Draghi should lead the European Council – POLITICO

But more interesting than the European Commission will be who EU leaders choose to run the European Council, and how serious that will mean European capitals in tackling the bloc’s priorities for the next five years. It tells the story accurately.

After choosing to hold the portfolio of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs in the last three missions, first under Cathy Ashton in the UK, then Federica Mogherini in Italy, and now under Josep Borrell in Spain, socialist They are now among those looking to the Council to increase their influence over the EU. Office work.

This change is partly due to the fact that the influence of the High Representative has been gradually eroding in recent years. Not only because EU capital fiercely defends its sovereignty in foreign affairs, but also because the European Commission has since played a more important geopolitical role. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And that trend is likely to continue as von der Leyen looks to make defense a central part of her next assignment.

Socialists are therefore likely to come second in the European elections, giving them the right to run the Council if they choose. But their bigger problem is a lack of candidates who can fill the role.

Given that the role involves chairing discussions and building consensus among EU leaders, this person would need to be a current or former head of state. For socialists, the current leading names are former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. And in a straw poll of knowledgeable EU officials conducted in Brussels last month, Costa was named as the frontrunner.

This is not surprising. Costa not only successfully guided Portugal through the eurozone crisis, but also maintains good relations with all EU leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. But his twin challenges are the ongoing corruption investigation that forced him to resign (though he could be cleared of any wrongdoing by June) and the victory that led to a centre-right coalition in Portugal. It was a national election.