EPP leader proposes a single “European president” by merging the positions held by Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa
Manfred Weber, Photo: Sem van der Wal / AFP / Profimedia
The two positions at the top of the European Union – that of the president of the European Commission and that of the president of the European Council – should be merged into one, in order to increase the efficiency of the EU bloc in international affairs, believes the leader of the European People's Party (PPE), the German Manfred Weber, reports dpa, according to Agerpres.
In an interview with Der Spiegel on Wednesday, Weber called for the positions currently held by Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa to merge after the next European Parliament elections in 2029.
The German politician said he appreciated both of them, as well as EP President Roberta Metsola, but that, in his opinion, the EU bloc needed “a strong European face, a European president”.
In this context, he lamented the EU's failure to play a leading role in recent foreign policy crises over Ukraine and Greenland.
Currently, the EU is represented at international summits by a duo – von der Leyen and Costa – and sometimes it is unclear to the partners which of the two is responsible for certain issues, explained Weber.
While von der Leyen is primarily responsible for presenting new legislative initiatives and monitoring compliance with EU treaties, Costa's duties include preparing and chairing EU summits.
Weber also advocated exploring new ways to strengthen cooperation on foreign policy issues.
“We are bound by European treaties to the principle of unanimity in foreign policy. This slows us down,” he said.
The EPP leader, a member of the European Parliament since 2004, proposed the conclusion of a “sovereignty treaty” that would allow states to cooperate more closely in foreign and security policy.
“The principle of unanimity would then not apply in this group. And if peace is to be reached in Ukraine, we should station joint European peacekeeping forces as the core of a European army,” Manfred Weber told Der Spiegel.
