European Parliament misses its own deadline as Macron loses out in fight over top jobs

It’s not only in Britain that the talk is about extensions, deadlines, delays and new votes but the European Parliament too. Add in a little political infighting between the European Union’s political parties, and the two sides of the Channel are more alike than they might seem.

Strasbourg officials yesterday announced they need an extension because holding another vote for three of the 26 commissioner delegates for the new European Parliament is not going to be possible by the October 23rd deadline.

That means, they said, the next European Commission, to be led by Ursula von der Leyen, is unlikely to take office on its due date on 1st November. The latest Strasbourg shenanigans were prompted by the Parliament’s stunning decision last week to reject not one but three of der Leyen’s top commissioner-designates on ethical grounds. The biggest shock – certainly to President Emmanuel Macron – was the overwhelming vote against Sylvie Goulard, Macron’s former minister of defence and a close ally.

Macron had been led to believe – by der Leyen – that Goulard was a shoe-in as the French nominee to be commissioner responsible for the EU’s internal market, industrial policy and defence. In the usual manner, it was understood that der Leyen would get Macron’s vote if she anointed Goulard to one of the EU’s top jobs. She also thought she had Goulard in the bag.

But Goulard was rejected, for the second time, getting only 12 more votes from the EU’s two biggest parties, the European People’s Party and the Party of European Socialists, outside of her own party – Renew Europe.

Indeed, the vote on Goulard, made by members of the Parliament’s internal market and industry committees, was devastating: in a secret ballot she is said to have been defeated by 82 to 29 votes.

Macron is said to be furious, claiming that he had put forward three potential candidates and that it was der Leyen who had chosen Goulard and that the EPP and the PES had betrayed her. Not a good start for Europe’s first lady.

In fact, much of the criticism of Goulard came from the EPP – der Leyen’s own political grouping, and therefore a huge embarrassment for the head of the European Commission as the two are also personal friends.

It’s also damning personally for Goulard, who had to resign from Macron’s government in June 2017 after only a month over claims she had misused EU funds to pay a parliamentary assistant for work after the assignment should have ended.

After being nominated to the Commission, she paid back the funds and an inquiry was closed. But she is still being investigated in France.

As well as being scrutinised by MEPs during the hearings over this affair, they also probed her work for the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute from 2013 to the end of 2015, while she was working as an MEP. The think-tank paid her more than €10,000 a month.

Two other nominations from Romania – whose government has since collapsed – and Hungary were also rejected. Neither the French nor the Romanians have put forward a new candidate – part of the reason for the delay – while the new Hungarian one has not been approved by der Leyen.

Wolfgang Munchau of the excellent Eurointelligence newsletter has this to say about the voting fiasco: “Both parties denied having been consulted before the nomination. It is a double whammy for Macron, who was the one suggesting von der Leyen as commission president.”

“A weak commission president who cannot deliver on her promises does not bode well for the future. Remember also that von der Leyen was confirmed only by a narrow margin of nine votes with at least 40 of her own party the EPP voting against her.”

What’s more, the decision will have consequences as the defeat of Goulard, who is a member of the liberal-centrist Renew Europe group, means that the European Parliament rejected one candidate each from the three main pro-EU parties. As I said, tortuous.

Munchau also thinks that the move to kill Goulard’s nomination will make it more difficult for the European Parliament to build majorities in the future.

“The EPP and PES and the Greens voted unanimously against Goulard. But the EPP and PES, the two largest parties, have lost their joint absolute majority in the parliament and will need partners like Renew Europe, the liberal party.

“Goulard’s failure is not only about her ethics or unconvincing performance. So, be prepared for trouble down the line. An atmosphere of mistrust and righteous quid-pro-quo thinking will have to be overcome first for the wounds to heal.”

Other EU watchers blame Goulard’s defenestration on Manfred Weber, the head of the EPP, who desperately wanted der Leyen’s job as Commission president, and sought revenge by blocking her.

Reports in the eurobserver online newspaper backed up the rumours that EPP members wanted to avenge Weber’s defeat after someone saw a Twitter post from a member of the EPP group about Goulard’s case from the Parliament’s legal affairs committee. In the background of the tweet were the words: “Guys we are going to kill her in the vote later but do not say.” The tweet has been deleted.

Other reports suggest the vote against Goulard was less about Weber, and more about revenge for the rejection of the other two nominees, the Hungarian candidate, who was backed by the EPP group, and the Romanian one, who came from the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for Europe. The view going round this group is that MEPs wanted to show that the European parliament is still supreme, and show what happens when you abandon the usual spitzenkandidaten model.

But Munchau reckons the real target behind the rejection of Goulard is Macron. “The outright rejection of the French candidate is a first in the history of the European Union. It directly challenges him and his grip on European policy. Remember his big speech on the future Europe in Strasbourg? What is left from it?”

“His ambitious eurozone budget proposal came up to nothing as we reported this week. Macron lobbied hard in recent days to get support for Goulard’s confirmation. Killing Goulard could be seen as a resurgence of the European parliament’s parties against him, the most pro-European French president in a long time.”

All eyes are turned to Macron, and who he chooses to be his next candidate. He’s got to get this one right without looking even more foolish. Michel Barnier is one potential candidate, although he’s from the EPP group; he’s also the wrong gender, since von der Leyen is said to want female in such a high-profile role, and so he may not get her blessing.

Whoever they are, the candidates will all still have to go through the same processes as their predecessors, through the legal affairs committees, and that could take weeks.

It rather looks as though Britain will be stuck some time longer with Jean-Claude Juncker, which might be no bad thing. The UK might even make its own deadline to leave the EU before it has its own new parliament.