Juncker to unveil stance on nomination of next Commission president

The European executive is set to unveil its stance on the nomination of the next Commission president in 2019, media such as the Financial Times, La Croix, La Vanguardia and Berlingske report.

The Financial Times reports that Commission President Juncker will ask member states not to scrap the Spitzenkandidat election system, siding with the European Parliament which wants the system to be retained.

The Spitzenkandidat election system links the appointment of the Commission President to the result of European election. Instead, President Juncker is to argue for improvements to the system to bolster support for democracy across the bloc. The Commission suggests the process of choosing a candidate could be improved by earlier nominations, potentially after primaries; longer campaigns; and the requirement to broadcast election debates in every member state, the Financial Times reports.

What is more, according to La Croix, President Juncker is likely to announce today that the candidate from the winning party will not “automatically” become Commission President.

La Vanguardia‘s Brussels correspondent also reports that, according to EU sources, President Juncker is to present a proposal that calls for the creation of a single EU president who would preside over Brussels’s main institutions.

The idea, which President Juncker said would give Europe “one captain” at the helm, has almost no support from national governments, which argue that it would create confusion over roles and that it is not envisaged in the EU treaties.

For MEP Alain Lamassoure (EPP), “a showdown is currently underway to find out who will have power in Europe,” La Croix reports. His group is favourable to the Spitzenkandidat process, with the EPP being likely to win a majority of seats in the 2019 European election.

The Spitzenkandidat system was an improvement, ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt writes in Le Monde while criticising the attitude of European conservative MEPs who recently rejected the idea of transnational lists in the European election.

The idea of Spitzenkandidaten leading transnational lists would have allowed European citizens to vote directly for the future leaders of the Commission, Mr Verhofstadt argues, but the conservatives, with the support of Eurosceptics, have undermined what could have been a “major democratic advance.”

Many EU leaders – even advocates of more democratic reform, such as French President Macron – remain wary of using the Spitzenkandidat process to fill one of the EU’s most powerful positions, the Financial Times notes.

President Macron, La Croix notes, will have an opportunity to get his voice heard on 23 February, when EU heads of states and governments discuss election arrangements. Opponents to the Spitzenkandidat process point to a potential “politicisation” of the Commission, and fear a Eurosceptic President. For the time being, as reported by La Croix, no official candidate has emerged.

Chief Brexit Negotiator Barnier, Commissioner Vestager and Commissioner Moscovici have all been touted as potential candidates. Danish media outlets assess the chances of Ms Vestager to become the next Commission president, with Berlingske noting that French President Macron would like her to become the next President. Chief Brexit Negotiator Barnier is also one of the contenders for the position as president, but he does not stand out as much as Ms Vestager, Berlingske notes.

La Stampa notes that politico.eu reported rumours that Matteo Renzi would run for the Commission presidency, should his party fail to succeed in the Italian elections. Mr Renzi’s spokesperson Marco Agnoletti dismissed this as a clear case of “fake news.”

President Juncker, the Financial Times adds, will also separately initiate a sensitive debate over the EU’s next multiannual budget. Brussels will use a summit next week to lay out options to boost the EU’s own money-raising powers. These include the idea of giving the EU budget a share of corporate tax receipts, which Brussels estimates will raise between €21 billion and €140 billion over the seven years from 2021.