This was the Prime Minister's first interview with a French newspaper since 2015.Continue reading
European Council President Charles Michel will run as a candidate for the European parliamentary election this year, a spokesperson of the politician told Politico. If Charles Michel is elected, his council post would become vacant.
The Council President’s seat would be vacant by mid-July if he is elected in the parliamentary election in June, therefore “EU leaders will have to agree quickly on a successor for his vacated Council post,” the news portal writes. This is the first time that a sitting European Council President has stood as a candidate in an EP election.
Under the current rules, if the successor is not chosen, the Member State holding the rotating presidency of the Council – in this case Hungary – would chair the meetings.
This is a scenario most of the leaders of the other 26 EU Member States would like to avoid, the news portal writes, due to escalating tensions between them and the Hungarian Prime Minister, “for example over the Union’s support for Ukraine and Hungary’s rule-of-law infractions.”
Charles Michel would normally remain in office until the end of November when the new College of Commissioners is formed.
As Magyar Nemzet has noted,
the European Council President is elected by the European Council by qualified majority.
The next president will be elected in June during the next institutional term, together with other appointments to leading positions.
The European Council Rules of Procedure provide that “in the event of an impediment because of illness, in the event of his or her death or if his or her term of office is ended in accordance with Article 15(5) of the Treaty on European Union, the President of the European Council shall be replaced, where necessary until the election of his or her successor, by the member of the European Council representing the Member State holding the six-monthly Presidency of the Council.”
However, in an information package sent to journalists by the Council, it was stressed that these rules can be amended by a simple majority. So, if the fear of Viktor Orbán strikes a chord, the whole procedure could be changed merely because of the circumstances.
Via Politico, Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Sajtóiroda/Fischer Zoltán