On Public Sénat: “The European rubik’s cube is very complicated because the game is more open than before”

Intervention in the TV programme “Sénat 360”, on July 1, 2019 on Public Sénat.

With :
Jean LAUNAY: President of the National Water Committee,
Patrick MARTIN-GENIER: Teacher at Sciences po and at Inalco,
André GATTOLIN: Senator (LREM) of the Hauts-de-Seine,
Yves BERTONCINI: President of the European Movement – France,
Jérôme BIGNON: Senator (Les indépendants) of the Somme,
Paul MICHELET: Deputy Director General of the French Biodiversity Agency,
Tristan MATHIEU: General Delegate of the Professional Federation of Water Companies,
Eddie JACQUEMART: President of the National Housing Confederation.
Presented by Delphine GIRARD.

For Yves Bertoncini, the appointment of the successor to the President of the European Commission is “a very complicated European rubik’s cube because the game is much more open than before since now in the European Parliament it takes 3 or 4 political families to form a majority”. A complex situation that has been further disrupted by some heads of state, according to Yves Bertoncini: “Emmanuel Macron has a responsibility because he challenged the rule of the game, the rule of the Spitzenkandidat”.

However, it is a simple rule, for Yves Bertoncini, which explains the principle of the Spitzenkandidat: “the candidate who comes first takes his chance”. With the EPP winning a majority in the European Parliament, candidate Manfred Weber (EPP) claimed the presidency of the European Commission. But the President of the European Movement – France points out that Manfred Weber had very little chance of succeeding: “he was positioned very to the right of the coalition to be formed, but we went a little hard to bring him down, which made the EPP and the Germans nervous”.