European Commission

Renzi the kingmaker?

Published on 27 May 2014 at 11:10

Comforted by the unprecedented score returned by his Democratic Party (more than 40 per cent of the vote) in the European elections, Italian government leader Matteo Renzi “now sees himself as a ‘kingmaker’ in the EU”, writes Corriere della Sera. The day after the vote and in the run-up to a European Council meeting in Brussels slated for this evening — and with just a month left to run before Italy takes over the rotating presidency of the EU — Renzi spoke with British, German and French leaders, David Cameron, Angela Merkel and François Hollande, in what the Italian daily describes as a bid “to end the stalemate in which we find ourselves”.
Top of the list was the question of imminent nominations in Brussels, notes the newspaper —

… in the wake of a EPP victory, outgoing President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz' bid to become next President of the European Commission is no longer on the agenda, however, the official conservative candidate, the very same Jean-Claude Juncker who for years has presided over Eurogroup, is also unlikely to succeed.
Corriere suggests the possibility that Renzi may even be claiming the European Commission presidency for his colleague and former government leader, Gianni Letta.

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