On Tuesday, June 25, EU officials revealed that under an agreement reached by the leaders of three pro-EU political groups in the EU, Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen is set to secure a second term as the President of the European Commission. Additionally, the lists for the new President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy have also been finalized.
According to five EU officials quoted by the European edition of “Politico”, in the negotiations for top EU positions, the six EU leaders involved unanimously agreed that von der Leyen, former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas should respectively assume the highest positions in the European Commission, the European Council, and foreign policy affairs.
The six negotiators representing the parties include Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk; Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; French President Emmanuel Macron and the soon-to-be NATO Secretary-General, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
They respectively represent the three pro-European groups, the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists & Democrats (S&D), and the liberal ‘Renew Europe’, who secured 399 seats (55%) in the European elections earlier this month.
EU leaders are set to hold a summit in Brussels on Thursday, June 27, where they will present these three candidates to heads of state and government for approval.
According to an official quoted by the European edition of “Politico” who preferred to remain anonymous, “since they agreed, this (should) pass easily through the European Council.”
Following this news, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on the social media platform X, stating that the agreement made by the European People’s Party with the left and liberals goes against all the foundations of the EU. He added that it lacks inclusivity and instead sows seeds of division, and high-ranking EU officials should represent every member state, not just the left and liberals.
The European Parliament will hold a vote during its first session on July 16. Even though von der Leyen has secured support from three party groups, if reelected, she would need to win the support of at least 361 out of the 720 Members of the European Parliament. This is because in the anonymous voting for the President of the European Commission, MEPs do not always align with their national leaders.