The European socialists and social democrats are entering the European elections with the Luxembourg citizen Nicolas Schmit. On Thursday, the current European Commissioner within the party appeared to be the only one to have raised his hand for the position of so-called ‘Spitzenkandidat’: a kind of unofficial EU-wide party leader who is considered a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission.
The latter almost certainly seems too ambitious for the relatively unknown Schmit (70). In the elections, he will most likely face incumbent Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is expected to announce her candidacy in Brussels in the coming weeks. Not only is Von der Leyen in good standing with many of the government leaders who ultimately decide on the top position, her Christian Democratic party is also still leading in the polls. The European elections will be held this year between June 6 and 9, in the Netherlands on Thursday June 6.
Timmermans
With Schmit, the Social Democrats are the first party to elect their European leader, although he has yet to be formally appointed at a party conference in early March. The Luxembourger will then follow in the footsteps of Frans Timmermans, who led the European Social Democrats in the previous elections in 2019.
Although that party also finished behind the Christian Democrats in the elections, Timmermans seemed to have a good chance of becoming the chairman of the Commission. Ultimately, government leaders chose to ignore the Spitzencandidates and propose Von der Leyen, who was not a candidate during the elections.
It was a major blow to the ‘Spitzen system’, which still continues to resonate. That system was devised prior to the 2014 European elections to give voters a greater voice in the distribution of top European positions. From now on, the top candidate of the largest party would automatically become Commission President. But since the failure of 2019, there is no longer much confidence among European parties that the proposed candidates will actually get a top position.
Former government leader
It remains to be seen whether Schmit will ultimately get a high position. Although the Social Democrats are aiming for the presidency of the European Council, it is customary for a former head of government to be appointed for this purpose – something that the Luxembourg citizen is not. In the past, Schmit was Luxembourg’s minister for, among other things, Foreign Affairs and Employment. Since 2019, he has been in Brussels as European Commissioner for the not very visible employment and social rights portfolio.
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