Commission: Macron wants… Super Mario for president – The behind-the-scenes processes – Economic Post

He may have been instrumental in electing Ursula von der Leyen to the presidency of the European Commission five years ago, but today French President Emmanuel Macron is in talks with other EU leaders to find a different candidate — such as Mario Draghi — who will occupy the top European position.

With less than two months to go before European elections, Macron has spoken to prime ministers, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, about the possibility of a technocrat such as the former European Central Bank president taking over the reins of the EU, the people told Bloomberg. that they are able to know.

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When von der Leyen was elected president in 2019 following a deal between Macron and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, she promised to turn the European Commission into a “geopolitical commission”. However, according to estimates from another source, she overpoliticized her role.

Von der Leyen faces deep resentment among some member states over the way she has run the Commission over the past five years, particularly on trade negotiations, the bloc’s climate transition and relations with the US. And Macron openly criticizes her performance.

“The Commission presidency is there to defend the general interest, so it must not be too politicized,” Macron said in Brussels last month.

“Which, it must be said, did not happen at all with this outgoing committee.”

Officials in Brussels, including von der Leyen’s office, are unsure whether Macron is genuinely seeking a replacement for the top job or is pressuring her as a ploy to extract concessions from her, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

There is broad consensus that a decision will not be made until after the European elections on June 9, when EU leaders will decide who will fill the top jobs, including for the European Council, the European Parliament and the foreign policy agency. This process is a complex, behind-the-scenes negotiation that weighs the geographical balance and, more importantly, which political parties are entitled to the most important roles.

Macron will speak at the Sorbonne on Thursday to kick off his campaign in France, although it is doubtful he will address the issue of institutional jobs.

Regardless of Macron’s maneuvering, von der Leyen remains the clear favorite as the front-runner for the center-right European People’s Party, which is expected to win the most seats in June’s election. Traditionally, this means that an EPP candidate will take the reins of the Commission.

Germany is also unlikely to back a plan that would remove their country’s commissioner from the EU’s top institutional post.

Draghi is seen as a strongman with a dynamic profile and his clout is still widely accepted in Brussels after saving the euro as ECB president by pledging to do “whatever it takes” to shore up the common European currency.
But skeptics point to his age – he’s 76 – his advocacy of joint borrowing that scares austere countries and strong doubts that the EPP will give up the post for a technical figure, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

Others have suggested Draghi should run for the European Council post, which is responsible for running meetings of the EU’s 27 leaders.

However, the situation has become more difficult for the Commission president, not only because she has to combine her campaign commitments with her commission duties, but also because her influential head of cabinet, Bjoern Seibert, is not running now the activities and obligations of the Commission as he is now leading von der Leyen’s campaign for re-election.

It would be difficult for Macron to openly express his support for a German candidate given the difficult electoral environment at home in France, according to an EPP official close to von der Leyen’s campaign. Macron’s Renaissance party is well behind Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in opinion polls.

EU leaders are scheduled to meet on June 17 to discuss reshaping the Union, just a week after the election. Even if von der Leyen is chosen by leaders at the summit, where no consensus is required, she will face a difficult confirmation vote in parliament, and her election must be by an absolute majority.

In 2019, von der Leyen was elected president with only nine votes. And given the expected increase in electoral support for hard-right parties, her margins will be even narrower this year.