Liberals put Oettinger’s promotion at risk

Deal to elect Parliament president calls for greater role in the Commission for ALDE.

The new liberal-conservative coalition in the European Parliament is pressuring Jean-Claude Juncker to appoint a liberal as vice president of the European Commission — putting a planned promotion for Germany’s Günther Oettinger in doubt.

Oettinger, a conservative, was moved from the digital portfolio to oversee the budget and human resources after Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva, a Commission vice president, resigned in the fall to take a senior job at the World Bank.

But behind-the-scenes maneuvering in the Parliament may affect those plans.

In return for giving their support to Antonio Tajani of the European People’s Party (EPP) as Parliament president, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) struck a power-sharing deal, according to MEPs from both groups.

The agreement includes a commitment by the conservatives to push for “a more central role for ALDE within the Commission,” according to a participant in a closed door ALDE meeting on Monday.

While EPP chief Manfred Weber and ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt have both declined to comment on their confidential deal, a senior EPP official confirmed its existence and content.

Weber spoke vaguely of an “upgrade” for an ALDE commissioner at a meeting with his group, one EPP MEP said, while acknowledging that the Parliament doesn’t have a say in the Commission’s dealings, according to another MEP.

Several liberal commissioners could be in the frame. According to Commission officials, the most likely to be promoted are Cecilia Malmström, who oversees trade, and competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager. Andrus Ansip, another liberal, is already a vice president. Violeta Bulc (transport) and Vĕra Jourová (justice, consumers and gender equality) are the other liberal commissioners.

Promoting Malmström or Vestager would not only accommodate the Parliament’s wishes but also solve a problem for Juncker caused by Georgieva’s departure: a dearth of women vice presidents. Of the six VPs, only one is a woman — foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Malmström has developed a reputation as a defender of free trade and helped push through the huge trade deal with Canada, while Vestager’s rulings on Apple’s tax affairs in Ireland have raised her profile.

Commission vice presidents get paid more than other commissioners and wield more power, leading “project teams” of other commissioners.

If a liberal gets the nod, Oettinger would stay as a rank-and-file commissioner, unless Juncker decides to also give him a title — which would reflect the weight that Juncker wants a budget and HR commissioner to have in budget negotiations with the Parliament and EU countries, according to a senior Commission official.

There’s a bigger threat to Oettinger’s ambitions to move up a floor in the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters: He’s German. One of the oldest rules of EU politics, a veteran EU official said, is that you can’t promote a German if you don’t promote a Frenchman too, especially a few months before French presidential elections.

While the parties involved in the deal claim that Juncker is mulling their request, Juncker’s spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the Commission is “not involved in any deal.”

The election of the president of the European Parliament was “solely an issue for political groups,” he said, indicating that Juncker did not meddle in the Parliament’s affairs and expects the same treatment from MEPs.

“The Treaty gives the Commission president full competence on the internal organization of the Commission,” Schinas said. “President Juncker will decide when the time is ripe” to name a vice president.

There’s a sweetener in the deal for the EPP, according to people from both parties who were briefed on its content. Verhofstadt promised that ALDE would support the EPP’s man for another top job in town by helping secure a majority for the reelection of European Council President Donald Tusk.