Brussels goes from surprise to surprise with Charles Michel. If the announcement made on January 6 by the President of the European Council that he would leave his position early to take up a seat in the European Parliament was unexpected since he was going to be the head of his party’s list, it was even more so 180 degree turn announced today late Friday. Disappointed and hurt by the reactions received, Michel has decided to withdraw his candidacy from the European elections and see out his term as President of the European Council.
“My decision gave rise to intense media attention and numerous speculations. I had anticipated some of this given the unprecedented nature – bold, some would say – of my decision,” but not the “extreme reactions” that have occurred due to the consequences of his decision, explains Michel in a post published on his Facebook account, alluding to the need for European leaders to find a replacement ahead of time or assume that, between July and December, he would have to be temporarily replaced by the country’s leader. who holds the rotating presidency of the Council and who at that time will be in Hungarian Viktor Orbán, a prospect that causes shivers in Brussels.
He maintains that there was plenty of time to have “a calm discussion” about his replacement, but the truth is that the announcement went down very badly in Brussels and the rest of the European capitals. Many interpreted it as a lack of commitment and a demonstration that Michel was more concerned about his professional future than about his immediate responsibilities, whose ability to carry out many diplomats question in the face of the chaotic drift of some summits. The reactions were especially harsh in the European Parliament. Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, accused him of creating “instability”, while the Dutch liberal Sophie in ‘t Veld called him a “captain who abandons ship in the middle of the storm.” “If he is this little committed to the destiny of the European Union, what credibility does he have as a candidate?” asked his Benelux co-religionist.
“I accept all political criticism and political arguments,” but “personal attacks come before factual arguments,” laments the former Belgian prime minister today, who admits that the reactions received (“painful,” he specifies in the online version) French announcement) have made him “reflect” on the meaning and impact of his political commitment for himself and those closest to him. “I do not want my decision to distract us from our mission, nor to harm the institution or the European project, nor to be used to divide the European Council,” he explains, which is why he has decided not to be a candidate for the European elections.
“I will dedicate all my efforts to my current responsibilities with firm determination until the last day. I will always be a fervent defender of a democratic Europe, strong, united and master of its own destiny,” concludes Michel, 48, in the open letter published on social networks, spread after notifying his decision by letter to the leaders of the Twenty-seven. “I was surprised for half a second,” diplomatic sources commented after receiving the letter.
Michel’s unexpected announcement comes less than a week after an extraordinary European summit that was convened in December following Hungary’s veto of the reform of the community budget that would allow 50 billion euros to be dedicated, in the form of aid and loans, to Ukraine. Negotiations have been constant since the return from the Christmas holidays but Budapest has not moved significantly from its position and, although Michel’s team has a ‘plan b’ to activate in case of failure, the atmosphere is impatient and open. discomfort with the situation.
While at the European level the decision will bring relief, at the Belgian political level the announcement reactivates the internal battle within the MR (Mouvement Réformateur, the Belgian Francophone liberal party) to lead the list for the European elections. Another of the candidates for the position was his eternal rival Didier Reynders, current European Commissioner for Justice, who shortly after it was known that he was not the one chosen for the European elections, he was designated a candidate for the position of secretary general of the Council of Europe, an institution outside the EU. Michel, for his part, leaves his political future up in the air: “At the end of my mandate [on November 30], I will reflect on the nature and direction of my future commitments,” concludes the former Prime Minister of Belgium from 2014. and in 2019, son of the former Foreign Minister and former European Commissioner for Cooperation Louis Michel.
