2024-01-08 16:40:43
Five months before the European elections, the announcement by the President of the European Council Charles Michel to leave his functions following the elections is reshuffling the cards within the institutions of the European Union and relaunching speculation on the future of the other leading figure of the EU, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Published on: 01/08/2024 – 5:40 p.m.
4 mn
The race for leading European positions is already underway: the unprecedented decision of the President of the European Council Charles Michel to leave his functions prematurely, in July, shakes up the calendar and raises thorny questions around his succession.
The 48-year-old former Belgian Prime Minister, who has chaired the meetings of heads of state or government of the 27 EU countries for four years, saw his current mandate end next November.
He decided to prepare for his future by running for the European Parliament elections. Scheduled for June 6 to 9, they will lead to a renewal of the heads of the main EU institutions which must reflect the political balance resulting from the ballot.
This announcement reinforces expectations around the intentions of the other leading figure of the EU, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, to whom many observers attribute the desire to run for a new mandate.
Charles Michel, who will lead the list of the Reform Movement (MR, French-speaking liberal party) to the Europeans, intends to exercise his “function as President of the European Council until (his) swearing in as MEP, which will take place on July 16” .
Everything except Orban
He assured that his functions were compatible with leading a campaign to be elected to the European Parliament: “It is exactly the same situation as a Prime Minister or a president (of a member country) in an electoral campaign” , he said during a press briefing by videoconference.
Regarding the consequences of his premature departure, which aroused criticism, he recalled that his successor was to be designated by the European Council in June, and that the leaders might very well “decide to anticipate the taking of office” of the new holder of the position to avoid any risk of vacancy.
“If all goes well, the nominations of ‘top jobs’ can absolutely be decided at the European Council at the end of June”, also believes a European official, who however questions Charles Michel’s ability to “campaign, and especially to preside over the European Council following the election at the beginning of June.”
If a successor is not found, European procedures provide, in the event of the end of a mandate linked to an “impediment”, that the President of the European Council is temporarily replaced by the European leader whose country holds the six-monthly presidency of the Council of Europe. the EU (i.e. leads European meetings at ministerial level).
But in July, it was nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, familiar with anti-EU diatribes and the only leader among the 27 to have maintained close ties with the Kremlin following Russia’s offensive once morest Ukraine. , which will be in this position.
Charles Michel, however, indicated that it was possible to “change (these provisions) by simple majority”. “If there is a desire to avoid Viktor Orban, there are different possible options,” he said.
“A personal risk-taking”
Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld, from Renew Europe (centrists and liberals), the same political family as that of Charles Michel, criticized this announced departure.
“The captain is leaving the ship in the middle of a storm. If this is the lack of interest you have in the fate of the European Union, what is your credibility as a candidate?” she said written on X (formerly Twitter).
Charles Michel, for his part, defended his choice to present himself to voters as an “example” and “taking a personal risk”.
“It would be very comfortable for me to wait until December, not to be a candidate, not to be accountable (…) and to try to negotiate behind the scenes a role for the future,” he said. he said, without saying whether he was aiming, beyond his election as MEP, for another “top job”, such as the presidency of the European Commission.
He said he had informed European leaders of his decision on Saturday, adding that “most had reacted positively.”
The Belgian was chosen in July 2019 to succeed the Pole Donald Tusk as President of the European Council, an institution bringing together the heads of state or government of the Member States, during the distribution of “top jobs”. In this capacity, he has been responsible for four years for leading the work of EU summits.
The European deputies, who will number 720 at the end of the 2024 election, are elected by direct universal suffrage for a period of five years.
1704764584
#announced #resignation #Charles #Michel #start #major #maneuvers #Brussels
