EU(TOP)-NOTCH ELECTION INSIDER
Maastricht Debate 2024: Eight leading candidates discuss European and international politics
29.04.2024: A few weeks before the European elections, the candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission met for the traditional Maastricht Debate. Eight leading candidates from the parties represented in the European Parliament discussed current issues in European and international politics: the "Green Deal", the Middle East, Europe's defence capabilities - and possible cooperation after the elections.
The participants: Ursula von der Leyen, European People's Party (EPP), Nicolas Schmit, Party of European Socialists (PES), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), Bas Eickhout, European Green Party (EGP), Anders Vistisen, Identity and Democracy (ID), Walter Baier, European Left (EL), Maylis Ro?berg, European Free Alliance (EFA), and Valeriu Ghile?chi European Christian Political Movement (ECPM). The only party missing was the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
At the centre of the debate was Commission President von der Leyen, who often had to justify her political positions. This included the controversial topic of possible cooperation between the EPP and the ECR. Von der Leyen avoided committing herself: "It very much depends on how Parliament is made up and who is in which political group." With this evasive answer, von der Leyen left open the question of whether she would be re-elected Commission President with the possibly decisive ECR votes.
Bas Eickhout attacked the incumbent EU President on the Green Deal. The Green politician accused her of "scaling down and really watering down" this major European project in favour of farmers. Yet we are only "at the beginning of this marathon". Von der Leyen disagreed: 650 billion euros are still available for the "Green Deal", but additional private capital is required. Her challenger Nicolas Schmit (PES) defended the Green Deal: "We must remain courageous in our decisions and finance all of this in a socially fair and just way."
In view of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Walter Baier from the European Left called for tougher EU action against Israel: "When will the European Union impose sanctions against Israel to end the war in Gaza?" Von der Leyen, on the other hand, reiterated the EU's official position that Israel has the right to defend itself "within the limits of humanitarian law and international law". She added: "We need a ceasefire now. And we need the release of the hostages now. And we need to sit down together to work on a two-state solution."
In the area of defence policy, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and Nicolas Schmit spoke out in favour of greater cooperation between EU countries: Now was the chance to create a Europe that gave people security - this was a key issue for the future of Europe. Following the first part of this Maastricht debate, a second round of discussions is planned for 23.05.2024.
EU Commissioner ?ef?ovi? is ready for another term of office
The Slovakian Vice-President of the Commission, Maro? ?ef?ovi?, would like to remain a Commissioner after the elections: He is responsible for the "Green Deal" as well as Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight and would like to be in charge of industry or energy in the future.
?ef?ovi? made it clear that the Green Deal must under no circumstances reduce the EU's competitiveness: "This will be the cornerstone of future discussions on the strategic agenda of the next Commission." In order to support European industry, the Green Deal needs an economic component so that, for example, sustainable companies are favoured in public procurement. ?ef?ovi? referred to the thoughts presented by Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton "on the implementation of the Green Deal". Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico had previously spoken out in favour of ?ef?ovi?.
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MEMBER STATES IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Germany: FDP and CSU launch election campaign
At her national party conference on 27./28.04.2024, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, top candidate of the FDP (Renew), sharply criticised the current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, saying that her performance to date has been extraordinarily poor. It is telling that 95 per cent of companies say they have problems with bureaucracy in Brussels. This is why the reduction of bureaucracy is one of the FDP's main election campaign topics. The party left open whether the Commission President would receive the votes of the FDP for a second term of office in a vote in the European Parliament - five years ago, the FDP supported von der Leyen.
The CSU (EPP) clearly positioned itself against the AfD (ID) at its European Party Conference on 27.04.2024. Lead candidate Manfred Weber described the party as "rotten and corrupt" due to its current scandals. In his speech, he also attacked the Freie W?hler (Renew), the CSU's coalition partner in Bavaria: Hubert Aiwanger, the incumbent Minister of Economic Affairs and Chairman of the Freie W?hler, had only been to Brussels once in the past five years.
In terms of content, the CSU spoke out clearly against the so-called "combustion engine ban": New vehicles with conventional petrol or diesel engines will no longer be allowed to be registered in the EU from 2035. Weber announced that he would overturn this controversial EU decision if the conservatives were to have a majority in parliament after the elections. CSU Chairman and Prime Minister Markus S?der stated that his election campaign goal was to get seven CSU MEPs "plus x".
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Italy: Giorgia Meloni is running herself
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will lead her party Fratelli d'Italia (ECR) in all five Italian constituencies. Meloni announced at an election campaign event in Pescara on 28.04.2024: "I want to ask the Italian voters whether they are satisfied with our work. If they are, I ask them to vote and write my name on the ballot paper."
Meloni also emphasised that she wants to bring the Italian model of a centre-right coalition to Europe: "Our goal is to send the left into opposition. This is a big challenge, but we can do it." However, it is highly unlikely that Meloni will give up her position as Prime Minister for a seat in the European Parliament after the elections, despite being the leading candidate.
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Spain: Prime Minister Sánchez remains in office
Pedro Sánchez (PSOE, S&D) announced on 29.04.2024 that he would "stay on" as Prime Minister. Five days earlier, he had publicly stated that he was considering resigning. Sanchez justified his announcement at the time with the public prosecutor's preliminary investigations into his wife - for alleged "influence peddling and corruption in business life". The right-wing association "Manos Limpias" ("Clean Hands") had filed the complaint, but later admitted that it had relied solely on unverified press articles. In his speech, Pedro Sánchez once again denounced the "discrediting campaign" against his wife and warned of the dangers of "disinformation" and the "growing polarisation in politics".
France: Rassemblement National puts together list for European elections
The Rassemblement National (RN, ID) party published the names for the first 35 places on its list for the European elections on 01.05.2024. As expected, the top candidate is Jordan Bardella. Surprisingly, only one in two of the RN's current 18 MEPs was included. These include Mathilde Androu?t (4th place), Jean-Paul Garraud (5th), Thierry Mariani (9th) and Philippe Olivier (11th).
Instead, the party is increasingly focussing on prominent French people from civil society: Malika Sorel-Sutter, writer and critic of EU immigration policy (second place), former Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri (3), popular former police chief Matthieu Valet (7) and judge Pascale Piera (10).
Party leader Marine Le Pen and top candidate Bardella clearly distanced themselves from the competing right-wing party Reconquête (ID) and called for the "patriotic" French vote not to be dispersed, but to vote for "those who can act". RN is currently leading the polls in France and could win between 26 and 30 seats in parliament.
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Portugal: Only one current MEP has a chance of being re-elected
Lídia Pereira (PSD, EPP) is the only one of Portugal's 21 MEPs to date who has a good chance of being re-elected to the European Parliament. The other MEPs are either no longer on the lists of their parties or have no chance of being re-elected.
The Partido Socialista (S&D), for example, decided to nominate only new candidates - a reaction to its defeat in the national parliamentary elections. The reason given by the new party leader Pedro Nuno: "There are times when a change is necessary."
In Portugal, several new, promising parties are running in the European elections - such as Chega (ID). This reduces the chances of re-election for many previous MEPs from the Left and the Greens.
Czechia: ANO provokes Renew
The ANO party (Renew) has declared the fight against the "Green Deal" and the EU migration agreement to be the core issue of its European election campaign. In doing so, ANO is moving further away from the political positions of its European party family, the Renew Group: Renew continues to explicitly support the EU environmental law. According to the group, the Green Deal paves the way for a sustainable and economic transformation of the European economy.
ANO is entering the European election campaign with the slogan "Czechia, everything for you". Due to these increasingly clear differences with the joint parliamentary group, it is unclear whether ANO will remain a part of Renew after the election.
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