He’s finally made up his mind. Manfred Weber, 49, is not running for President of the European Parliament. The office is open to the Christian Democrats for the second half of the legislative period, this was agreed with the Social Democrats and Liberals after the 2019 European elections. For a long time it was agreed in Brussels that the prestigious post would be reserved for Weber after the top candidate of the Christian Democratic European People’s Party (EPP) did not become President of the EU Commission. In 2019, this was mainly prevented by French President Emmanuel Macron and the Hungarian Viktor Orbán.
But now how did Martin Schulz once become the face of the European Parliament? And recommend yourself for more? The CSU politician does not dare to take this path. Instead, he wants to be confirmed as head of the EPP group in October and also to become chairman of the EPP family of parties in April. Donald Tusk still holds this post, but Poland’s former prime minister is returning to his country’s domestic politics in order to defeat the national populist PiS party as a pro-European alternative. Weber admires this courage, he says – and even wants to strengthen the Christian Democrats “in a challenging time and draft an agenda for the future”. Strong conservative parties are needed to defend democracy in Europe, he says.
At state level, it is normal for the same person to lead both the party and the parliamentary group. Such a model at EU level could increase the power of the EPP, because the largest political group is central to all legislation. As party chairman, Weber would also be there when the heads of state and government of the Christian Democrats meet before each EU summit. However, more attention is paid to the President of Parliament, who at the beginning of each summit explains the MEPs’ priorities internally and then goes before the journalists. Heads of state and government also like to visit the parliaments in Brussels and Strasbourg, which have to approve all trade agreements and traditionally strongly advocate human rights.
Minister in Berlin? He could. But it won’t
Weber is a person who is known to be as reliable as he is hesitant. The fact that he shies away from the stage that a parliamentary president has is explained in Brussels with several factors. So he was probably unsure of finding a majority among the 705 MPs. The grumbling grew louder and louder that, after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, another Christian Democratic German should get a top position. In addition, in 2024, after the next European elections, another person will probably be elected to the head of parliament – more than one term of office is rarely possible for an incumbent. At 52 years of age, Weber would then possibly be a simple member of parliament.
However, if he can keep the group chairmanship parallel to the successor to Tusk, that sounds like a prospect. For a while it was speculated that he had only kept silent about his plans because he wanted to stand up for the CSU in a future federal government. If that was the case, Markus Söder had already ended these plans in July: The CSU chief promised his members of the Bundestag that no one would be sent “from outside” into the cabinet. The fact that Weber could head a ministry without any problems is undisputed in the party. However, he is accused of portraying himself as a victim of Macron and Orbán for too long and not even probing a move to Berlin after von der Leyen’s election “out of false pride”. This may also be due to his passion for Europe, which can still be felt in Brussels and Strasbourg. So far, no one from their own ranks has declared that they will challenge Weber. But he doesn’t want to risk anything: he has been promoting himself in phone calls for weeks.