For the Social Democratic S&D group in Strasbourg, it is not a foregone conclusion that an EPP Christian Democrat will be elected as the new President of the European Parliament this autumn. Group chairman Iratxe Garcia Perez also declined to confirm that S&D is sticking to the 2019 agreement that the EPP would take over the presidency mid-term.
EPP faction leader Manfred Weber announced last week to the surprise of many that he is relinquishing the presidency because he prefers to remain a politician, and wants to succeed EPP chairman Donald Tusk. It is also hinted that Weber wants to keep his hands free to become minister in Germany, if the CDU/CSU comes into a new coalition after the Bundestag elections (September 26).
That is why the EPP has started an internal selection procedure to find another EPP candidate to succeed current parliament speaker David Sassoli (S&D) in November. The automatism with which the EPP demands that position has upset several political groups in Strasbourg.
Garcia Perez made it clear at a press conference in Strasbourg this morning that her party "will not support just any EPP candidate", that the situation has changed significantly in recent years and that Sassoli has put the European Parliament on the map in the corona period. held.
She also spoke emphatically several times about 'that there are other priorities today', apparently intended as an argument to jeopardize the first agreement about interim change. She did not say that Sassoli will step down in any case, or that he is available to serve for the entire term.
The S&D leader did acknowledge that 'we will have to talk to the EPP', but that she first wants to wait with which candidate the Christian Democrats may come up with. The names of the Spanish Esteban González Pons, the Dutch Esther de Lange and the Maltese Roberta Metsola are already mentioned in the corridors. Many MEPs would like to see a female politician as President of the European Parliament.