The Franco-German split over who should next lead the European commission has deepened after Angela Merkel defended her support for a fellow German MEP for the post in the face of Emmanuel Macron’s doubts.
The two leaders are divided over the claim of Manfred Weber, the candidate nominated as European commission president by the chancellor’s political group, the European People’s party (EPP).
After a three-hour working dinner of EU leaders in Brussels to discuss replacements for Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, the presidents of the commission and council, Merkel said she had spoken to Macron one-to-one in the margins of the summit.
“It is no secret that he does not support the lead candidate principle but we all have to live with circumstances as they present themselves,” Merkel said. “The EPP is the strongest in the parliament. It does not have a majority in the parliament and so we all need to think hard.”
Under the so-called spitzenkandidat system, the “lead candidate” of the political group that wins the largest share of the vote in European elections is favoured for the role of leading the EU’s executive branch.
In 2014, Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, was appointed by the member states on the back of the principle, introduced by the European parliament.
“This time round the situation looks different,” Merkel admitted. “It looks more complicated and we have to face the facts and deal with them and again find a good solution.”
The EPP remains the largest in the parliament, but its haul of seats in the European parliament plummeted from 221 in 2014 to 180, prompting Weber to concede that the “centre is shrinking”
Merkel insisted, however, that the higher turnout of more than 50%, bucking a four decade trend, was the “engine” that justified the lead candidate system and Weber’s coronation.
Earlier in the day, Macron, whose La République En Marche (La Rem) gained 22 seats during last week’s elections, and joins an enlarged and emboldened liberal group in parliament, offered a thinly veiled critique of the German MEP, who has never held a government position.
Macron insisted that the replacements for Juncker and Tusk required “experience and credibility to enable them to carry out these missions”.
“Today I do not want names to be talked about, names to be attacked; I think we have to take into account what came out of the polls, what the European people have expressed and we must also have decision-makers who have the credibility to be able to act,” he said.
A range of candidates, not all with the backingof parliamentary groups, have emerged in recent months for the top roles.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has not declared himself a candidate for commission president but has been on a tour of capitals in recent months giving speeches on his vision of Europe.
Frans Timmermans, the former Dutch foreign minister, a vice-president of Juncker’s commission, is the lead candidate of the Socialists and Democrats group, the second largest in the European parliament after the EPP.
Asked about Margrethe Vestager, the former Danish finance minister who is a candidate for commission president from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe political group, Macron agreed she had the relevant strengths.
“Like Mr Barnier, as Mr Timmermans, people who have precisely these skills but I do not want today to have a debate on the names, I want to have a debate about the project, priorities and criteria,” Macron said.
Tusk said that there was “no automaticity” to the lead candidate system. Of the five EU jobs that will soon vacant – presidents of the commission, council, European Central Bank, the European parliament, and a new foreign policy high representative – Tusk said he wanted to see more gender balance. A woman has never led the commission or council.
“Gender balance means at least two women, if it is possible, we will see,” he said. “But this is at least my plan and my personal ambition and as I mentioned I felt very strong support, maybe not from everyone.”
