EU horse-trading goes green

Young voters in the EU’s west went green — although that wasn’t mirrored in the east.

Aggressive policies on tackling climate change turned out to be a vote-winner in the European election — at least in the west of the Continent.

Because of that, climate policy may play a big role in the horse-trading that’s now starting over the key jobs in the EU.

“I would expect that the Green wave that we had in many countries, not in all, will have a strong impact on the program of the next Commission president,” European Commission Secretary-General Martin Selmayr said at a POLITICO post-election event on Monday.

The Green group in the European Parliament looks set to be the fourth biggest with 69 MEPs, gaining 17 seats compared to 2014 thanks to a strong showing in Western and Northern countries such as Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, France and Belgium; however, aside from the Baltics, not a single Green was elected east of Berlin.

“Climate change was one of the top concerns of the EU citizens that went to vote. And this is reflected in the results,” said Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, head of the Jacques Delors Energy Center.

It’s not just the Green party that took climate seriously. Frans Timmermans, the lead candidate of the Socialists, proclaimed it would be his top priority if he becomes the next Commission president.

The issue already looked set to feature prominently on the agenda of the incoming Parliament and the Commission: EU leaders are debating the bloc’s long-term climate strategy, and pressure is building on the bloc to back a goal of cutting emissions to net zero by 2050. That’s something the outgoing Commission proposed in November and, so far, is backed by an alliance of largely Western and Northern members.

Selmayr said he expects the Greens to “dedicate all their resources” to “make sure there’s as much of their program” included in the portfolio of the next Commission chief and would support candidates based on this premise.

The conservative European People’s Party, which remains the largest group in the assembly with 180 seats but incurred significant losses, is scrambling to recover after placing climate as a low priority during the election. The group is hunting for support among other parties to secure the Commission president post for their candidate — Manfred Weber — which means it may have to give ground on climate policy.

“We’ve got to change course … on climate policy,” Peter Liese, a German MEP from the Christian Democratic Union and the outgoing environmental coordinator for the EPP — who was reelected — said Monday.

The Greens, who have no chance of securing the top Commission job and are instead aiming to get a commissioner, are already positioning themselves as Parliament’s kingmakers and key for any future political alliances.

They’re competing with the assembly’s third biggest group, the new liberal ALDE plus Renaissance plus USR Plus alliance, which also says the fight against climate change is one of its priorities.

Continental climate concerns

The concern about climate change showed up in voting behavior across much of Western Europe.

In Germany, the big election winners were the Greens, taking second place with an estimated 21 seats, and pushing the Social Democrats into third place. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc still came out top, but lost ground compared to the previous election.

The results show German mainstream parties “really need to become green if they want to have a political future,” said Pellerin-Carlin.

Polling data published by German broadcaster ZDF showed that over 30 percent of voters under 30 voted for the Greens, compared with 13 percent for the conservative bloc.

Both German mainstream parties — which form the country’s governing coalition — have grudgingly conceded that failure to take on climate change contributed to their poor results.

Climate change has “for some reason become a global issue,” Armin Laschet, the conservative premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, said Sunday evening on German television.

Other leading conservative politicians are now pledging to carve out a clearer position on climate policy plans. The head of the Christian Democratic Union, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said the leadership will discuss climate policy at an upcoming session.

But the Green surge petered out in most of eastern Germany, with the exception of a few urban strongholds like Berlin. Instead the right-wing and climate skeptic AfD did much better.

Belgian regional elections showed a surge of support for far-right and anti-immigrant parties in Dutch-speaking Flanders, but the Greens did well in Brussels and French-speaking Wallonia.

In France, young people similarly flocked to the Greens, with more than a quarter of voters under 34 supporting the party. President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party picked up support from the right, according to exit polls, but hemorrhaged voters to the Greens, something the government has noticed and is likely tied to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe’s effort to push for an ambitious environmental policy at the EU and national level.

There was “a European green wave tonight that we contributed to,” Yannick Jadot, lead candidate for the French Greens, said Sunday. “Europeans want ecology to be at the heart of their lives.”

The east isn’t green

Those kinds of concerns aren’t likely to find much favor with the nationalist and populist parties that did well in Italy and across much of Central and Eastern Europe.

Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s League, greeted his party’s strong result — it won 28 seats — as a mandate to push policies on migration and cutting taxes. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his victorious Fidesz party talked of stopping migration, defending nation states and Europe’s Christian culture.

In Poland, one of the candidates from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party was Grzegorz Tobiszowski, the deputy energy minister in charge of restructuring the hard coal industry.

“In the European Parliament there is a need for a stronger voice with arguments in favor of Poland’s energy mix — where there is place for coal as well as [renewables],” he told Polish media during the campaign.

Poland still generates about 80 percent of its electricity from coal, and tangled with the Commission and other countries over its go-slow approach to cutting emissions and phasing out coal.

In Poland, younger voters skewed right rather than green, with 47 percent of those under 30 supporting either Law and Justice or the far-right Konfederacja.

This article has been updated to include Finland as a country where the Greens did well.

CEE countries aim for a hefty Commission portfolio after failing in top job race

The early signs of a Central European breakthrough aren’t promising.

Central and Eastern Europe was shut out in last week’s race for senior EU positions, so the region’s governments are eyeing important Commission portfolios and a vice presidency as compensation.

“The arrangement is that a candidate from CEE will get the position of the vice president. I have a deep understanding that it has been confirmed. I can’t see any other possibility,” said Piotr Müller, a Polish government spokesman.

But officials from other countries say that the European Council did not make any deals regarding a Central European vice president during the June 30 to July 2 summit, at which they nominated German Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president.

“There are many wish lists around but it’s up to the incoming Commission president to decide which candidate is best suited for which of the various positions available in her team of commissioners,” said one EU diplomat.

“Aside from the two highest vice presidents, the European Council did not make further arrangements on candidates or portfolios,” the diplomat said, referring to Frans Timmermans and Margrethe Vestager, who are set to take vice presidencies as a consolation for their failed runs to be Commission president.

The early signs of a CEE breakthrough in Brussels aren’t promising.

On Wednesday, former Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło, a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists, was humiliated in her bid to become chair of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, losing in a 27 to 21 vote. A week earlier, Zdzisław Krasnodębski, also a member of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party, failed in his effort to become a Parliament deputy president.

The Poles claim they deserve to play an important role in the new Commission because of the size of the country.

“The fact that we haven’t got any top job now is a perfect argument for us to get a powerful portfolio,” said a senior Polish diplomat. He spelled out the “top jobs” that Warsaw would like: “For me, these are the following portfolios: competition, agriculture, energy, budget, trade. These are the real top jobs, this is where the power is.” He added that Poland would have “ambitions” to get a vice presidential seat at the Commission.

Naming names

Getting a good portfolio is the result of a complex mix of the new Commission president’s views, the qualifications of the candidate put forward by a member country and that country’s political heft in Brussels.

There are several names being mentioned in Warsaw: Adam Bielan, an MEP and a close aide of Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Law and Justice and Poland’s de facto ruler; Jerzy Kwieciński, the investment and economic development minister and also a Kaczyński confidant; and Jadwiga Emilewicz, the entrepreneurship minister.

Slovakia also wants a “vice presidency with a strong portfolio,” one official said. Bratislava has an edge over countries like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, all embroiled in fights with the EU, thanks to its newly elected pro-EU President Zuzana Čaputová. Slovakia also has a Commission candidate who is known quantity in Brussels — Maroš Šefčovič, the current vice president in charge of energy union.

Šefčovič is “already high ranking” and could thus get a vice presidency, said a senior EU diplomat.

Prague still hasn’t made up its mind, but could back current Commissioner Věra Jourová, a member of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ANO party, who is well-respected in Brussels and who has expressed interest in staying for a second term.

But the country’s political turmoil amid corruption allegations swirling around Babiš means that the matter “has not been decided yet” when it comes to names, said a senior Czech official, adding there are a “couple of ideas flying around.”

“Everything is moving in the context of a looming political crisis,” said another Czech official.

Hungary — battling the EU over charges that it is backsliding on democracy — isn’t even trying for a vice presidential post. Budapest’s Commission candidate is outgoing Justice Minister László Trócsányi, who headed the candidate list of the ruling Fidesz party in the European Parliament election, although he is not a party member.

Trócsányi “wants the enlargement portfolio,” said one senior Fidesz official, while noting that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hasn’t indicated a portfolio preference.

But Trócsányi said it is too early to publicly discuss his preferences. “I will discuss these in detail personally with the new Commission president, who hopefully will be Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, once the Hungarian government has put my name forward as a Commissioner candidate,” he told POLITICO.

But getting nominated doesn’t mean a candidate will even join the Commission, let alone grab a portfolio. Trócsányi is likely to face a tough confirmation process in the European Parliament, which may be tempted to use the process to express disapproval of either Hungary or Poland over the issue of violating the EU’s legal standards.

Then there are limitations because of national policies. Despite its desire for the energy portfolio, Poland’s dependence on coal-fired power and its resistance to increasing the bloc’s targets to cut emissions would make a Polish candidate problematic for many other countries.

Hungary has similar issues over Orbán’s resistance to accepting asylum seekers.

“I wouldn’t give a Hungarian colleague migration” as a Commission portfolio, said the senior diplomat.

CORRECTION: This article has been amended to correct László Trócsányi’s relationship to Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party. While he served in a Fidesz government and ran as head of the Fidesz list in the European Parliament election, Trócsányi is not a member of the party.

The European Council cannot and will not be required to follow the EU’s Spitzenkandidat — or lead candidate — process in choosing the next European Commission president, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä told POLITICO.

Under the Spitzenkandidat system, which was first used in the selection of Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014, EU heads of state and government are expected to nominate the lead candidate from the party that wins the most seats in the European Parliament election. The nominee must then be confirmed by a majority of the Parliament.

In this May’s election, as in 2014, the winner is expected to be the center-right European People’s Party (EPP).

But the Spitzenkandidat process is not spelled out in the EU treaties, and the European Council has said previously that it cannot be legally required to follow it.

The Council’s resistance is largely a matter of the legal separation of powers between the EU institutions. Committing in advance to the Spitzenkandidat process would strip the Council of its authority and discretion in choosing a nominee for the EU’s top job.

But other political families have also come to see the Spitzenkandidat system as unfairly favoring the long-dominant EPP.

Finland’s view is of particular note because it will take over the EU’s rotating presidency on July 1, giving it a central role in coordinating the selection process for all of the top jobs that will come vacant.

Sipilä is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), which has openly rebelled against the Spitzenkandidat system. ALDE has refused to put forward an individual candidate — unlike the EPP, which has nominated German MEP Manfred Weber, and its main center-left rival, the Party of European Socialists (PES), which has put forward European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans. Instead, ALDE says it will propose a slate of candidates, giving the Council a roster of names to pick from if it wants to nominate a Liberal.

“I don’t like this idea about Spitzenkandidats,” Sipilä said in the interview. “I think that in democracy we have to make compromises also. It’s not clear that the biggest party will take this position.”

Historically, Sipilä said, the EPP “took everything, all the positions. I think that this is not good policy. And this is why ALDE — we have decided that we will have a team of politicians which shows that in the liberal party there is a different kind of thinking, and we are from north and south and west and east. And it’s a kind of window about the candidates we have in the ALDE party. And I like this more than nominating our candidate before.”

He added, “We have emphasized in the Council also that this is not binding at all. We have to remember also — I have said it many times in the European Council — I can’t agree that this Spitzenkandidat process binds in any way the European Council. Because it has to be negotiation, compromise.”

The Council’s opposition has put the system in doubt but Weber and the EPP are working diligently to make it politically difficult, if not impossible, for the heads of state and government to break with the process. Weber has already begun campaigning across Europe.

Current election projections, including POLITICO’s, suggest that the EPP will once again control the largest bloc of seats in the new Parliament. With those numbers, and by presenting himself early as the front-runner, Weber and the EPP operatives supporting his campaign hope the Council will see little upside in choosing someone who has not appealed directly to voters.

Sipilä may not be around to help choose the next Commission president. Finnish voters head to the polls for a national election on April 14, and it is unclear if he will return as prime minister.

Juncker laments lack of transparency in Commission top job race

‘I’m a very unique guy, I was the first and the last Spitzenkandidat,’ Commission president says.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker lamented the process by which leaders nominated German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen to succeed him in the EU’s top job, acknowledging it “was not very transparent.”

By comparison, Juncker said during a press conference in Helsinki with Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne, “the process which led to my nomination in 2014 was very transparent, because we had lead candidates, everyone knew what will happen if this party or that party would be the strongest party in the European Parliament.”

Juncker said the Spitzenkandidat process “unfortunately didn’t become a tradition,” adding: “I always had the impression that I would enter history, but not like that … I’m a very unique guy, I was the first and the last Spitzenkandidat.”

The comments came after members of the European Parliament lashed out Thursday at EU leaders for their handling of von der Leyen’s nomination. Country chiefs rejected the two candidates for the Commission presidency who ran in the EU election as the lead candidates of their groups — Manfred Weber for the EPP and Frans Timmermans for the Socialists — and settled on the German defense minister as a compromise candidate after a marathon three-day EU summit earlier this week.

MEPs are set to vote on whether to confirm von der Leyen as the Commission president in the week of July 15. Von der Leyen held talks in Brussels with Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday.

Arsenal are keen on bringing Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah to the Emirates Stadium in the summer, according to reports in Germany.

The 24-year-old has played 167 times for Leverkusen and scored four goals since joining from fellow German outfit Hamburg in 2015.

Tah has nine Germany caps under his belt with five of those coming in 2019 under Joachim Low, who chose to leave him out of the 2018 World Cup squad.

And Sport Bild (via Sport Witness) claims that Tah – who is also interesting Atletico Madrid – is ‘top of the list’ for Arsenal as Mikel Arteta scours the globe for defensive reinforcements.

Leverkusen have set the release clause in Tah’s current contract – which runs until the summer of 2023 – at €40m with Arsenal keen to make him their ‘new defensive boss’.

The Bundesliga outfit are currently two points behind Borussia Monchengladbach, who occupy the final Champions League qualification place, and it is believed Tah’s price could be a ‘little higher’ if Leverkusen manage to finish fourth.

The report adds that the centre-back’s release clause is only valid until the start of  Euro 2020 on June 12, so Arsenal better get a move on.

 

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Paul Merson reckons Liverpool’s success in the Premier League this season could help Manchester City avoid a player exodus at the end of the campaign.

City were fined 30million euros (£24.9million) and given a two-year ban from UEFA club competitions on Friday after an investigation into accounts submitted by the club between 2012 and 2016.

The Premier League champions have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against their punishment for “serious breaches” of Financial Fair Play rules.

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OPINION: Why are Man City fans not angry with Man City?

Liverpool have blazed a trail in the Premier League this season, only dropping two points as they have built up a 25-point lead at the top of the table.

And Merson reckons that if City‘s Champions League ban is upheld then their players are more likely to stay now that they have something to prove in the Premier League.

“I think it helps if all the Man City players stayed next season due to the way Liverpool have ripped them up this year,” Merson said in his Sky Sports column.

“The way Liverpool have outplayed them this season, I think the players will want to stay to put it straight.

“Their mentality should be that after what Liverpool have done, they need to win the Premier League next season. If City had achieved what Liverpool have this year, I wouldn’t see a player being there next year [if the UEFA ban is upheld].

“They’d have won the league again, and the feeling would then be that winning the Champions League is all that’s left.

“Of course, it all depends on if this team now wins the competition this season. But I don’t know if they’re going to get away with it – I’m not sure if that ban is going to get overturned.”

 

Jamie Carragher thinks Liverpool are still lacking “real creativity” in midfield after they lost the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie 1-0 to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.

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Saul Niguez scored the only goal of a dour last-16 contest at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Tuesday, leaving the Premier League leaders needing a turnaround in the second leg in three weeks’ time.

OPINION: The only real Liverpool positive? It’s only half-time

And Carragher thinks there is still the need for more creativity in the middle of the park despite Liverpool dominating the Premier League this season.

Carragher told Viasport: “Well it was a really frustrating night for Liverpool. We knew how Atletico would play, Jurgen Klopp knew.

“But the big thing you don’t want to do in games like this is concede the first goal – and so very early from a set-piece.

“Sometimes it happens, little bit of luck and it rebounds and they go 1-0 up.

“Liverpool didn’t get too frustrated but they couldn’t create anything, they don’t have real creativity, certainly in midfield. That’s always been a problem.

“But I think tonight you have to say Atletico defended really well and the important thing for Liverpool was not to lose their discipline, and get a red card or go down to 10 men, and to make sure the game stayed at 1-0 and not 2-0.

“At 1-0 I still think Liverpool have a great opportunity of going through. If it had gone 2-0 I think Liverpool would have been nearly out.

“So at 1-0 Atletico deserved it, they had the better chances, but Liverpool will be a lot better at Anfield.”

 

Todd Cantwell thinks the quality of Sadio Mane’s winning goal for Liverpool against Norwich City on Saturday was “frightening”.

Cantwell has been impressive for Norwich this season and he put in another good showing against Liverpool – a side who are understood to be watching his progress.

According to The Athletic‘s David Ornstein, Manchester United and Liverpool have been joined by Manchester City and Tottenham in hunting a deal for Cantwell.

However, the journalist says that Liverpool stepped up their interest in the 21-year-old  midfielder throughout January and are now the frontrunners for his signature at the end of the season.

Cantwell though is focused on Norwich in what is only his second season in the Canaries first team.

“I’m honestly thankful every game that the manager selects me to start in. I’d like to think I’m repaying that and every time I put on that shirt, I’ll give 100%,” Cantwell told Canaries.co.uk.

“I think I’m improving game by game and I feel like I’m becoming a better footballer. On a personal note, I’m loving it, playing in the Premier League against the best.”

Speaking about the 1-0 defeat the England Under-21 man said: “We showed a lot of resilience again. They are the best team in the world at the moment but they came to Carrow Road and didn’t have an easy game – that’s a credit to everyone.

 

“The resilience we’ve shown at home is something positive we can take but it’s a shame we’ve got nothing to show for it again. It’s been a bit of a reoccurring event.

“The way Sadio Mane takes that out of the air and the way he snaps at it with his weaker foot is frightening.

“We knew we were up against some of the best players in the world. Any sniff of a chance and you’ve got a horrible feeling they’re going to take it.

“When we get our chances, we really need to capitalise because we knew we weren’t going to have spells in the game where we would control the ball how we like.

“The resilience we showed against the ball, I feel like we deserved something from the game.”

“The crowd were brilliant,” Cantwell said. “They matched us in many senses and got behind us when we were struggling. It’s disappointing that we can’t celebrate with them at the end of that.”

 

The legendary former defender admits that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remain far from “perfect”, but he does see cause for optimism at Old Trafford

Bruno Fernandes can be “the difference” for Manchester United, says Gary Neville, with the Red Devils having unearthed more creativity in an ongoing bid to establish greater consistency.

The 2019-20 campaign has been another rollercoaster ride for the Red Devils, with a long-term rebuilding projected experiencing more peaks and troughs.

Further funds were invested during the January window in an effort to level things out at Old Trafford.

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Portugal international Fernandes has become another big-money addition, with the 25-year-old impressing through his early outings in the Premier League.

Neville believes he could prove to be an important part of the puzzle, with United having been crying out for another playmaker for some time.

The Red Devils legend told Sky Sports: “The problem they’ve got is when they come up against a team who are solid. They have problems in creativity and breaking down a team that basically sits behind the ball in numbers. That’s happened time and time again. It’s a well-known pattern.

“When Manchester United don’t have the ball against the top teams and the top teams have to come out at them, they look like quite an exciting team, and they’ve had some wonderful victories this season. They’ve even proved difficult for Liverpool at Old Trafford.

“Ultimately, United have a pattern about them in terms of the type of games they enjoy and the type of games they don’t.

“Maybe Bruno Fernandes will be the difference in certain games now at Old Trafford. They will be hoping they can get a little bit more out him in terms of creativity and assists, but there’s still a lot to do for them to convince us all that they can go on a consistent run.”

United, who have fared admirably against fellow heavyweights during the reign of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, claimed another notable scalp on Monday as they saw off Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Confidence is being taken from that result and Neville is looking for positivity to be maintained as further flaws are ironed out.

He added: “I don’t think United are perfect. Both teams are inconsistent. Chelsea have a tough game at home against Spurs at the weekend and they could easily go and win, while United could drop points against Watford. That’s how daft both these teams have been this season.

“One of them must go on a run now to get that Champions League spot.

“Manchester United have demonstrated in games away from home, whether it be at Manchester City, against Chelsea or in other big games, that they’re capable of winning the big games.

“They can get results, particularly when they get one in front. They are good on the counter-attack and they score good goals. Their problems have come against teams that sit back against them, hold their shape and stay organised.”

Victory over Chelsea has lifted United into seventh spot in the Premier League table, three points behind the fourth-placed Blues.

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A landfill fire near Eibar has resulted in “high levels of chemical compounds”, causing Sunday’s clash to be called off

Eibar’s La Liga game against Real Sociedad on Sunday has been postponed due to air contamination.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation’s competition committee made the decision to call off the fixture due to a landfill fire near Eibar, while all matches in the nearby towns of Ermua and Zaldibar have also been called off.

A letter from the Basque government’s deputy minister for health warned against sports activities being performed due to “high levels of chemical compounds detected in the air”.

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The health authorities have also warned citizens of the three towns not to leave their windows open, while a nearby motorway was temporarily closed.

The landfill, just over a kilometre away from Eibar’s Ipurua Stadium, collapsed on February 6, trapping two workers who have not yet been found despite an ongoing search. Some of the fires in the waste have still not been extinguished.

Measurements taken this week showed that the levels of dioxins and furans – highly contaminating toxic chemicals that are released into the air when plastic and other materials burn – were 40 times the normal level for urban areas.

Dioxins and furans are known to have a serious effect on human health, causing problems with development and reproduction and weakening the immune system. They can also lead to cancer.

A statement released by La Liga on Saturday afternoon read: “In contact with La Liga, the RFEF and the clubs involved, the Competition Committee, and on the recommendation of the Basque Government, has decided to suspend the Eibar-Real Sociedad match that was going to take place [Sunday] February 16 at 4:00 p.m. at the Ipurua stadium.”          

The teams have until 2pm on Tuesday to agree a new date, though reports in Spain say the two sides are considering rescheduling the match for Monday if conditions improve.

Eibar are currently 16th in La Liga, four points clear of the relegation zone, and have not won in their last three matches.

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad, who beat Athletic Club 2-1 last Sunday, sit seventh and just one point behind Valencia, who occupy the last Europa League qualification spot.