STRASBOURG — The center-right European People’s Party President Manfred Weber on Tuesday refused to commit to handing the European Parliament’s presidency to the Socialists as scheduled in 2027.
In what would be a major blow to the stability of the EU’s governing coalition, Weber hinted he could be seeking a third term for Roberta Metsola, a Maltese conservative and incumbent president of the Parliament.
The president of the Party of European Socialists, Stefan Löfven, said last week that the EPP needs to abide by the accord it signed after the European election in 2024, agreeing to hand over the Parliament presidency to the center-left in 2027.
During a press conference in Strasbourg Tuesday morning, Weber snarked back at Löfven.
“It was also agreed that the socialists are ready to work together, and I think the next one and a half years the socialists can show their reliability,” he said, after being asked by POLITICO whether he committed to upholding the deal.
Weber referred to a vote on a green simplification package scheduled for Wednesday in which some Socialist MEPs will break the group line to vote against it, despite an earlier agreement to support it with the EPP.
“The socialists are grabbing for jobs but not delivering on what the people really expect from them,” Weber added.
The Socialists say there is a written power-sharing agreement signed between the EPP, Socialists & Democrats and centrist Renew Europe divvying up the EU’s top jobs — with the Parliament presidency remaining split between the center right and the center left.
“We have a deal, the deal was made after the election, and that deal is still valid,” Löfven said Friday, warning that the EPP needs to comply “if they still want a decent working environment in Brussels.”
But behind the scenes, many center-left MEPs and staffers expect that the EPP will try to breach the agreement to give a third term to Metsola.
Their fears are growing because the Socialists also have the top post at the European Council, where Portugal’s former Prime Minister António Costa runs the show, and it is unlikely the EPP would let the center-left — which has lost political heft across the bloc in recent years — lead two of the three EU policymaking institutions.
“About Roberta Metsola’s future … let me first of all underline that I think I can, as EPP representative, be proud about the job Roberta Metsola has delivered,” Weber said. “She’s a great president of the European Parliament, very respected, the institution can be proud to have such a personality in the lead.”
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