Merkel’s Ally Pushes for Last-Minute Votes to Take Top EU Job
Jonathan Stearns, Bloomberg, 15.07.2019
Quotes
Ursula von der Leyen's two-week dash to secure the most powerful policy-making job in the European Union may end with a photo finish. [...]
At least half of the 153 Socialist members will probably support von der Leyen, which would help her surpass the needed majority of 376 votes, according to officials from the faction who asked not to be identified. Von der Leyen's aides expect her to receive about 400 votes, according to a person familiar with their thinking.
"If you vote her down, what's the alternative?" said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Centre in Brussels.
Von der Leyen's candidacy has ruffled feathers in the parliament because she was not one of the official contenders who campaigned in May's EU elections and because Socialists in the assembly felt they got a raw deal from the back-room dealing that saw her nominated. If her appointment were to be shot down it would mean an unprecedented standoff between lawmakers and heads of government and plunge the bloc into an administrative crisis.
"It's almost too awful to contemplate and, for her detractors, potentially counterproductive were EU leaders to nominate someone even less palatable," Emmanouilidis said. [...]
Read full article here
Latest media contributions
EPC Friday Update – MFF & Recovery Plan / rule of law and populism
Online Briefing, YouTube, 10.07.2020
EPC Friday Update – state of affairs & prospects for the transatlantic relationship
Online Briefing, YouTube, 03.07.2020
Deutschland übernimmt die EU- Ratspräsidentschaft
Interview, SWR2 (German radio), 01.07.2020
Deutschlands Corona-Präsidentschaft
Quotes, Deutsche Welle, 01.07.2020
La présidence de l'Union européenne met l'Allemagne sous pression
Quotes, La Libre Belgique, 30.06.2020
"Erwartungen an Deutschland besonders hoch"
Interview, AufRuhr, 30.06.2020
UE: Merkel face aux défis de la présidence du Conseil
Quotes, Deutsche Welle (FR), 29.06.2020
EPC Special Friday Update – state of affairs & prospects for the COVID-19 crisis
Online Briefing, YouTube, 26.06.2020
Ohne Scheu vor dem Führungsanspruch
Quotes, Wiener Zeitung, 19.06.2020
EPC Friday Update – MFF/Recovery Instrument – Brexit – Schengen
Online Briefing, YouTube, 19.06.2020