Race for top jobs hots up[fr][de] 

Joseph Daul, the chairman of the centre-right EPP-ED group, threw down the gauntlet yesterday (8 June), by proposing a grand coalition between the European People's Party (EPP), the liberal ALDE group and the Party of European Socialists (PES) to reappoint Barroso. 

At the same press event, EPP President Wilfried Martens admitted that choosing the EPP's candidate for the post of European Parliament president would not be easy. He even recalled that in the distant past his group had been forced to hold an internal secret ballot to agree on a single candidate. 

Martens admitted that even in a possible alliance with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the EPP would be short of a parliamentary majority, as it would then have 348 MEPs, while a majority is only reached with 379. He therefore specifically mentioned the Socialists as a potential partner in this case too. 

ALDE leader Graham Watson, who was the first to officially announce his candidacy for president of the EU assembly (EurActiv 08/01/09), appeared to disagree with the idea of a 'grand coalition', as he prefers an 'ideological coalition' between the EPP and ALDE. 

Watson insisted that the choice would need to reflect the election results, and he sees ALDE as part of a centre-right alliance. He also said that the EPP should not insist on obtaining the Parliament presidency. 

"And it may be the case that if the EPP seeks the presidency of the European Commission, they may consider giving the presidency of the European Parliament to the liberal democrats and the socialists. I wouldn't exclude such a leap of imagination, even within the EPP," he said amid laughter. 

But such a deal with PES and ALDE would probably result in splitting the five-year term of the European Parliament presidency between the two groups. Watson has repeatedly said that he is a candidate for the full five-year term. 

As for the re-appointment of José Manuel Barroso as Commission president, Watson disagreed with the EPP view that Barroso should be appointed now, under the provisions of the Nice Treaty, and the commissioners chosen after the second Irish referendum, expected in October. 

Outgoing European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering said recently that he wanted the election of the president of the Commission to take place on 15 July, during the first part-session of the new assembly (EurActiv 20/03/09). 

"I think Mr. Barroso has nothing to fear. He is the only candidate […] So perhaps we should take the time to introduce a bit more logic into these proceedings, and do the whole thing – president of the commission and college of commissioners – under the Treaty of Lisbon, should it be adopted," Watson said. 

Ambition for better EU communication 

Watson also disclosed his plans for overcoming the problem of low turnout in EU elections and the general lack of interest in European affairs, should he be elected as European Parliament president. 

"First of all, we need a proper communications policy by the European institutions. We might start by giving Euronews the status of public service broadcaster in all of our countries, for example, so that people will get regular information about what is going on in Brussels," Watson declared. 

He suggested that a percentage of MEPs could be elected on pan-European lists, so that pan-European campaigns would start replacing the 27 national campaigns. He also called for commissioners to be chosen from the ranks of the European Parliament, so that in his words, every commissioner would have a directly-elected mandate, allowing people to see the impact of their vote on the new European Commission.