The involvement of Brussels in the negotiations for the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, as well as the reform of the method of electing magistrates, was practically the only thing in which the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in the meeting that both leaders held on the eve of the Christmas holidays about the situation of the governing body of the judges. The head of the opposition raised it and Moncloa immediately signed it. The plan, however, which would imply that the European Commissioner for Justice, the Belgian Didier Reydners, would act as a “mediator”, is watering down.
Surprised by the proposal, the European Commission has asked for time and still has not responded to the singular demand, on its table since December 23. And Reynders, in a decision motivated by internal electoral movements in his country of origin, has begun to pack his bags: the Belgian Government has designated him as a candidate for secretary general of the Council of Europe, an organization outside the European Union based in Strasbourg that watches over human rights on the continent. The usual thing when a European commissioner decides to run for another position or stand for election is for him to take an unpaid leave of absence and this is what will soon happen with Reynders, the European Commission confirmed today, Thursday.
Reynders’ departure will not be immediate: the Belgian liberal should not leave his duties until the Council of Europe makes the list of candidates official, as explained by a community spokesperson after he informed the president of the European Commission by letter, Ursula von Der Leyen, about her intentions. The process could take a few weeks but the withdrawal – temporary or permanent – of the Belgian liberal is inevitable. Reynders already ran as a candidate for secretary general of the Council of Europe in 2019 and campaigned hard to obtain the necessary support among the countries that make up the institution, currently 46. Then the position went to the Croatian Marija Pejcinovic Buric but this time the Belgian, who has seen his ambitions to lead the list of French-speaking liberals in the European elections in June frustrated by Charles Michel, does not want to let him slip away.
The temporary withdrawal from the Commission responds to the need not to mix the functions and resources of European commissioners with their personal or electoral interests, but is applied on a case-by-case basis. Margrethe Vestager was also allowed to continue serving as vice president and head of the Competition portfolio for several weeks until she began to formally campaign for the presidency of the European Investment Bank, a position that went to the Spanish Nadia Calviño . In these cases, the usual thing is for the duties of the commissioner on leave to pass to another colleague. Brussels has not commented on the matter but a candidate could be Vice President V?ra Jourová, head of Values ??and Transparency.
The Czech, also a member of the liberal family, is involved like Reynders in the analysis of the rule of law in the EU but Feijóo preferred to propose the Belgian as a mediator, closer to the PP and Ciudadanos than Jourová. The European Commission has in any case shown little enthusiasm for the prospect of mediating between the Spanish Government and the opposition on the thorny dossier of the renewal of the CGPJ, a matter that, as its spokesperson, Eric Mamer, recalled on Monday, whose solution corresponds first of all from the Spanish institutions. “Give us some time. We want to make sure that the way we respond helps move the process forward, is useful and therefore contributes to resolving the issue,” Mamer said. “Let us not forget that this is the responsibility of the Spanish authorities, not the European Commission,” he stressed.
