By Martin Banks - 8th July 2009
EPP leader Joseph Daul says his group has agreed a deal with the Socialists to share parliament's presidency for the next five years.
The announcement, which comes ahead of a debate later on Wednesday between the main candidates for the post, appears to have finally killed off the presidential hopes of British deputy and former ALDE leader Graham Watson.
In a statement, French MEP Daul said he had signed a technical agreement on the presidency with the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, formerly PES.
He said, "This agreement foresees that the president for the first half of the legislature will be from the EPP group and for the second half of the legislature will be from the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats."
His declaration took some by surprise, given that German MEP Martin Schulz, the Socialists' assumed candidate, has still not formally said whether or not he wants the post.
Daul also said the EPP has made an agreement with the Socialists on the distribution of key chairmanships of parliamentary committees.
"The economic and social crisis which we are witnessing calls for a responsible attitude on the part of the main European political families," said Daul. "It is in this spirit that the EPP group came to these agreements while remaining true to its values and its political priorities."
Jerzy Buzek, the Polish MEP who was yesterday formally approved by the EPP as its candidate, today told this website that there appeared to be some "confusion" as to whether Watson was still in the race.
Buzek and Watson are due to take part in a head-to-head debate on the presidency in parliament on Wednesday.
Buzek and Watson will be joined in the two-hour debate by a third candidate from the GUE group, Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson, who said, "I want to see a radically different policy compared to the rest of the candidates. I strive for a Europe that truly prioritises human needs rather than the needs of the market."
As the only woman candidate she said her candidacy symbolises a "positive" change in "view of the declining numbers of women" in parliament.
The EPP-Socialist deal will dismay many who had hoped there would be truly open contest for the presidency rather than the traditional technical agreement, or "stitch up" as it has been called, between the two biggest political groups.
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