All top jobs in the EU should be decided by centrist parties, Stéphane Séjourné, leader of the liberal Renew Europe group said in a recent interview with Politico. According to him, the largest EU groups should create a “pro-European coalition” going toward the 2024 European elections, further isolating the radical—meaning conservative—elements.
“We will go to the elections of 2024 with the promise not to govern with the far Right and the far Left. For us, Europe is governed in the center or it is ungovernable,” Séjourné said, adding that not only the Commission presidency but all top jobs in the EU should be decided by the pact. This essentially means that among the right-wing parties, only the centrist EPP could be given important mandates (such as the presidencies of the Parliament, the Council, and the Central Bank, or the High Representative for foreign affairs), while the conservative ECR and ID would be left out, even before negotiations started.
Immediately after explaining why the political opinion of half of Europe should be discarded from consideration, Séjourné argued that it would be the most democratic solution. “I believe the decision on the top jobs should come from the European election, because it is the most democratic election, where the 450 million Europeans express their will,” he said, the irony clearly lost on him.
The head of the European Commission, of course, remains the most important position, and Séjourné’s left-leaning coalition (comprised of the EPP, S&D, Renew, and maybe the Greens) should secure the right for selecting the candidate before the election. After the failure of the Spitzenkandidat system last time, the Renew leader argued, the mainstream parties need a more solid approach to make sure the right person gets appointed.
“I want a real coalition treaty, as in all democracies,” Séjourné said. “2024 must be the moment of democratic maturity of Europe,” meaning that the Commission president ought to be “the candidate who can gather a majority. This is the bottom line.”
Moreover, Renew’s proposed treaty would serve another clear purpose, namely preventing the European People’s Party (EPP) from entering an alliance with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
After Qatargate broke, mainly affecting social democrat MEPs, rumors started to circulate in Brussels, hinting that certain EPP factions were considering ditching the S&D for a prospective coalition with ECR after 2024. Although the EPP’s more influential wing (led by members of the German CDU) doesn’t want to get anywhere close to “anti-European, right-wing nationalists,” a coalition treaty with the liberals would make sure they don’t change their minds halfway through.
