2024-01-06 21:03:00
The President of the European Council has finally lifted the veil on his ambitions. “I have decided to run as a candidate for the European elections in June 2024,” he announced this Saturday evening to La Libre, at the end of an MR office which was held during the day. “I made this decision in conjunction with my political family in French-speaking Belgium”, adds Charles Michel, who specifies that he “will lead the MR list”.
“Report on the work undertaken in recent years”
“2024 is an extremely important electoral year in Europe and around the world since almost half of the world’s population will vote,” he emphasizes. “4 years following taking on the responsibility of President of the European Council, there is a need to strengthen European legitimacy. My candidacy is an act of faith, it is my responsibility to report on the work undertaken in recent years. I want to play an active role in this European democratic debate, and carry a project for Europe 2030. I want to continue to mobilize for unity and especially European power.”
This decision has several consequences, at the Belgian and European level since Charles Michel, whose second two and a half year mandate as President of the European Council will end on November 30, 2024, actually intends to sit in the European Parliament.
“If I am elected, I plan to take the oath as a European deputy because I want to serve the European project,” he assures.
What future for Charles Michel? The question still agitates the MR: “I think he will return to Belgian politics”
Neither the Treaties nor the code of conduct of the President of the European Council prohibit Charles Michel from presenting himself, as President of the European Council, as a candidate in the European (or national) elections during his term of office. However, it is not possible to hold the Presidency of the Council and be a European Parliamentarian at the same time.
“This therefore means that I will exercise my function as European President until I am sworn in as a Member of the European Parliament, which is supposed to take place in mid-July,” adds Charles Michel. “However, the decisions to appoint my successor will take place at the end of June or the beginning of July. There is therefore a possibility for the European Council to anticipate the designation of my successor, before I take the oath of office in the European Parliament. Or to rely on a regulation which gives the role to the President of the Council of the European Union. Hungary will chair it in July and as you have understood, several options will have to be discussed by the European Council.”
Charles Michel intends in the meantime to “fully and perfectly assume” his responsibility and his mandate as President of the European Council. “And when the campaign actually starts, but it won’t be now, I will ensure that I run it in a way that in no way undermines my responsibilities as President of the European Council. When I was Belgian Prime Minister, I also campaigned while in office.”
The President of the European Council, former Prime Minister and ex-president of the MR, had long reserved his response, which involved his political future but also that of several tenors of his party.
How can we explain such a late decision? “I naturally thought regarding it and consulted a certain number of partners in my political family. Above all, I found it important not to communicate this decision before being in an election year. It would not have made much sense to communicate this decision earlier.”
Within the MR, several observers would be keen to see if current affairs were to drag on, or if the MR were to be put in difficulty for one reason or another (defeat in the elections, exclusion from government coalitions, internal unrest, etc. ), Charles Michel returns as a savior. Does the person concerned rule out a return to Belgian politics?
A return to Belgian politics? “I never want to exclude anything for the future”
”I want to be useful to the European project. But it is absolutely certain that the future of Belgium and the future of Europe are fundamentally intertwined. By being a candidate for Europe while there are elections on the same day in Belgium, I will also defend the political values in which I believe: freedom, democracy, the entrepreneurial spirit, the sense of effort etc. I never want to rule anything out for the future. But I have a position that is coherent: I want to lead the European political debate, with my European experience, but also as Belgian Prime Minister, with significant national experience.”
Leave the ship? “Such criticism would be completely unfounded”
A question inevitably arises following this announcement. Does the President of the European Council not risk being accused of “jumping ship” while two wars are underway in the world? “Such criticism would be completely unfounded. I am giving this information to the members of the Council 6 months before the first plenary session of Parliament. No one is taken by surprise. In addition, my successor will already be known before the first plenary session of the European Parliament.”
He also refuses to comment on a possible candidacy for the post of European Commissioner or President of the European Parliament.
Brussels lists of the MR: this is becoming clearer, but with Didier Reynders and Alexia Bertrand, the party still has two big stones in its shoe
Didier Reynders was also a candidate
De facto, the choice of Charles Michel also condemns the chances of Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, who had declared himself a candidate for the head of the European list, of being elected to the European Parliament. The MR can hope to get two seats and the second will be allocated to a woman. Valérie Glatigny, candidate for second place, seems well placed to appear there.
Charles Michel is not very talkative regarding the case of his old rival, who sees his chances of being elected to the European Parliament in 2024 reduced to nothing. “I will not make any comment on the rest of the list”, continues the Wavrien of 48 years. “Didier Reynders expressed his wish to remain active on the European level, this can be done in different ways.”
In mid-December, Didier Reynders clearly stated his ambitions for the top of the European list. He also said he would not rule out running for the presidency of the party, which was supposed to be renewed in a little less than a year… Of the two options mentioned, only the second is still available to him.
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