European Union

Thousands of protesters attempted Thursday (20 June) to storm the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi, furious that a Russian lawmaker addressed the assembly from the speaker's seat during an international event.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday (21 June) the three so-called Spitzenkandidaten – or lead candidates – for the European Commission presidency had each failed to receive enough support among European Union leaders in Brussels.

EU leaders discussed the new leadership positions in secrecy, but no white smoke emerged from the meeting as no lead candidate secured a majority neither in parliament, nor among leaders.

Parliament groups select their heads, Conservative hopefuls tear each other to shreds, and it’s the council top jobs summit that everyone dreads. This episode is supported by UNESDA.

EU leaders failed to reach an agreement in the early hours of Friday (21 June) on the EU's top jobs, as divisions over the process and the distribution of the posts impeded any progress.

Poland, with the support from the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Estonia, blocked a commitment to climate neutrality by 2050. It is now just a footnote in the summit conclusions.

Four human traffickers responsible for the deaths of 71 migrants in a truck abandoned on an Austrian highway in 2015 were jailed for life, AFP reported on Thursday. Prosecutors argued that the initial 25-year jail terms delivered last June were too lenient. The Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan victims were among the hundreds of thousands of desperate people fleeing war and poverty during the migrant crisis.

The European Council failed to agree on Thursday (20 June) on a landmark climate strategy for 2050 as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Poland baulked at the mention of a specific date, despite the efforts of France and Germany to convince them.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov warned EU hopeful North Macedonia on Thursday (20 June) against what he said was “anti-Bulgarian rhetoric” and appropriation of Bulgaria's history as its own, saying it "must stop".

Michael Gove was knocked out of the Conservative party leadership race on Thursday, in the final round of voting by Tory MPs. That means either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will be the next party leader, replacing Theresa May as prime minister. Johnson got 162 votes, Hunt 77, Gove 75. Gove was the co-leader of the Leave campaign with Johnson. Party members will now vote, with a result next month.

EU leaders have extended economic sanctions on Russia until June 2020, they said Thursday. They are also planning to push for justice in the MH17 disaster and to urge Moscow to stop handing out passports in Russia-occupied Ukraine, draft summit conclusions seen by Reuters said. Leaders will urge Russia to "cooperate fully" with a Dutch investigation into the air disaster, which indicted three Russians, and threatened "non-recognition of Russian passports".

Ska Keller is a German Green MEP and co-president of the Greens and European Free Alliance (EFA). The Greens’ unexpected success in the EU elections, combined with the continued decline of the Socialists and Conservatives, means they might emerge as kingmakers.

Written by Christian Salm,

Paul-Henri Spaak speaking to the hemicycle of the ECSC Common Assembly

Taking a variety of shapes and forms, European transnational party cooperation is a unique international phenomenon. This is true of transnational party cooperation both outside and within the European Parliament. Moreover, transnational party cooperation in the Parliament and elsewhere is key to explaining the success of European integration and the various existing transnational party families at European level are crucial in shaping European politics.

However, when the forerunner of today’s Parliament, the Common Assembly of the Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), was established in 1952, the creation of transnational political groups was not envisaged at all. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1951 by the ECSC’s six founding states and laying the ECSC’s foundation, did not mention the creation of political groups sharing a same ideology and similar persuasion within the new assembly. Nevertheless, as early as at the first ECSC Common Assembly plenary session in September 1952, it appeared that members would group along political instead of national affiliation. Consequently, at its plenary session in June 1953, and only a couple of months after its inauguration, the Assembly unanimously decided to insert the creation of political groups into its rules of procedure.

According to the Assembly’s rules of procedures, all that was required to form a political group was a declaration of formation, including the name of the group, its executive and the signatures of its members. The only restrictions were: first, that groups be politically, not nationally, based; second, that they have at least nine members; and third, that no individual could belong to more than one group. As a result, three political groups were officially authorised in 1953: the Christian Democratic Group, the Socialist Group, and the Group of Liberals. All three political groups are still represented in today’s Parliament, albeit under other names. With their official authorisation in 1953, the first three political groups began to develop organisational structures and the members’ work within the political groups was gradually strengthened in the following years. Furthermore, the political group bureaus extended their administrative structures, internally resembling the structures of political groups in national parliaments. Nevertheless, the political groups’ structures remained relatively small until the 1970s.

Fostering transnational cooperation at European level became a more serious prospect for Parliament’s political groups during the 1970s. The decision taken at the European Community (EC) summit in The Hague in December 1969, in favour of direct European Parliament elections, provided a new impetus to extend and strengthen their organisational structures. In an influential article published in 1978, the British political scientist David Marquand anticipated a much greater role for political parties and parliamentary political groups, in view of the increased politicisation of the EC in the wake of the first direct elections to the European Parliament scheduled for June 1979. Parliament’s political groups reacted to this decision by setting up more working units dedicated to specific policy areas. In addition, the number of members per political group constantly increased over time, due to various rounds of Community enlargement. Likewise, the number of staff employed by the political groups has grown constantly. While consisting of only a handful of staff in the 1950s, all political groups together employed 1 103 temporary staff members in 2018. As political groups grew and political groups’ staff levels increased, the European Parliament’s expenditure for political groups also increased. In 2017, for example, Parliament gave a total of €60 000 000 to fund the administration of the political groups. Finally, the number of political groups itself has risen. Starting with three political groups in 1953, the largest number of political groups ever to be simultaneously represented in the European Parliament was at the beginning of the 1989-1994 parliamentary term, with ten political groups. At the end of the 2014-2019 parliamentary term, there were eight political groups.

The eight political groups in the outgoing 2014-2019 Parliament in order of size were:

• Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) (EPP), with 219 Members of the European Parliament;
• Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D), with 189 Members;
• European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), 70 Members;
• Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), 68 Members;
• Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), 52 Members;
• Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), 51 Members;
• Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group (EFDD), 44 Members; and
• Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), 36 Members.

In contrast to earlier times, to form a political group today, a minimum of 25 Members of the European Parliament, elected in at least one quarter (currently seven) of the EU’s Member States is required. Furthermore, recent changes to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure require all members of a new group to declare in a written statement ‘that they share the same political affinity‘ (Rule 33(5)). The President of Parliament must receive notification of a group’s formation in a statement that must contain: (a) the name of the group; (b) a political declaration; setting out the purpose of the group; and (c) the names of its members and bureau members.

Looking back, the political groups’ history shows that, from the very beginnings of the ECSC Common Assembly to today’s Parliament, Members have prioritised political rather than national affiliations, highlighting the supranational character of the institution. It was therefore only natural that, despite their initial omission, it only took a couple of months after the constituent plenary session of the ECSC Common Assembly in September 1952, for the creation of political groups to be suggested.

For more detailed information on the political groups in the European Parliament and their history read:

• Political groups in the European Parliament since 1979: Key facts and figures
• Rules on political groups in the EP
• The ECSC Common Assembly’s decision to create political groups: Writing a new chapter in transnational parliamentary history

It's quicker to elect the pope than to agree on the new EU leadership, quipped the Irish prime minister at the start of the EU summit - which may end only with another summit soon to pick the top jobs.

The divvying up of the EU’s top jobs is the bun-fest of bun-fests, one of the ultimate collisions of egos and national interests.

EUobserver has appointed Koert Debeuf as its new interim editor-in-chief, starting 1 July. Debeuf is a former spokesman for the Belgian prime minister, an EUobserver blogger from Cairo, and worked in the European Parliament. He was also a contributing editor at the Daily Beast and a columnist in several European and Middle East newspapers.

The Council of the EU should publish not only a list of lobby meetings held by Donald Tusk, the European Council president, but also when his cabinet members meet lobbyists, the European Ombudsman said in a recommendation. NGO Corporate Europe Observatory, which had asked the ombudsman to investigate, said Tusk's successor should be more transparent. It had also complained the public agenda of Tusk was "not user-friendly".

EU Council president Donald Tusk toned down expectations at the start of the EU summit on whether leaders would be able to agree on the next EU leadership, including the commission presidency. "Yesterday I was cautiously optimistic. Today I'm more cautious than optimistic," Tusk tweeted after he held consultations with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel, who are split over who should lead the EU executive.

Federica Mogherini, the head of the EU's foreign policy branch the European External Action Service, said her future replacement will need to be someone who has a background in defence and security. She told reporters the person needs to come "with a strong foreign and security background." She had also mentioned defence.

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar warned on Thursday there was "enormous hostility" in the EU to any further Brexit extension beyond October, adding Ireland has "endless patience". EU leaders gathering in Brussels will take stock of the latest on Brexit developments on Friday. Varadkar also said it was unlikely EU leaders would agree on the new EU leadership on Thursday, and an extra summit will be needed.