EU: First Informal Summit for Executive Decision-Making
On June 17, the 27 countries will meet for the first time since the European elections
European leaders are meeting today to begin discussing the future of the European Commission after the June 6-9 European elections.
The European People’s Party won the election with 190 seats (figures not yet finalized), ahead of the Socialist Party (136), followed by Renewal (80), the Conservatives and Reformists (76), the far-right Identity and Democracy Party (58), the Greens (52), the extreme Left (39), and 89 parliamentarians not registered with any group (and/or newly elected) are added.
The informal dinner on June 17 will be the beginning of a process that will last several months until all the positions are allocated, but the path to the most important appointment, the presidency of the European Commission, seems clear, even if there are always surprises during deals of this type.
Ursula von der Leyen, the outgoing president of the Commission, given the victory of her People’s Party, is the obvious favorite for a second mandate, to be determined by the majority that will support her for the next 5 years. The remaining three senior positions in the EU executive must also reach an agreement: High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, President of the European Council, and President of the European Parliament, where there should be no surprises regarding the confirmation of Malta’s Roberta Metsola.
The first concrete signals will come at the end of the informal dinner on June 17 with the 27 countries that make up the European Union, which will discuss and begin negotiations and strategies that will lead to a formal decision by the European Council on June 27 and 28, then the Parliament will ratify everything at the first meeting scheduled for July.
Ursula von der Leyen, as mentioned, is in an advantageous position if only because the parties that have already supported her – Popular, Socialists, and Renewal – have 406 seats and therefore a majority in the 720-member parliament. However, there were about 100 “free shooters” in 2019, at which point von der Leyen will have to focus on additional support for the Greens or conservatives, who are bolstered by the significant endorsement of Giorgia Meloni in Italy. Two options that could be vetoed by a significant portion of the forces supporting the outgoing president.