Social Democrats issue demands for backing von der Leyen

In letter, MEPs insist nominee for Commission president make written commitments on policy priorities.

The center-left group in the European Parliament warned Ursula von der Leyen in a letter Friday that it would not support her nomination for Commission president unless she delivered “concrete commitments” in writing on its policy priorities.

The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) will be decisive in determining if von der Leyen, the conservative German defense minister, is confirmed for the EU’s top executive position with majority support from mainstream pro-EU parties in a ratification vote scheduled for Tuesday evening in Strasbourg.

So far, only von der Leyen’s own center-right European People’s Party has fully committed to backing her, which — for now at least — still leaves her well short of the absolute majority needed to win the job.

The letter from the S&D leader, Spanish MEP Iratxe Garcia, which included a four-and-a-half page annex listing the policy positions that the group wants von der Leyen to pledge to support, comes a day after a similar letter from the centrist-liberal Reform Europe group.

Like the Renew Europe letter, the S&D letter signed by Garcia has extortionary undertones, suggesting that von der Leyen would not get the group’s endorsement unless she acceded to most if not all of the requests — and explicitly mentioned that some of those demands require a financial commitment.

“As expressed during our meeting on Wednesday, the position of the S&D Group will be determined by your level of ambition to deliver the changes Europe needs,” Garcia wrote. “We need to see you make concrete commitments on our key demands or we will not be able to back your candidacy. This will need to include budgetary commitments when appropriate.”

The Socialists’ demands included broad requests in the areas of sustainable development, climate change, the EU’s budget, asylum policy, rule of law and fundamental rights and foreign policy. But some of the demands were also quite specific such as that the College of Commissioners be comprised equally of men and women; “a legally binding goal of reaching net-zero [greenhouse gas] emissions by 2050 at the latest” and a commitment that accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia begin in 2019.

On the final point, the current Commission has already recommended the start of talks for both Tirana and Skopje but the green light can only come from the EU’s member governments, which have delayed making a decision.

In the letter, Garcia also complained bitterly, once more, over the European Council’s decision to set aside the Spitzenkandidat, or lead candidate, process under which EU leaders were expected to choose from among the candidates for Commission president put forward by the major political families, who had debated and campaigned in the months ahead of the Parliament election.

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“The S&D Group is not satisfied with the way the role of the European Parliament through the Spitzenkandidaten process was undermined,” Garcia wrote. “By establishing a link between the choice of Commission President and the outcome of the European elections, this process was a step towards a more transparent and more democratic European Union. The 2019 elections were a missed opportunity to consolidate this practice.”

“Therefore, we need a clear commitment from the next European Commission President that he/she will support and work for institutional reform to empower voters and to consolidate the role of the European Parliament,” Garcia continued. “Your candidacy is the result of national leaders’ refusal to respect the Spitzenkdandidaten system, which this is not a good message to send to European voters.”

The Council had long warned that it could not — and would not — be bound legally to follow the lead candidate process and, in fact, as Commission president, von der Leyen would have no authority to impose the system. In her initial meetings with MEPs, von der Leyen has tried to mollify the anger by pledging to help develop a better process for filling the EU’s top jobs — a promise that some MEPs view was hollow given her willingness to accept the Council’s nomination without having been a lead candidate.

Several Parliament officials said that given criticism of von der Leyen’s initial presentations in Parliament this week, they believe her final, formal candidate’s speech scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Parliament plenary will be critical to the outcome of the vote.

An S&D official said the group expects to receive von der Leyen’s written response to the letter on Monday, and Garcia made clear the group wants to see quick action on its proposed agenda.

“The next European Commission must drive the economic, social, and ecological transformation of Europe, based on sustainable equality and on strong democracy,” she wrote to von der Leyen. “There is no time to waste and no time left for business-as-usual.”