EU parliament president may be next German commissioner

Parliament’s president Hans-Gert Pöttering is said to bea possible candidate to become Germany’s next EUcommissioner.

According to some sources, the centre-right MEP may be lined up toreplace the country’s current commissioner, Günter Verheugen, afternext year’s European elections.

Though it is strictly only speculation at this stage, thepossibility of Pöttering joining the 27-member commission waswelcomed by Graham Watson, leader of the ALDE group inparliament.

He said, “I have to stress that I not heard any speculation to thiseffect but Pöttering must be one of the most knowledgeable GermanChristian Democrat politicians on the scene at the moment,certainly when it comes to EU affairs.

“In view of this, I would have thought he would be well qualifiedfor any such post.”

There is also speculation that Pöttering may be a possiblecandidate to become leader of the pan-European European People’sParty, whose current, long-standing president is the former Belgianpremier, Wilfried Martens.

Pöttering has proved a high-profile president since he took overthe prestigious post halfway through parliament’s current mandate.He has not publicly stated what his ambitions are after next year’selections.

The prospects of him becoming a commissioner have been heightened,however, by the fact that there has not been a German ChristenDemocrat commissioner for the past 20 years.

It will fall to Germany’s two biggest parties, the CDU and thesocialist SPD to decide which candidate to nominate. The processhas been slightly complicated because Germany is due to hold ageneral election in October 2009.

Commissioner nominations will probably have to be made by next Julyso any decision will almost certainly have to be made by thecurrent German government.

Meanwhile, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Liberal prime minister ofDenmark, has emerged as the favourite to become the first presidentof the EU, a post linked to former UK premier Tony Blair.

MEP Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, himself a former Danish premier and nowpresident of the Party of European Socialists, is on record assaying he would support a presidency by his namesake.

However, outgoing Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde believes it unlikelythe EU president will come from the ranks of the a Liberalparty.

He said, “Having said that, I think he would make a goodpresident.”

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