Saturday

9th Dec 2023

EU six hold informal dinner on top jobs

  • Margrethe Vestager - the first female European Commission president in 60 years? (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

Six leaders representing the three most-successful political blocs in the EU elections last month are meeting in Brussels on Friday (7 June) to start talks on Europe's top jobs.

The centre-right, still the biggest group despite haemorrhaging votes, is sending Croatian and Latvian prime ministers Andrej Plenkovic and Krisjanis Karins.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • German MEP Manfred Weber should get the post on paper after the centre-right won the most seats in the European Parliament election in May (Photo: European Parliament)

The centre-left, the second largest, but also bruised by falling support, is to be represented by Portugal's Antonio Costa and Spain's Pedro Sanchez.

The liberals, who won dozens of extra European Parliament (EP) seats, are hosting the informal dinner under Belgium's Charles Michel, with Dutch leader Mark Rutte also attending.

The meeting is the first follow-up to a top jobs summit and the EP elections in late May.

EU states have mandated the outgoing EU Council president, Donald Tusk, to consult the six men on who should be the next European Commission, EU Council, and European Parliament heads.

The EU foreign relations and European Central Bank posts are also up for grabs, with decisions due by 20 June.

The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) or centre-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D) ought to get the commission crown on paper.

German chancellor Angela Merkel has backed German MEP and EPP lead candidate Manfred Weber.

The S&D candidate, Dutch EU commissioner Frans Timmermans, could benefit from having Spain's Pedro Sanchez plead his case in Brussels, after Sanchez's party swept to victory on the national stage and said Madrid wanted to play a bigger role at the European level.

But he is fiercely opposed by Hungary and Poland after he led EU attacks on their abuse of rule of law at home.

And the liberals, who also have a heavy hitter, Rutte, on Tusk's panel, as well as behind-the-scenes support from French president Emmanuel Macron, say their EP performance means their candidate, Danish EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager, should go forward.

That would make her the first woman to lead the commission in its 60-year history after Tusk recently said women should get two out of the five top posts.

Three other women - Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria's World Bank chief), Christine Lagarde (the French head of the International Monetary Fund), and Dalia Grybauskaite (Lithuania's president) - are also in the running.

But so is Frenchman Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexit negotiator, with Tusk adding that the geography and size of EU states were factors alongside political affiliation and gender balance.

Feature

Vestager takes centre-stage in Danish election fight

'Climate, border control - and Margrethe Vestager'. As Danes prepare to vote, the future role of their European commissioner for competition has been added to the domestic election debate.

EU Parliament ready for Council spat on top EU posts

The majority of political groups in the European Parliament - with the now exception of ALDE - are gearing up for a fight with EU premiers on who and how people will get the top posts of the EU institutions.

Agenda

EU top jobs, Italy, and Western Balkans This WEEK

Talks on EP groups and top jobs in the wake of the EU election last month continue. Finance ministers also discuss whether to fine Italy, while EU commissioners promote Western Balkans enlargement.

Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies

Disruption at the Polish-Ukrainian border by disaffected Polish truckers is escalating, potentially affecting delivery of military aid to Ukraine. A Polish request to reintroduce permits for Ukrainian drivers has been described as "a shot to the head" during war.

Opinion

Tusk's difficult in-tray on Poland's judicial independence

What is obvious is that PiS put in place a set of interlocking safeguards for itself which, even after their political defeat in Poland, will render it very difficult for the new government to restore the rule of law.

Opinion

Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?

Six months ahead of the EU elections, knocking an 'elitist' climate agenda is looking like a vote-winner to some. Saving the Green Deal and the EU's climate ambitions starts with listening to Europeans who are struggling to make ends meet.

Latest News

  1. How Moldova is trying to control tuberculosis
  2. Many problems to solve in Dubai — honesty about them is good
  3. Sudanese fleeing violence find no haven in Egypt or EU
  4. How should EU reform the humanitarian aid system?
  5. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  6. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  7. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  8. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us