EU appointments: «Agreement on von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas»

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
BRUSSELS – Let him be the German chancellor Scholz both the French president Macron they promised: we will do it quickly. And so it was. Negotiators for their respective political families, socialists and liberalstogether with Spanish Sanchez and Dutch Rutteyesterday they reached an agreement on the top EU jobs with their colleagues from PpePolish Tusk and the Greek Mitsotakis: Ursula von der Leyen of the EPP is reconfirmed at European Commissionthe former socialist prime minister António Costa suitable for driving European Councilthe liberal Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas as High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

Now the agreement will have to be approved at tomorrow’s European Council, where the 27 EU leaders will sit: to designate the President of the Commission, the strengthened qualified majority (20 countries representing 65% of the European population). On the table, in addition to the nominations, as explained by President Charles Michel in the invitation letter, there will also be theStrategic agency and the internal reforms.

Then von der Leyen will have to be elected by the majority of Parliament, 361 deputies out of 720, in the July session in Strasbourg. To the prime minister Melonswho had been excluded from the negotiations at the informal meeting on 17 June and who had criticized the method, all that remains is to negotiate behind closed doors with von der Leyen on “price” of Italy’s support. On several occasions Rome has reiterated that it wants one executive vice president with a heavy portfolio, which takes into account the electoral result. Socialists and liberals, in order to vote for von der Leyen in Parliament, have however made it a precondition for the EPP that there is no any type of formal agreement with the Ecr and therefore with Brothers of Italy, but this applies to the European Chamber. At Council level the president will try to please as many leaders as possible. According to an EU source, von der Leyen called Meloni yesterday afternoon. The Commission neither confirms nor denies, but points out that «the president is always in contact with many leaders. There is nothing exceptional in this, especially in view of the European Council.” Second Bloomberg The six negotiators agreed to support Italy getting an executive vice-president of the Commission.

Parliament was technically not part of the negotiating package, because its president decides independently, but the agreement provides that the first half of the mandate goes to the EPPwho re-nominated Roberta Metsola.
The events will get into full swing next week negotiations.

The agreement with the socialists provides for a relay race for the next two and a half years, as was the case in the last legislature.

One of the knots to be untied between the negotiators was the presidency of the European Council which the People’s Party, at the instigation of the Croatian president, Plenkovic, they claimed for themselves for two and a half years. Hypothesis contested by the socialists who instead demanded the position for Costa for 5 years. The final compromise is the maintenance of the status quo: the Treaties are applied which provide that the position will last two and a half years and will go to the former Portuguese prime minister. Then there will be the reconfirmation or not as happened with previous presidents, including the outgoing Michel. So no predetermined options.

Popular, socialists and liberals count together 399 deputiesbut the vote And secret hey snipers I’m always lurking. Statistically they account for 10-15%. For this reason, von der Leyen will have to work carefully on the program in these hours and will have to seek support from other forces. Among the Greens but also among the moderates of the ECR, such as FdI and the Ods of the Czech prime minister Fiala.