Merkel endorses Timmermans as EU Commission chief

Bloomberg

German Chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed Manfred Weber and Frans Timmermans as the candidates left in the race to lead the European Union’s executive arm.
Without mentioning them by name, Merkel made clear that the center-right German, from her political family, and the center-left Dutchman are the official and only contenders to head the European Commission. That leaves liberal Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s antitrust chief, out of the race.
“Both Spitzenkandidaten, whom I would call the only real Spitzenkandidaten, are in the race and have both made sure that the Spitzenkandidaten process will remain in the future,” Merkel said on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Japan. “We are on a path which will maybe make a solution possible tomorrow.”
At stake at Sunday’s summit of EU leaders is the direction of the region as it carves out its role in an international system in the era of US President Donald Trump. The replacements for Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will need to navigate a world beset by trade tensions at a time when Europe’s economy remains hooked on stimulus.
Up for Grabs
Timmermans, vice president of the outgoing commission and official nominee of the European Socialists, has emerged as the favourite to take over from Juncker, according to an EU official from a Socialist government.
French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out Weber and indicated there had been a breakthrough in Osaka among key players ahead of a summit in Brussels aimed at ending the wrangling over who presides over the EU body that sets trade policy for the entire bloc.
“You’ll have to wait for Sunday, but I can say that things are advancing,” he told reporters when asked about Merkel’s comments on Timmermans.
Die Welt cited sources as saying Weber won’t become president and that Merkel had accepted that decision. Weber will now most likely be compensated with EU parliament presidency. Europe’s Greens would support a solution with Timmermans in charge of the commission and Weber of the parliament, chair Reinhard Buetikofer told Funke.
“I am happy that it looks like it will be possible to find a solution on the basis of the Spitzenkandidaten idea,” Merkel said. “In any case, both Spitzenkandidaten will be part of the solution. That’s very important. There won’t be an inter-institutional conflict, as it looks now.”
A decision over the commission could unlock the impasse over the other key job that needs filling: president of the ECB.
There has never been a German at the helm in Frankfurt and with Weber’s chances fading at the commission it is possible Merkel will want to focus on getting behind Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, a monetary hawk disliked by some southern countries.
Yet, Weidmann unexpectedly shifted his policy view on Draghi’s crisis-fighting programme earlier this month. Economists in a Bloomberg poll consider him the most likely to get the ECB presidency. Vestager’s term in that role ends in 2019, though Denmark wants to renominate her as its EU commissioner for the next five years.