EU chief struggles to sell job winners to hostile lawmakers
BRUSSELS — European Council President Donald Tusk appealed Thursday to hostile lawmakers to endorse a raft of nominees for some of the EU’s most coveted jobs amid accusations that he and the bloc’s leaders hand-picked the candidates in a series of shady backroom deals.
Two days after one of the longest-ever EU summits — beating even the allnighters that marked the Greek debt crisis — Tusk struggled to convince the European Parliament of the credentials of candidates chosen more for political reasons than for their competence.
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen was nominated to take over as head of the EU’s powerful executive arm, the European Commission, which proposes and enforces EU laws. It’s the first time a woman has been picked for the job, and would mark the first time a German has led the commission in decades.
“We managed to make these decisions on time,” Tusk said, as part of his effort to persuade the lawmakers meeting in Strasbourg, France, that von der Leyen and the three other nominees pass muster. “I believe they are good choices.”
He urged them to back the appointments package given the tough choices the leaders faced in finding candidates who came from the right blend of political affiliations, countries and a mix of genders. Von der Leyen faces a confirmation vote, probably on July 15, and her chances of taking the top seat in Brussels aren’t assured.
“Only when we are united, can we counterbalance the most powerful global players,” Tusk warned. The leaders, he said, also united around the names. “It took us three days, because I wanted to be sure that every member state, big or small, from every corner of Europe, was on board when it came to the future leadership of the Union.”
But many lawmakers regretted the way the decisions was made, particularly as voters had just turned out in record numbers for bloc-wide elections in May, bringing fresh legitimacy to the European project.