Tag: European elections 2014

Commission President José Manuel Barroso said yesterday (12 September) that he came up with the idea that European political parties present their candidate for the top EU job at the European Parliament elections in 2014, and regretted that little progress had been made in this direction.

Pressure groups have "hijacked" a social media campaign by the cabinet of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso which asks citizens to address their questions to the hashtag #askbarroso ahead of his state of the union speech, EurActiv has learned.

The European Green Party opened this week its race to designate two figureheads to lead the European elections campaign and be the candidate-designate for the European Commission president.

The controversial Dutch far-right leader wants to gather like-minded parties in a mass movement ahead of next year's European elections, but not all are ready to join. UKIP frontrunner Nigel Farage has rejected such an initiative.

Olli Rehn, the European Commission's vice president in charge of economic and monetary affairs, has reportedly told the Finnish press that he may run to head the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group’s list in European elections next year, so becoming their candidate to be the next president of the EU executive.

Asked today (24 July) if he had plans to be the next NATO secretary-general, Commission President José Manuel Barroso declined to comment. The race for the job, which will become available next year, has already started, sources told EurActiv, with Belgian Defence Minister Pieter De Crem considered the favourite.

Despite austerity-led frustration, participants in next year’s EU elections must be aware that voting eurosceptics into the European Parliament may have important knock-on effects for EU legislation, including on border issues and the environment, say the authors of a new report.

In a move to tackle a legitimacy crisis fuelled by the eurozone troubles, the European Parliament is looking to the Lisbon Treaty to identify ways to counter Euroscepticism and inject more energy into European democracy.

With less than a year to go until the May 2014 vote, the pitfalls of a new electoral system are becoming clear as Europe seeks a successor to Jose Manuel Barroso, the center-right former Portuguese Prime Minister who has been president of the European Commission since 2005, writes Paul Taylor.

MEPs have lifted parliamentary immunity for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the outspoken politician who is expected to face criminal charges over racist remarks. EurActiv France reports.

Europeans stand out as particularly despairing over their economy, are concerned about rising inequality and believe there will be no improvement in the next year. The negative sentiment will play havoc with the upcoming European elections and might increase political fragmentation, said Bruce Stokes in an interview with EurActiv.

Foreign affairs ministers of Italy, Bulgaria and Romania expressed outrage and requested explanations from Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, who said at a public event this week that the three EU countries had become “essentially ungovernable”. The EurActiv network reports.

Few criticisms of the state of the European Union are more pervasive than the democratic deficit of the European institutions. If so many voters feel there’s a deficit, politicians will have to work hard to improve things or be cast aside, writes Reinhard Bütikofer.

EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger is keen on the idea of a second term after his current mandate ends in 2014, but would also consider a career in the private sector, EurActiv has learned.

Addressing the European Parliament today (16 April) in Strasbourg, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen pleaded for the new concept of “fair integration”, which he said would keep the EU safe from the twin threats of nationalism and populism. Many MEPs saw his speech as a jockeying exercise for one of the EU's top jobs, which will be up for grabs in 2014.

The five-year mandate of the present European Commission President expires 31 October 2014. Contrary to the restrictive provisions concerning the president of the European Council and the members of the Court of Justice, the EU Treaty is silent over the possibility of reinstating the Commission's presidents and members, writes Eberhard Rhein.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso will decide next year whether to run for a record third term as head of the EU executive, according to reported comments yesterday (4 April) in Vienna, where he is on an official visit.

Participants in a public event of the federalist Spinelli Group overwhelmingly supported the introduction of minimal social standards at the EU level and the establishment of a common European industrial and energy policy. But the discussions failed to answer how such goals could be achieved.

Political parties should nominate a candidate for European Commission President in the 2014 EU elections and display their European political party affiliation, the EU Executive recommended yesterday (12 March). 

As EU leaders meet tomorrow (7 February) for a two-day summit to ink out a deal on the Union's long-term budget for 2014-2020, diplomats said it was “now or never” for them to agree. Indeed, the political calendar of countries like Germany would make it much more difficult to reach a compromise before the 2014 European elections. 

Michel Barnier, the EU's Internal Market Commissioner, has called on French President François Hollande to open a debate on what the country wants from the EU, warning that mainstream political parties risked losing the 2014 European elections if they failed to do so.

Directly electing the European Commission President at the 2014 EU elections would “organise the disappointment in advance”, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Directly electing his own successor would be “even more absurd”, he added in comments that are likely to irritate proponents of increased democracy in the European institutions.

The economic crisis is a chance to relaunch European political integration and bridge the perceived European democratic deficit, the Association of European Journalists said at its 50th international congress last weekend in Italy.