After the European Parliament elections, the EP will also elect the President of the European Commission, and Ursula von der Leyen could even stay for another 5 years, there are those who would like to see another candidate, expecting a change of direction. There is no doubt that dramatic events have taken place in the world since the election of the current president in 2019.
Macron has activated himself again
French President Emmanuel Macron strongly supported von der Leyen for 5 years, but now he believes that in the current situation it would be better to have an expert, practical head of the Commission, with less politicization. It has a candidate who has already held important functions: Mario Draghi, the previous president of the European Central Bank, who later became the prime minister of Italy. According to Bloomberg, Macron has already discussed the issue with Georgia Meloni, the current Prime Minister of Italy, who would probably not oppose her compatriot becoming the head of the European Commission.
Important questions that require a different approach
Macron believes that there are currently issues on the agenda that require less politicization and stronger consideration of general interests, with less division between member states. This applies to climate policy as well as relations with the USA or the EU’s trade relations (for example with China).
Macron has clearly been acting more decisively in European issues lately, but the role of France is unavoidable anyway, since nominations for important positions take place in background negotiations, where the larger member states often have more influence, as opposed to many other decisions, where everyone has one vote in the small From Luxembourg to the largest Germany.
The decisive party alliance
Nevertheless, according to current expectations, the European People’s Party will be the strongest party organization in the EP, so they are the most likely to nominate the President of the European Commission, but it could easily happen that they would also prefer change. Mario Draghi has great authority after masterfully managing the debt crisis of some countries in the Eurozone, and as Prime Minister of Italy, he was able to balance the indebted Italian economy and even started the long-awaited economic growth.
A broader consensus may be needed
What can be said against Draghi is his age of 76, although he can be said to be almost young compared to the American presidential candidates. The decision is ultimately made by the parliament, where the winner needs an absolute majority, and von der Leyen already won with only 9 votes in 2019, so the situation may be even more intense now, it may be realistic to think about an alternative candidate who, if applicable, more widely accepted.
