ZAGREB, May 30, 2019 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday evening in a statement for Croatian Radio Television refuted media headlines about a possible candidacy for European Commission president, saying that his appointment as one of the six negotiators from the strongest European political groups for the heads of European institutions was “a serious job of finding a consensus.”
“The purpose of yesterday’s meeting of the European Council was primarily to summarize the emotions after the European elections,” Plenković said on Wednesday evening. He refuted media speculations about his possible candidacy for European Commission president. “This is not a candidacy, this is a serious job of finding a consensus,” Plenković said.
He underscored that “the negotiations will be led by Donald Tusk on the one side and on the other by the six of us who were named yesterday.”
EU member states’ leaders exchanged opinions at an extraordinary summit in Brussels on Tuesday on the election of the new heads of European institutions, without discussing names, and confirmed there is no automatism whereby the European Commission president becomes one of the lead candidates whom the European political groups nominated in recent elections.
Plenković said on Tuesday that consultations would begin as of Monday to reach agreement by the end of June on the candidate the European Council would nominate for Commission president, who must be confirmed by the European Parliament.
“Two paths of negotiations have been agreed on so as to reach a solution regarding the head positions in European institutions. The first will be led by European Council President Donald Tusk, who will consult all of us heads of state or government so that we can reach a solution,” Plenković told reporters.
As for the second path, the European People’s Party, the Liberals and the Socialists have designated two leaders, who are also members of the European Council, to help Tusk find a solution. The EPP designated Plenković and Latvian PM Krisjanis Kariņs, the Liberals designated Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Belgian PM Charles Michel, and the Socialists designated Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and Portuguese PM Antonio Costa.
The Commission president should be elected first, followed by the Council president, the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, and the president of the European Central Bank. In doing so, attention should be paid to geographical, demographic, gender and political balances.
More news about Croatia and the European Union can be found in the Politics section.
