The Battle of the Roost
(Archives B2) To occupy the coveted position of President of the European Parliament, names are circulating at lightning speed in the corridors of Parliament in Brussels and elsewhere. With only one certainty, the current President of the European Parliament, the Irish Liberal Pat Cox, is not running again. And since no group alone will hold an absolute majority, the unwritten rule that the roost is shared equally between two large groups will be respected.
The 4 options
Four options are then possible. Everything will then depend not only on victory at the polls but also on the attachment of flying or fickle deputies to the groups.
1st option: an alliance between the conservatives of the European People's Party (EPP) and the Liberals. Natural for some, delicate for others, the Eurosceptic turn taken by the EPP, in particular by allowing the British Tories to set themselves up as a group within the group, was taken badly by a number of convinced elected officials. The Oliviers led by Romano Prodi will also have some difficulty getting together with Berlusconi's Forza Italia.
2e option: an alliance between the Liberals and the Socialists. A priori against nature, it is more realistic than it seems if we are somewhat interested in the reality of the votes. In many issues, Liberals and Socialists have indeed joined their voices, with the support of the Greens succeeding in imposing their views on the Conservatives.
3rd option: a Conservative-Socialist alliance. This is the alliance that prevailed until 1999, when the two major parties had a sort of common European conviction. Which is no longer quite the case today. If this option is chosen, it will be a kind of armed peace.
4e option: the alliance of the lefts - socialists, greens and communists - will be rather delicate to manage because minority, except the socialist tidal wave spreads.
Who will chair...
As for the candidates, the EPP already has its own, declared for a long time, the German of the CDU, Hans-Gert Pöttering, current president of the group and deputy for almost a quarter of a century.
The Liberals are still looking for a headliner capable of replacing Pat Cox who, in everyone's opinion, will leave an excellent memory. The current Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, who is thinking of withdrawing to Europe in the event of a deluge of his party in the regional elections (which takes place on the same day as the European elections), would make a very suitable candidate.
Among the Socialists, Labor Terry Winn, a former naval engineer in the Royal Navy, MEP since 1989, is often quoted. The name of the Austrian Hannes Swoboda, appears sometimes. This vice-president of the socialist group would have an advantage, his name, meaning in most Slavic languages, freedom. A beautiful symbol… As for the French, for the moment, it's motus and tight mouth!
NGV. Published in France-Soir, June 2004
