2024-02-19 11:55:48
It was an open secret, but Ursula von der Leyen wanted to mark her time to take the step of announcing her intention to be the candidate of the European People’s Party for a new term at the head of the European Commission. The German confirmed it this Monday at an event held by her party, the Christian Democrats CDU.
The EU puts the brakes on the green agenda due to pressure from farmers
Von der Leyen has every chance to continue as president of the community government after the European elections in June given that the EPP will once again be the first force, according to all polls, and has the support of the majority of governments, including those of a different color such as Spain or Germany. Pedro Sánchez announced his support for Von der Leyen in the event that the EPP receives the presidency of the European Commission and the tripartite of Olaf Scholz has within its government agreement the support of a German if the presidency falls to them, although not be the parties that make it up.
However, the process of electing the presidency of the European Commission is part of the distribution of senior positions (top jobs) of power after the European elections and it is a position that the European Parliament must endorse.
Von der Leyen was elected in 2019 by the minimum after an agreement between the governments that vetoed, especially the French Emmanuel Macron, Manfred Weber, who had been the European candidate (top candidates) of the EPP and there were also vetoes crossed with the social democratic candidate Frans Timmermans. As a result of the negotiation, a consensus emerged around Von der Leyen, who had been Angela Merkel’s Defense Minister.
In recent months, the European Parliament has increased the pressure for the future president of the European Commission to have previously been the top candidates of his party. Von der Leyen’s enthronement will be in Bucharest (Romania) at the Popular Congress on March 6 and 7.
The intention of the EPP leadership, led by Weber, is to complete the turnaround with respect to the policy that Von der Leyen has carried out in the last five years. The popular ones have marked distances with the European Commission in the last year by boycotting key measures of the European Green Deal, such as the nature restoration law, and their manifesto for the Europeans proposes following that line by even proposing to reverse the ban on sale of diesel and gasoline cars from 2035.
Von der Leyen, who has made the green agenda a large part of her legacy largely due to the need for the support of the social democrats after the rise of the Greens in the 2019 elections, has also shown signs of backing down in the face of the agricultural protests. that travel the continent. Months ago he recognized that they would have to analyze the absorption capacity of the legislation and recently announced the withdrawal of the law with which the EU intended to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 50%.
The Social Democrats have presented the Luxembourg Commissioner for Employment, Nicolas Schmit, who was the only candidate to lead the candidacy. His low profile demonstrates the low expectations that the European Socialist Party has of leading the European Commission. On the part of the Greens, it will be the German Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout.
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