be the frontrunner to represent France’s Renaissance.

ALDE members have been struggling to find their pick and have pushed their deadline, initially set last week, to reach an internal agreement.

While ALDE members would like to see Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as their lead candidate, it is unclear whether she will agree. Read more on the liberals lead candidate team here.

The ins and outs of the European People’s Party (EPP) congress in Bucharest

The European People’s Party congress in Bucharest has elected Ursula von der Leyen as the lead candidate, who has now shifted to campaign mode. The Congress also approved the EPP’s electoral manifesto, which shapes the party’s policy priorities for the coming five years. Here are some bits Nick Alipour and I gathered on the ground.

Security first. The EPP has included security and order as a core tenet of their manifesto and already applied it in practice during the congress. Upon arriving at the airport, congress attendees received a spooky notice explaining what to do – and not to do- to stay safe in Bucharest. The party even set a special password to give in case you found yourself calling 112.

Dissent and von der Leyen scepticism. The Austrian delegation announced they would not vote in favour of the manifesto as it is opposed their views on energy and Schengen, while France’s Les Republicains decided not to vote in favour of von der Leyen, arguing that she does not represent well the party values: “Many colleagues, and a substantial number, in fact, including German colleagues, (…) have thanked us for being the spokesperson for their own reservations,” an official from Les Republicains told us. Read more.

Meloni’s party joining EPP? While von der Leyen has pondered the idea of some members of the nationalist ECR group joining the EPP, Italy’s centre-right MEP Salvatore De Meo told us that his party, Forza Italia, wants Giorgia Meloni’s party Fratelli d’Italia – with whom they currently govern – to join the EPP. Read more.

Migration controversy. The manifesto promises a crackdown on migration by endorsing the UK’s controversial Rwanda model to send migrants to third countries while processing asylum applications, which von der Leyen endorses fully, she said in a press conference. The UK’s scheme with Rwanda, announced by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was deemed to conflict with international law by the UK’s Supreme Court.

Romania to be “rewarded” with “significant” Commission portfolio. Romanian EPP Vice-President Sigfried Muresan told Euractiv that his country will be “rewarded” for their pro-Europeanness with a portfolio in the areas of foreign affairs, defence, or enlargement. However, it is unclear whether Romania’s commissioner will be nominated by the socialists or the centre-right, as they are governing together in a grand coalition.

Romania’s opposition stages campaign. The Romanian liberal party USR staged a PR campaign across Bucharest, criticising the centre-right party PNL for having allied with the socialist PSD to govern. “USR demands that EPP delegates in Bucharest clarify with PNL leaders how they jumped on the S&D ballot. We are witnessing a festival of the absurd: people who vote PNL will actually send social democrats to the European Parliament,” said Ionuț Moșteanu, USR vice-president and spokesperson.

Flash updates

Ahead of EU elections, ‘security’ is the magic word for the socialists. “Citizens want more security in Europe”— no, it’s not von der Leyen’s latest pitch but what came out of the latest European Socialist Party congress in Rome. Eleonora Vasques has more here.

French left party LFI unveils EU election list, and it’s all about the perfect balance between new and old faces. The list is still incomplete—two spots are still vacant—and needs to be approved by 15 March. Read Clara Bauer-Babef and Paul Messad‘s full coverage here.

Greece’s data watchdog investigates MEP’s mass emails to voters abroad. The issue has sparked an intense debate in Greece, considering that postal voting will be applied for the first time in the EU elections in June. Sarantis Michalopoulos has you covered.

Breton, Hayer, Kallas, Gozi… Where are the liberals’ leaders? While the electoral battle has already started, Renew Europe still hasn’t taken the field. Internal discussions, hesitations, infighting, and contradictions noticed by Euractiv in recent weeks, surely show one thing: All bets are open. Max Griera has more insights.

French far-right: EU elections ‘referendum’ against migrants, Brussels authoritarianism. “France is back, Europe lives again.” The Rassemblement National’s lead candidate Jordan Bardella is ready to cooperate with fellow far-right and nationalist leaders to change the Union from within, setting aside the old Frexit dream. Alice Taylor covered the story.

Centre-right wrestling Socialists for first place in Portugal, Romania: EU elections projection. Euractiv’s polling partner, Europe Elects, released the latest projections on the EU elections. Check out further changes in party rankings across EU countries here.

*Additional reporting by Nick Alipour.