European Council President Charles Michel’s surprise announcement over the weekend that he would step down by July is likely to force the pro-European forces’ to speed up negotiations over the EU’s top jobs following the elections in June.
Michel’s unexpected move could accelerate the process of finding his successor.
Otherwise, the mediator role between member states may revert – at least temporarily, between July and November – to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose country holds the rotating EU Council presidency in the second half of the year.
Under EU procedures, the leader of the country chairing the EU presidency would assume the Council leadership until the top job is formally filled, which is expected only in November.
“I don’t want to anticipate the decision that will be taken by the European Council in June, […] but there are several options and if the European Council wants to avoid Viktor Orbán, that is very easy”, Michel told several international media, including Euractiv, in a Sunday call.
Surprise announcement
Michel announced on Saturday (6 January) that he would be running as the lead candidate for his Belgian centre-right Reformist Movement (MR) party, of which he is a former leader, in the European Parliament elections between 6 and 9 June.
“I think it is extremely important to be accountable” and to support a “democratic vision” of the EU, he told reporters, outlining his campaign that would also aim to strengthen the bloc’s global position and powers on defence.
With democratic values under pressure, and extremist parties rising across the bloc, Michel said he felt it was his responsibility as a liberal “to be active, to be committed, to defend”.
If elected, he would have to step down before being sworn in as a member of the European Parliament on 16 July, while his regular term of office as European Council boss would normally run until 30 November.
Asked by reporters on Sunday whether he would harbour further political ambitions, Michel did not specify if he might be interested in another EU top job.
Likewise, he did not clarify if he was keen to be the lead candidate for the European Liberals, the bloc’s third-largest political camp.
Asked how EU member states had reacted to his plans, Michel said he had “informed all EU leaders, and most reacted positively”. Public reactions have so far been scarce.
Enter Orbán?
Hungary’s Prime Minister Orbán could be slated to assume the role if no quick decision on a successor is found.
One of Michel’s main tasks has been overseeing EU summits, which have become critical in finding joint coherent responses to various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Not many EU leaders would be comfortable seeing Orbán, a strongman who cultivates close ties with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and who is widely seen as having undermined democracy and the rule of law at home, steering the bloc through those potentially crucial months.
Forcing EU leaders’ hand
After the European elections, EU leaders are scheduled to meet on 17 June and again for a regular summit on 27-28 June, and “at this moment, it will have to be decided when my successor will take up the job,” Michel told reporters, downplaying criticism of his plan to resign early.
This would normally last months, but EU leaders will now have much less time.
Speaking of a “particular reality”, given the EU’s geopolitical challenges, Michel suggested that although it was “very difficult to make this decision last time”, now “there will probably be greater prior preparation”.
“Let me be very clear that in any case, in June, the decision is to be made on my successor and the first session of the European Parliament will take place only in mid-July, so it’s easy for the [European] Council to decide, to anticipate for my successor to enter into function,” Michel told reporters.
“There are many tools if there is the political will to avoid Viktor Orbán (…) there are various options that are possible to avoid such a situation,” Michel said, adding a change to existent rules could be “changed by a simple majority”.
EU leaders could theoretically also have the option to decide to pick someone as a ‘caretaker president’ until a permanent successor is selected to fill the post.
In the past, the European Council president position was normally a part of horse-trading for EU top jobs among the main political groups after the election results were announced.
After previous EU elections in 2019, the largest parliamentary group, the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), was given the opportunity to appoint the European Commission president, leaving the role of the Council president open to a smaller group of EU member states.
Michel’s announcement should increase pressure on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a member of the EPP, to formally put herself forward for a second term.
However, according to the latest projections by Europe Elects from 30 December, the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group could replace the European Liberals (Renew) as a third force, potentially enabling it to play a role in the top job negotiations, potentially ousting French President Emmanuel Macron’s liberals from key decisions.
Controversial step
An EU official explained that “there are no legal or any other impediments for the [European Council] President to run in the next EP elections”.
However, Michel’s announcement sparked strong criticism, even from his own political family, with prominent Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld of Renew Europe accusing him of ‘abandoning ship’.
“The captain leaving the ship in the middle of a storm. If that is how little committed you are to the fate of the European Union, then how credible are you as a candidate?” in’t Veld asked.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
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