The first day of the EU summit on appointment to key posts in the union ended in vain. “No solutions have been found,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters.
“The failure of the negotiations is connected with political disagreements between the countries ... It is necessary to change the rules and methods of work,” the French leader explained.
According to him, this is “very bad” for the reputation of both the EU and the Council of Europe. Macron also noted that the European Union needs management reforms, and the current situation indicates the impossibility of further EU enlargement.
“We are not able to agree, even as long as we are 28. Therefore, I will oppose any form of expansion until deep institutional reforms are completed,” the French president said.
Negotiations of EU leaders lasted almost a day and did not lead to any results. Chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk decided once again to suspend the emergency summit of the European Union. This was written by the spokesman for the head of the European Council, Preben Aman, on his Twitter page.
“Tusk suspends the meeting and convenes the summit tomorrow at 11:00 (12:00 Moscow time - RT ),” said the EU representative.
The reason for the transfer is not called. Recall, on the eve of the Tusk also suspended the work of the EU summit, to hold bilateral consultations on candidates for leading positions in the bodies of the European Union.
Meanwhile, during the first day of the summit, the Chairman of the European Council had time to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini.
Recall the leaders of European countries participate in an emergency summit in Brussels, where they are trying to reach a compromise on a number of candidates for key positions in the European structures: the leaders of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Council, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the President of the European Central Bank.
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Reuters
- © Koji Sasahara / Pool
Many European politicians predicted that negotiations would be extremely difficult. Thus, Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne, even before the start of the event, said that the summit of the EU heads of state would be long. German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted that it would be rather difficult to reach a consolidated solution. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called the summit a “long marathon”.
EU leaders are not meeting for the first time to reach a common decision on candidates for posts in European institutions. Earlier, the chairman of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that the leaders of the unification states could not approve the candidature of the new EC head at the meeting on 20 June.
“The European Council held a full discussion of the candidates, taking into account my consultations and statements made in the European Parliament. None of the candidates had a majority, ”the press service of the department he heads quotes Tusk.
Transfers and renewals
The choice of candidates for key posts in the EU has become a real problem for Europeans, says Vladimir Schweitzer, head of the department of social and political studies at the Institute of Europe, RAS.
“This issue can be resolved only if the leaders of the leading EU countries come to a compromise and agree through sharing all the main positions among themselves,” the expert said in an interview with RT.
According to Schweitzer, postponement of meetings and the extension of deadlines in the EU have already become a tradition.
“This organizational routine has been going on in the European Union for many weeks now. The situation was complicated by the unexpected results of the elections at the European Parliament - the European Popular Party lost an absolute majority, the Christian Democrats also weakened, ”the analyst explained.
As Schweitzer believes, the deadline for the final withdrawal of Great Britain from the EU can again be postponed due to difficulties in choosing candidates for key posts in the European Union.
“In the EU, total uncertainty reigns now - this situation arose because Europe was not ready for such problems as the migration crisis and pressure from the head of the White House,” the expert notes.
That is why Europe needs authoritative people in key positions who are able to cope with all these difficulties, says Schweitzer.
“They should have their voice despite the fact that it will be necessary to take into account the interests of such partners as the United States and Russia,” said the analyst.
However, according to Schweitzer, the problem lies in the fact that even within the EP factions there is no consolidated opinion regarding candidates for key posts.
- EU emergency summit
- Reuters
- © Olivier Hoslet / Pool
“Therefore, the voting results are extremely difficult to predict. Everything will be decided at the back of the conference and secret meetings. Because before submitting any candidate for consideration by the European Parliament, Brussels wants to resolve this issue in a narrow circle of European leaders, ”the analyst stated.
Difficulties with the choice of candidates for key posts in the EU suggest that the “European Union is seriously ill,” and “recovery” will take a very long time, Schweitzer notes.
“At the same time, there will be no universal medicine here, it has not yet been invented,” the expert emphasizes.
Schweitzer also does not exclude that negotiations can last throughout the summer.
“Since the leaders of the EU countries cannot yet come to a consolidated decision, the deadline for making a final decision may be postponed until the autumn,” the analyst explained.
East vs West
The main goal of the summit is to elect the head of the European Commission, since this is a key position in the structures of the European Union, which has the greatest powers, experts say.
The head of the socialists and the first deputy head of the EC, the Dutchman Frans Timmermans, was the favorite for the post of head of the European Commission after the leaders of Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain agreed to support his candidacy at the G20 summit in Osaka. They also agreed on the fate of the President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, who, according to the agreement, will head the European Parliament. Reported by Reuters.
However, the consolidated position of these countries faced sharp disapproval from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“Mr. Timmermans is not very positive about our region, we need a person who will unite Europe, and not split it even more,” said Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babisch.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Moravetsky also came out with a similar position, saying that the Dutch politician "does not understand Central Europe."
Recall that in addition to Timmermans and Weber, ALDE candidate from the Danish Liberal Alliance, Margret Vestager, Acting Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel, and Brexit-Neutral Negotiator Michel Barnier also compete for leading posts in the EU bodies.
Earlier, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke in support of Weber as his successor.
“I want Manfred Weber to be the next head of the European Commission. I firmly believe that he will be a good chairman. The European People’s Party fully supports him, ”the EPP press service cites Yunker’s statement.
As Vladimir Olenchenko notes, it was the protest of Eastern European countries against Timmermans’s candidacy that stimulated Tusk to suspend the summit and begin bilateral negotiations.
“The political position of the Dutch is not consistent with the ideas of Eastern European states. Timmermans is a Europeanist, he believes that an alliance with Washington is possible only if the rights of both parties are respected. While Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are the guides of American ideology in the EU, ”explained the expert.
According to Vladimir Olenchenko, bilateral consultations initiated by Tusk are a kind of bargaining.
- First Deputy Head of the EC Frans Timmermans
- Reuters
- © Vincent Kessler
“Nominations will be considered in bulk. But now we are talking about the nomination of the applicant Timmermans for the post of head of the EC. It is difficult to predict the outcome of the summit, but the leading countries of Europe will not back down from their candidate, ”said the expert.
Olenchenko also believes that the scenario developed by the leading countries of Europe is quite realistic.
“Timmermans really can take the place of the head of the European Commission, since there are no other authoritative candidates. The figure of the Dutch politician is best suited for this position, since he has political experience in the EU and he comes from the founding country of the European Union. In this scenario, Manfred Weber will become the head of the EP, ”the analyst predicted.
In the opinion of Vladimir Schweitzer, the Eastern European members of the EU did not speak out personally against Timmermans, but against the recruitment system from Western Europe.
"Eastern EU countries probably want this position to be taken by their representative," the expert suggests.
Schweizer also explains the difficulties that have arisen in the EU around the choice of candidates for key positions in the EU by the fact that applicants are eliminated by several criteria at once.
“Among them is the gender principle, the balance of party groups and countries, political experience,” the analyst stated.
In addition, Schweitzer stresses that it will be extremely difficult to combine all these factors, and whether the EU heads will manage to do this is a big question.