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All posts tagged Hannes Swoboda

16
May

Europe Decides Weekly – 16 May

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Read more in Europe Decides Weekly, 9 May 2014

Top stories: 9-16 May 2014

  • Live TV debate with candidates for next Commission President: A final TV debate with the European parties’ candidates for the presidency of the European Commission took place on 15 May in the European Parliament. The ‘Eurovision Debate’ featured Jean-Claude Juncker (centre-right), Martin Schulz (Socialists), Guy Verhofstadt (Liberals), Ska Keller (Greens) and Alexis Tsipras (radical left). The contenders clashed over a number of topics ranging from the economy, including the impact of austerity measures, to Russia and Ukraine, immigration and religious symbols. The debate was broadcast on 58 national and regional TV channels and web-streamed on 71 websites across EU member states. Europolitics; EurActiv; European Voice; EUobserver; New Europe
  • Latest survey shows gap closing between EPP and Socialists: The latest PollWatch 2014 predictions show that the gap between the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D) is narrowing. With less than a week to go before the polls open, the EPP is predicted to gain 212 seats, with the S&D close behind on 209. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) remain on 63 seats, while the radical left European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) has improved slightly and would now find itself with 52 seats. The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group lead the rest of the chasing pack, with 43 seats. PollWatch 2014; Europe Decides; Reuters
  • Merkel and Hollande discuss Commission President: The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French President, François Hollande, met in Germany last weekend to discuss several EU-related issues, including the choice of a new Commission president. Merkel said that it will take several weeks following the European elections to reach a decision, amid talk of her and other EU leaders wanting to consider candidates other than the lead candidates of the pan-European parties. The EPP lead candidate, Jean-Claude Juncker, has said that Merkel gave him a firm signal that he will become the next Commission president if the centre-right wins the election, but the leader of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda, criticised the Chancellor for reportedly trying to prevent the Parliament’s President (and Socialist lead candidate), Martin Schulz, from chairing the assembly’s post-election review meeting. Swoboda said Merkel is only one of the 28 leaders in the European Council and should stop interfering in parliamentary business. EurActiv; Reuters; Chicago Tribune; Europolitics; S&D news; EUObserver

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18
Apr

Europe Decides Weekly – 18 April

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Read more in Europe Decides Weekly, 18 April 2014

Top stories: 12-18 April 2014

  • Election forecast puts EPP in front: The latest prediction of the composition of the next European Parliament from PollWatch 2014 puts the European People’s Party (EPP) ahead of the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) by a 13-seat margin. This is the first prediction in the PollWatch 2014 series that has put the EPP ahead (by 222 seats to the Socialists’ 209). The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) is forecasted to take third place, with 60 seats, followed closely by the European United Left – Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), with 53 seats. European Voice; Europe Decides; PollWatch 2014; Malta Today
  • Fidesz secures constitutional majority: Hungary will be the only country in Europe in which the ruling party has the power to change the constitution at will, following confirmation of results of the parliamentary elections held on 6 April. The centre-right Fidesz party will have 133 seats out of 199, a two-thirds majority that allows it to change Hungary’s constitution. The electoral reforms passed in the previous parliament by Fidesz also had an impact on the result: Fidesz gained its supermajority in the Parliament with 44.5% of the vote. Critics have also accused Fidesz of curbing media freedom and tampering with democratic checks and balances. All Hungary Media Group; European Voice; LSE blog; Reuters; Japan Times; Al-Jazeera
  • Ukip hits new high in poll ahead of Europe vote: Support for Britain’s Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (Ukip) has increased, according to the latest opinion polls. A ComRes poll of voting intentions for next year’s national election put Ukip on 20 percent, up four percentage points. This is Ukip’s highest score in the four-year history of the poll. The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, fell by three points, to 29 per cent. In an effort to reverse the trend, David Cameron described Ukip’s views as extremist at the launch of his party’s European election campaign. EurActiv

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10
Feb

100 days to go, 100 things to know about Europe’s year of change

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At 07:00 CET on Tuesday 11 February, there was exactly 100 days to go to the opening of the polls for the European Parliament elections.

As the countdown to the elections intensifies, here is our overview of where we stand:

Top jobs | European Parliament election candidates | European Parliament election opinion polls | Processes and procedures for the elections and beyond | Potential nominees to the European Commission | Online conversations | Also on Europe Decides

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29
Nov

Party games: the Parliament and its post-election musical chairs

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Six months away from the European Parliament elections, the first serious set of predictions are being made.

Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, a Paris-based think-tank, has recently published a must-read policy paper in which it predicts that the centre-left Socialists & Democrats Group (S&D) will oust the centre-right European People’s Party Group (EPP) as the largest group in the new Parliament.

And in February, Burson-Marsteller Brussels will support the launch – as part of Europe Decides – of PollWatch, a VoteWatch Europe project that will take an in-depth and regular look at opinion polls and the likely composition of the new assembly.

However, the election results are only part of the story. Post-election horse-trading and haggling plays a key role in determining the final composition of the groups and – significantly this time – the creation of a majority to back the appointment of a new President of the European Commission.

Political positioning and the distribution of key roles (such as committee chairs or group spokespeople) may help sway the decisions of national party delegations on where to sit.

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27
Oct

Europe Decides Weekly – 25 October

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Read more in Europe Decides Weekly, 25 October 2013

Top stories: 19-25 October 2013

  • Luxembourg elections: A bitter-sweet win for Juncker: Jean-Claude Juncker’s Christian Social People’s Party won the most seats in the Luxembourgian parliamentary elections, but are set to enter opposition as the Socialists, Liberals and Greens negotiate a coalition. Juncker is the EU’s longest-serving head of government, having become Prime Minister in 1995. Euronews; BusinessWeek; Deutsche Welle; EPP; EPP; Europe Online Magazine; AECR Group; ALDE Party; European Greens; European Voice; EU Observer; EuroNews; Express; EurActiv
  • Le Pen launches plan to unite the far right: Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front said that the European Union will ‘collapse like the Soviet Union’. She made the remarks during the launch of her plan to unite far-right parties from across Europe ahead of the European Parliament elections. Le Pen argues that the return of national sovereignty is necessary because Europe has proven to be ‘anti-democratic’. EU Observer; The Province; EuroNews; Europolitics; Telegraph

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03
Oct

Candidates jockey for position ahead of 2014 changes

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Across Europe, election lists are taking shape and the contenders for the principal jobs are jockeying for position. Here are some of the highlights:

 

France

Pascal Canfin, the current junior minister for development, has decided not to lead the European Parliament elections list for Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV). The current party leader, Pascal Durand, will lead the list instead, and will not contest the party leadership at the next vote in November. (Nouvel Observateur)

 

Italy

Franco Frattini, a former European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, will be Italy’s candidate to be the next Secretary-General of Nato. There are rumours that the current Commission President – José Manuel Barroso – will also be a candidate for this post. (Le Monde)

 

Greece

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) held meetings in Brussels on 1 October and is a strong contender to be the Party of the European Left’s candidate for the Commission presidency.

Tsipras also met the leader of the Socialists & Democrats Group in the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda. While the predicted rise in support for fringe parties in the European Parliament elections could lead to a ‘grand coalition’ between the main pro-European parties, this meeting may signal that the centre-left will be prepared to work with the Greens and more radical left in the Parliament.

 

Netherlands

The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is set to put Hans van Baalen MEP at the head of its election list in 2014. The other Dutch party in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group, Democrats 66 (D66) are likely to be led into the European Parliament polls by Sophie in’t Veld MEP.

Another current MEP, Bas Eickhout, is likely to lead the GreenLeft (GroenLinks) party list, while Wim van de Camp MEP and Esther de Lange MEP are set to contest the top position for Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), a member of the European People’s Party Group.

As for the Labour Party (PvdA), there is a leadership race between four candidates: Zita Schellekens, Judith Merkies MEP, Robbert Baruch and Bernard Naron (a former advisor to the PvdA in the European Parliament. The current delegation leader, Thijs Berman, said that he wanted to make room for new candidates and fresh faces, and so is not running to lead the list, but will seek another term as an MEP. Berman’s successor will be selected by PvdA members on 29 November.

Update – 6 October: Volkskrant reports that Paul Tang is a fifth candidate for the leadership of the PvdA list for the European Parliament elections. For D66, current MEP Marietje Schaake has announced her intention to lead the party’s list and become the leader of the delegation, launching her campaign website this weekend.

 

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