Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron will appoint a French candidate to the European Commission to replace Sylvie Goulard after the European summit on Thursday and Friday, to try first to resolve "political instability" in the European Parliament, said Tuesday the Elysium.
The "prerequisite" for the nomination of the French candidate is to "organize a political majority of action for the next five years", explained the presidency to two days of the Brussels summit. Because "we will have difficulty acting" at the European level "if we do not take into account the tensions" in the European Parliament, who expressed themselves in the rejection of the three Commissioners appointed by France, Hungary and Romania, and the vote tightened in July in favor of the new Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
For the Elysee, it would be "destructive" to "lock in such an atmosphere" of "tensions between political families" and "will to revenge". "We have a common interest, very important, that things are stabilized in the days ahead."
Emmanuel Macron will have "political contacts on the sidelines of the European Council", including participating Thursday at midday in the meeting of Renew, the centrist movement which has been affiliated LREM since the European elections, says the Elysee.
So far, no date or name has been put forward for the replacement of Sylvie Goulard, who was thrown out last Thursday for ethical reasons by the MEPs.
Emmanuel Macron discussed this issue by alternately receiving German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday and Ursula von der Leyen on Monday. He will meet Merkel on Wednesday for a Franco-German Council of Ministers in Toulouse, where is also expected at the end of the day the future president of the Commission.
Due to the delay in the composition of the Commission, "it is likely that the calendar will be shifted, probably a few weeks," according to the Elysee. For entry into office of the new Commission on 1 November does not seem "more realistic", he added, referring to the possibility of 1 December. The decision on this postponement must be taken at European level.
© 2019 AFP