- Leaders of the three major factions in the European Parliament have reached an agreement on personnel. Ursula von der Leyen is set to become President of the European Commission again, Antonio Costa to lead the European Council, and Kaja Kallas the head of EU diplomacy.
- It remains a controversial issue whether Costa will hold his position for two and a half years or five years. The European People’s Party, which Tusk represents in the negotiations, decided to play more forcefully than expected
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was on the sidelines of Monday’s talks. We hear from the Polish delegation: “Her support is not decisive for us.”
- However, concluding an agreement with the Italian opposition – the third power in the EU – would be a violation of a long-standing practice. And cause more problems
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There was disappointment in Brussels on Tuesday after midnight. A moment before that, its president, Charles Michel, appeared in front of hundreds of exhausted journalists gathered in the European Council building. Among his published statements about seeking unity, there was only one that could make headlines: “We have no deal.”
Leaders of the 27 member states, who met for dinner in the Belgian capital on Monday, failed to reach an agreement at the first attempt and decide on the division of the most important positions in the European Union. Even though they are only a hair away.
-We are very happy. Everything is on track – we hear from representatives of the Polish delegation to the summit.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk himself struck an optimistic tone. During the talks, the Polish Prime Minister was the main negotiator for the Christian Democratic European People’s Party, the largest force in the new European Parliament. However, unlike other leaders, he did not speak publicly during the summit. He commented on the results only Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at Warsaw Airport.
“I hope an agreement will be reached next week,” Tusk noted. He indicated that he is almost certain to fill the three most important positions in the European Union.
Tusk confirmed that Ursula von der Leyen will assume the presidency of the European Commission for a second term, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa as President of the European Council, and Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Leading EU diplomacy. This exact alternative was flagged as most likely even before EU leaders arrived in Brussels on Monday.
At the beginning of next week, Tusk is scheduled to lead another round of negotiations with representatives of the following largest factions in the European Parliament: the Social Democrats and Liberals. Final arrangements are scheduled to be finalized on Thursday and Friday, June 27 and 28, when leaders of member states meet again in Brussels for the next summit.
However, two obstacles remain to the “good road” to reaching an agreement.
The Croatian has great ambitions. “It’s just a spin.”
On Monday evening, news spread behind closed doors in Brussels that the Premier League had decided to play harder and take a bigger piece of the pie for itself than previously agreed.
The initial agreement between the three largest political groups in Europe assumes that former Portuguese Prime Minister and representative of the Social Democratic Party, António Costa, will become President of the European Council for the next five years. However, the Christian Democrats allegedly demanded that the Portuguese receive only 2.5 years in office. In this scenario, the next two and a half years would go to a politician from the European People’s Party.
Donald Tusk confirmed the move Tuesday afternoon. At the conference after his return from Brussels, he pointed out that the official term of office for the President of the Council is 2.5 years, and he himself had to run for re-election in the famous “27 to 1” vote in 2017. The Prime Minister admitted that shortening Costa’s term remains a moot point, This will be clarified next week.
So who from the English Premier League will replace the Portuguese? There was talk in Brussels about Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. But as we hear, this is not the common position of the European Christian Democrats.
Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic in Brussels
– This is a trick invented by the Croatian delegation. He would really like to do it himself. In fact, we do not have a specific name at the moment, but rather we are hearing from a Polish diplomatic source who knows very well what is going on behind the scenes in the summit talks.
The idea of dividing the mandate of the European Council president is likely just a ploy on the part of the Christian Democrats to derail the potentially broader aspirations of the Social Democrats in the EU negotiations. And creating the appearance of concession that would pave the way to a final agreement.
Georgia Meloni has been sidelined. “Maybe you didn’t say anything.”
The second problem in negotiations is your name. It’s about Georgia Meloni.
The prime minister in Rome heads the far-right Italian Brotherhood party and is somewhat isolated in Brussels. Her group, along with, among others, PiS belongs to the group of European Conservatives and Reformists, which is not officially taken into account in the EU puzzle.
The negotiations took place at Monday’s summit – and before it – between the Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and Liberals, leaving the Italian leader on the sidelines of the talks.
Giorgia Meloni at the summit in Brussels
-Melonie didn’t really speak during the leaders’ meeting. It is difficult to say whether he supports the agreement on filling the positions, as the representative of the Polish delegation tells us. He adds: This is not the most important thing. We only need a qualified majority in the European Council.
The truth is that the division of the most important European Union seats may be formally completed even in light of the explicit opposition from Italy. However, such a solution would violate the long-standing practice of seeking consensus on the issue. Especially among the most powerful countries – Italy is the third most populous country in the European Union and the third largest economy.
There is another reason to look for agreement with Meloni, not conflict. Ursula von der Leyen, once nominated to head the Commission by the leaders of member states, will have to obtain a vote of confidence in the European Parliament. The majority who support it there are not at all sure. The group of 24 members of the European Parliament that became at the disposal of the Italian Prime Minister after the recent elections may prove to be a difficult group.
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