¿Quién ganó Europa?

Jun 17, 2014 Daniel Gros

BRUSELAS – La lucha sobre quién será el próximo presidente de la Comisión Europea se está avivando. Recientemente, se vieron a varios líderes de la Unión Europea en un pequeño bote de remos en un lago sueco, y según informes, ellos maquinaban en contra del candidato favorito a dicho puesto; además, el primer ministro británico, David Cameron, ha puesto en marcha una campaña pública para reafirmar el derecho que tienen los gobiernos de los Estados miembros de la UE para decidir quién ocupará el brazo ejecutivo de la UE.

El proceso para elegir al presidente de la Comisión parece ser un conflicto entre la voz popular, tal como se la expresó en los resultados de las elecciones al Parlamento Europeo del mes pasado, y los tratos tras bambalinas de los gobiernos. Pero la realidad es más compleja, y el mandato democrático genuino no fue dado a la persona que dice haber “ganado” las elecciones.

En el período previo a las elecciones, cada una de las principales “familias” de partidos políticos europeos (no hay partidos paneuropeos, sólo alianzas débiles de partidos nacionales) nominó a un Spitzenkandidat(Candidato cabeza de lista) como su opción para ser nombrado Presidente de la Comisión Europea. El Partido Popular Europeo de centro-derecha, que obtuvo una estrecha pluralidad de 221 escaños en el parlamento que tiene 751 escaños, se ha proclamado vencedor en las elecciones; y muchos otros, incluyendo a los socialistas, los verdes y los liberales, coinciden en que el Spitzenkandidat del PPE, Jean-Claude Juncker, tiene el derecho moral de ser seleccionado como Presidente de la Comisión.

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j. von Hettlingen Jun 23, 2014

Mr. Gros asks: "Who won Europe"? The European Parliament election is history! What lies ahead is a significant power struggle between candidates, who want to run Europe. Backstage there's a tug of war between heads of member-states, who are going to decide, who should run Europe. EU-critics say this wheeling and dealing pits national leaders and parliaments against European ones.
The issue of, who should elect the EU president proves to be even more devisive and threatens to split the EU this week. There are those who believe the decision should be taken by the European Parliament which is empowered by the peoples of Europe. Others argue only national leaders have the democratic legitimacy to pick the right man or woman to become the highest EU official.
As David Cameron is a vocal opponent of the "Spitzenkandidat", Jean-Claude Juncker, it could lead to Britain leaving the EU, should he fail to achieve his goal. He is conducting a witch-hunt against Juncker, because he doubts, if the former Luxembourgian prime minister is the right man to be the top Eurocrat and to lead reform in Brussels. A classic EU insider, with a deep knowledge of Europe's rules, Juncker is Angela Merkel's favoured candidate - a man devoted to further European integration. He is also someone, who prefers the secret, early-hours deal-making to the role of open persuader.
Juncker's supporters want to boost the influence of the European Parliament and believe his claim to the top job rests on democracy. He hails from the the biggest bloc in the European Parliament, the European People's Party, which brings together centre-right parties from across the EU, yet not the Conservatives). He claims a mandate after a series of televised presidential debates. Yet Cameron said it would be dangerous to give the European Parliament too much power, as it would undermine democracy back home in the member states. The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe had warned against the problems that the democratic principles of the European Parliament pose.
Martin Schulz, a candidate of the Socialists, sees this as part of a wider struggle to boost the influence of the European Parliament. Yet many fear, if Juncker becomes President of the EU Commission it will represent a power shift away from national governments.
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Val Samonis Jun 20, 2014

The truly important question is: WHO LOST EUROPE, and, more importantly, IS THERE ANYBODY WHO CAN SAVE EUROPE FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION 2 AND WARS?

Val Samonis
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Francesco Di Comite Jun 19, 2014

Just a clarification: I undersstood that Juncker's parties got almost 45.000.000 votes and the parties supporting Schultz just above 40.000.000. (see https://twitter.com/simonjhix/status/475606371225075712/photo/1) Is it not correct? Where can we find an official source on the issue?
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Mareike Kleine Jun 18, 2014

Interesting post, but ultimately not what the debate is about. It's a power play between the EP and the European Council on the one hand, and between the UK and Germany on the other.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/jean-claude-juncker-should-head-the-european-commission/
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