Spitzenkandidat is Dead
German MEP Manfred Weber’ EPP party had the most votes in the European parliament. Under informal Spitzenkandidat agreements, the party with the most votes picks the head of the European Council.
But facing opposition from France and Spain, Merkel dumped Weber (her Plan A choice) in favor of Social Democrat Frans Timmermans (Plan B).
Bickering over five top jobs ensued but the “Visegrad” group (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary) would not approve Timmermans who supports a refugee quota distribution system.
Era of Political Consensus is Over
Eurtointelligence had interesting comments today.
There are no solutions that tick all of the boxes. Whatever list of names you draw up, there is always something wrong: not enough women; no eastern Europeans; or a political imbalance – too many liberals, or too few.
The task becomes impossible when you add the following conditions on top: Germany wants a spitzenkandidat as Commission president; France does not want Manfred Weber; Italy does not want Margrethe Vestager, fearing it might get Jens Weidmann at the ECB. And then there are the east Europeans who don’t want Frans Timmermans. And the EPP, which does not want him either. It is unsurprising that the lists kept on rotating back to the starting point.
The era of consensus politics is ending.
Of the five jobs, there are only two that matter to the outside world and to us: of those the ECB is by far the most important and the least discussed among EU leaders. Having observed the European Council’s persistent and ongoing mismanagement of the eurozone, this lack of interest does not surprise us. Given the continued fragility of the monetary union, it appears downright irresponsible to us for politicians to prioritize spitzenkandidaten, or even a formal women quota. This is on so many levels worse than the futility expressed in the English metaphor of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. There was not much you could do on a sinking ship with insufficient space on lifeboats. What we are seeing here is a conscious choice not to focus on relevant issues.
Top Job Agreement Reached
After two days of bickering, EU Leaders Finally Agree on Top Jobs
- European Council President: Belgium’s liberal caretaker prime minister, Charles Michel, would replace Tusk as the next chairman of EU leaders’ summits and be tasked with building compromises between the often fractious 28 member states.
- European Commission President: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, would become head of the European Commission, the EU executive, under the deal reached in Brussels, which must still be endorsed by the European Parliament.
- Foreign Policy Chief: Spain’s acting foreign minister, the socialist Josep Borrell, would be the EU’s new top diplomat in Brussels, Tusk said.
- President of the European Parliament: to be decided
- Head of the ECB: Christine Lagarde
One Position Matters
The only job that really matters is the head of the ECB.
The rest of those positions are political hack jobs that have accomplished nothing and will accomplish nothing.
Test of Lagarde Coming
How many rules will Lagarde break?
She will soon face a test regarding budget deficits and debt in Italy and deficit in her own country France.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
France wins based on help from other countries. Germany pays. Yep, this is Europe. Only thing missing are the Austrians to screw everything up.
Ursula is open borders type like Timmermans…
Can you find anyone in the loony Gerministan that isn’t for open borders, outside of AfD? Although, one rather famous adopted citizen made an onerous prediction regarding gene pool depletion, nobody took it seriously.
Hungary and visegrad countries were also against Weber .
Weber foolishly went along when Finland’s and Sweden’s EPP member parties demanded that Fidesz must be kicked out of EPP.
This demand was made to get politically correct points and votes from Greens inside Sweden and Finland to Moderaterna and National Coalition Party.
Trump should have pulled us out of NATO when he had the chance. Now we get to stand between them instead of sitting back and watching them fight.
France wins again.
How’s that a win? Maybe the French like to live hand-to-mouth, no saving, and rely on state pension for retirement? Hardly unique in the EU. Hardly any nominee is good, but the devils we know most
were rejected for political posts. That’s telling.
They gain influence. Lagarde was well embedded in the French elite and shares their attitudes and outlook, only natural. There is a most definite difference between the French and German attitude towards inflation/debasement and France needs someone onside in that position.
France wins with Lagarde, but it’s hard to see who wins with von der Leyen. She might be Merkel’s Best Friend, but she earned little respect from anybody else as the head of Germany’s military. A petite blonde, always expensively dressed with high heels, she was best known for spending time and money on military kindergartens and PC training for military personnel, while leaving soldiers to “train” with bicycles and broomstick handles. (I only slightly exaggerate.) This one needs explaining.