7 Proposing a candidate for President
of the Commission
| Committee's assessment
| Legally and politically important |
| Committee's decision | Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
|
| Document details | European Council Decision proposing to the European Parliament a candidate for President of the European Commission
|
| Legal base | Article 17(7) TEU;—; QMV
|
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
7.1 This European Council Decision proposes Mr Jean-Claude Juncker
as the European Council's candidate for the position of President
of the European Commission. It was adopted at the European Council
on 27 June 2014 by a qualified majority of EU Heads of State and
Government (the UK and Hungary voting against Mr Juncker's nomination).
Mr Juncker's candidacy was subject to a vote in the European Parliament
on 15 July.
7.2 Following his approval by the European Parliament's
members on 15 July, Mr Juncker will take up office on 1 November
2014, for a period of five years, together with a new college
of commissioners.
7.3 The Government's view of this process was expressed
by the Prime Minister in his statement to the House on the European
Council on Monday 30 June (and is also explained in the Explanatory
Memorandum on this document). The Prime Minister said:
"I believe that it was a bad day for Europe
because the decision of the Council risks undermining the position
of national Governments, and it risks undermining the power of
national Parliaments by handing further power to the European
Parliament. Although the nomination has been decided and must
be accepted, it is important that the Council at least agreed
to review and reconsider how to handle the next appointment of
a Commission President. That is set out in the Council conclusions."[24]
7.4 The commitment referred to in the European Council
conclusions, reads:
"Once the new European Commission is effectively
in place, the European Council will consider the process for the
appointment of the President of the European Commission for the
future, respecting the European Treaties."
7.5 We think it was clear from the Commission's
Communication and Recommendation which we scrutinised last year
that there was a serious risk that the interests of (and allied
to) the European Parliament, not the wording of the Treaties,
would determine the nomination process within the European Council
for the President of the Commission.
7.6 Whilst we support the Government's interpretation
of Article 17(7) TEU and the Prime Minister's stand in support
of this, we only welcome the commitment as worded in the European
Council's Conclusions with caution. We invite the Minister for
European (Mr David Lidington) to comment on the following observations:
i) We are concerned that a commitment to "consider",
is not a commitment to clarify or change.
ii) We also note that the commitment is qualified
by the condition of "respecting the Treaties". This
seems superfluous unless, of course, it addresses UK concerns
that the current nomination process did not respect the Treaties.
iii) We would also question when the review
process (whatever that will be) will be triggered. The European
Council Conclusions say "once the new European Commission
is effectively in place". The process might become protracted,
delaying the new Commission's taking up of office (as was the
case, for example, for the current Barroso Commission which was
only approved to take up office on 9 February 2010). We are concerned
that if the outcome of the review process is such that treaty
change is required, then that process must be undertaken with
sufficient haste for changes to be made by the time of the run-up
to the next European elections.
iv) We wonder whether the Government considers
the commitment to be strengthened by the introductory wording
to the relevant section of the European Council Conclusions: "The
UK raised some concerns related to the future development of the
EU. These concerns will need to be addressed."
7.7 We recognise that the current document has
already been adopted in European Council. However, it raises the
important and ongoing issue of the review of the process for appointing
the President of the Commission in future. We therefore retain
the document under scrutiny, pending the Minister's response.
Full details of
the document: European
Council Decision proposing to the European Parliament a candidate
for President of the European Commission: (36170), —.
Background and previous scrutiny
7.8 Although this is a new document, in our First
Report of 2013-14 we scrutinised the Commission's Communication
on Preparing for the 2014 European elections: Further enhancing
their democratic and efficient conduct[25]
and Recommendation of 12 March 2013 on enhancing the democratic
and efficient conduct of the elections to the European Parliament.[26]
7.9 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 17 April 2013,
the Minister for Europe set out the Government's position on European
political parties nominating candidates for the position of President
of the European Commission. This position was reiterated during
the subsequent debate in the House of Commons on the Communication
and Recommendation.[27]
7.10 We referred to the Commission's recommendation
that European political parties nominate a candidate for the President
of the European Commission and publicise that nomination in the
run-up to the European elections and a related recommendation
requiring national political parties to publicise the Presidential
candidate they support during the campaign. We noted that the
Minister for Europe objected to:
"the unwarranted weight that the Commission
assigns to the European Parliament's role in stating that the
elections would play a key role in determining which candidate
becomes President. The Commission, the Minister says, suggests
that the Commission President can only be chosen from among candidates
nominated by European political parties. The Minister disputes
this saying Article 17 TEU 'places no limits on the European Council
in its choice of candidates for the Commission President', subject
to the requirement in Article 17(3)."
7.11 We concluded that we agreed with the Government
that:
"that the Commission places an emphasis
on the role of the European Parliament and elections in the nomination
of the next President of the Commission which is not warranted
by Article 17(7) TEU."
7.12 In the debate on 18 June 2013, which took place
on the floor of the House, the Minister said:
"The European Council retains complete freedom
to nominate whom it wishes. It is required to take into account
the elections to the European Parliament, but there is nothing
in article 17(7) or elsewhere in the treaty on European union
that suggests the European Council is in any way mandated to limit
its election to a particular pool of candidates. Indeed, it may
be that no one political family commands a majority in the European
Parliament, or it may be that different combinations of European
political parties within the European Parliament prefer one candidate
rather than another, and it may not be possible, simply by looking
at which of the larger European groupings ends up in the lead
after the elections next year, to determine what the preference
even of the Parliament itself might be as to the preferred candidate."[28]
7.13 On 15 July, the European Parliament "elected"
Mr Juncker as President of the Commission in a qualified majority
vote (376 votes needed with 422 voting for and 250 against). The
President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, commenting
on the election said:
"This is an historic day in the continuing
process of developing a true European democracy. Today we have
witnessed the conclusion and acceptance of a process that, despite
the scepticism it received initially, gave European citizens a
direct say in the nomination of the top executive post in the
European Union.
This process irreversibly strengthens parliamentarism
in Europe and it will change the EU by establishing a direct link
between the outcome of the European elections and the choice of
the President of the European Commission.
Jean-Claude Juncker has received a strong mandate
from the European Parliament. The Parliament will be his partner
during his mandate if he tackles Europe's most daunting issues
head-down.
Mr Juncker must lead the reform process to turn
around joblessness, weak growth, social exclusion and the erosion
of solidarity. The European Parliament will ensure that Juncker's
action lives up to the responsibility which has been bestowed
upon him."
The Government's view
7.14 The Minister says in his Explanatory Memorandum
of 11 July:
"The UK Government is of the view that it
should be for the European Council, composed of the EU Heads of
State and Government, to propose the President of the European
Commission. This is in line with the process as outlined in Article
17(7) of the Treaty on European Union.
"In the context of the European Parliament
elections 2014, a number of European political parties promoted
the candidacy of different individuals for the position of President
of the European Commission.
"Jean-Claude Juncker was nominated as the
European Peoples' Party candidate for the position of President
of the European Commission. Following the emergence of the associated
European Peoples' Party group in the European Parliament as the
largest grouping post-election, there was a suggestion from the
political leadership in the European Parliament that the European
Council should accept and propose Mr Juncker as a candidate for
the role.
"As the Prime Minister made clear in his
statement to Parliament on the June European Council, the UK Government
believes that it should not be for the European Parliament to
dictate the choice of candidate for the role of the President
of the European Commission. The Treaties clearly set out the role
the European Parliament and the European Council play respectively
in the process of selecting the next Commission President.
"Article 17(7) of the Treaty on European
Union states: 'taking into account the elections to the European
Parliament and after having held the appropriate consultations,
the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, shall propose
to the European Parliament a candidate for President of the Commission.
This candidate shall be elected by the European Parliament by
a majority of its component members'.
"As the Prime Minister informed the House
we believe that a candidate could have been found who commanded
the support of every Member State. The UK Government opposed,
and continues to oppose on principle the idea that the European
Council was constrained to consider only those candidates nominated
by a European political party. The UK government consequently
voted against Mr Juncker's appointment in a qualified majority
vote at the European Council, as did Hungary.
"Nonetheless, the requisite qualified majority
was reached in the European Council for Mr Juncker's candidacy
to be accepted. The Prime Minister has made clear that we must
work with the new Commission President, as we always do, to secure
our national interest. The Prime Minister has already spoken with
Mr Juncker, who repeated the commitment included in his manifesto
to address British concerns about the EU.
"The following commitment was secured in
the associated European Council conclusions: 'Once the new European
Commission is effectively in place, the European Council will
consider the process for the appointment of the President of the
European Commission for the future, respecting the European Treaties'.
This is to be welcomed."
Previous Committee Report
None, but see: (34797) 7648/13 and (34798) 7650/13:
First Report HC 83-i (2013-14), chapter 3 (8 May 2013).
24 HC Deb, 30 June 2014, col 600. Back
25
(34797), 7648/13, COM(13) 126. Back
26
(34798) 7650/13, C(13) 1303. Back
27
HC Deb, 18 June 2013, Cols 818-837. Back
28
Ibid, cols 823-4. Back
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