The European Social Democrats (PSE) have chosen Luxembourg EU Commissioner Nicolas Schmit as their main candidate for the European elections.
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Schmit, the current EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, was appointed by acclamation at the end of the party conference in Rome on Saturday afternoon. The 70-year-old Luxembourg politician was the only candidate.
“We will not allow Europe to go down the path of austerity and social oppression, as it did during the financial crisis. That is the main argument and the reason why we want to win these elections together in all 27 member states,” said Schmit. in La Nuvola, on the outskirts of Rome, when he took the stage surrounded by young activists.
“I want voters to know that the Social Democrats will continue to fight for all citizens and fulfill their commitments and promises.”
Schmit is running against his boss, Ursula von der Leyen, the main candidate of the European People's Party (EPP).
Both are part of the so-called lead candidate system, under which parties running in European Parliament elections must choose a lead candidate to head the European Commission, the bloc's most powerful and influential institution. Some groups follow the model while others ignore it.
Unequal race: almost no chance of becoming commission chairman
However, the race ahead will be very uneven: Ursula von der Leyen is the undisputed favorite, thanks to the reputation she built during her first term at the Commission
For his part, Schmit has kept a low profile since arriving in Brussels in 2019. At that time, von der Leyen gave him the employment and social rights portfolio. His most notable projects included a €100 billion program for short-time working arrangements during Corona lockdowns and a directive to ensure that minimum wages are set at an “appropriate level”. His proposal to improve conditions for workers on platforms that operate apps such as Uber, Deliveroo and Glovo is currently stuck in negotiations between member states.
Schmit's office is one of the teams overseeing the freezing of EU funds to Hungary due to continued rule of law deficiencies. The commissioner faced the wrath of Parliament after the executive made €10.2 billion in Cohesion Fund funding available to Budapest, despite hostility from Viktor Orbán and calls from civil society. To date, Hungary still does not have access to around €21 billion in cohesion and reconstruction funds.
In his speech to key PSE representatives, including Olaf Scholz of Germany, Pedro Sánchez of Spain, António Costa of Portugal and Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, Schmit attempted to expand his power base. He promised to defend the party's core values and priorities: labor rights, gender equality, climate action and social justice.
Even so, Schmit has little chance of taking over the commission. The Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the PSE group in the European Parliament, are expected to come in second place in the June elections. The latest estimate from Europe Elects, a poll aggregator, shows a significant gap between the S&D (from 154 seats in 2019 to 140 in 2024) and the EPP (from 182 to 180).
Asked about the discrepancy between him and von der Leyen, Schmit said he had “great respect” for the president, but emphasized that “we are both candidates”.
“We’ll see,” he said. “The election campaign will begin and then I invite everyone to judge.”
“The soul of Europe is in danger”
Even more worrying for the Social Democrats, forecasts also predict a sharp rise in far-right and radical right parties, which would decisively move Parliament towards conservative ideas and away from the progressive causes that the Social Democrats champion.
During von der Leyen's first term, the grand coalition of the EPP, S&D and European Renewal Liberals proved useful in presenting ambitious and far-reaching proposals to accelerate the transition to climate neutrality, control the excesses of digital world, reform migration and asylum policy, to ensure continued financial support for Ukraine, to increase domestic production of cutting-edge technology and to reduce dependence on unreliable suppliers such as Russia and China.
But last year the grand coalition faltered when the EPP adopted a more confrontational stance on the Green Deal, one of von der Leyen's flagship initiatives. The EPP considered the numerous legislation adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the EU as an excessive bureaucratic burden on the private sector, hindering investment and endangering international competitiveness.
In response to this ideological shift, the Social Democrats sharpened their rhetoric, warning that the EPP is moving away from the established center and normalizing far-right discourse for purely electoral purposes. Alliances between the main conservative parties and far-right groups in countries such as Italy, Sweden and Finland are proof of this increasingly blurred line, PSE leaders said in Rome.
In his speech, Schmit made it clear that his political family will not work with Identity and Democracy (ID) or the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the two most Eurosceptic groups in the European Parliament. The candidate called on the EPP and the Liberals to “be consistent with themselves” and “be faithful to their own history and European commitment” before entering into new alliances.
“We will fight those who spread hatred and division in our societies, who fuel fear and prepare the return of nationalism,” said Schmit. “The normalization of the far right, as we saw in the Netherlands, is dangerous and irresponsible.”
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made a similar statement, speaking of the “ghosts of the past” attacking European institutions and longing for a time “that never existed”.
“The extreme right is growing across Europe, supported in many places by traditional bourgeois parties that imitate its populist arguments and techniques,” Sánchez said at the congress.
“The soul of Europe is in danger. And once again it is up to us, the Social Democrats, to defeat this threat and ensure that history continues in the right direction.”
Despite the difficult prospects that lie ahead, the Social Democrats have come together to recover their legacy. They argued that the main political responses to recent crises, including the €750 billion rescue fund and the joint procurement of coronavirus vaccines, were inspired by social democracy and therefore justified the validity of their ideology.
“These elections are crucial for the future of Europe. It is up to us to find progressive and fair solutions to the most important challenges that threaten our societies and our people”, said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, referring to smuggling, social dumping and corporate tax evasion and child poverty.
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“Our next step is to show how our social democratic goals of social justice, economic justice (equality), green ambitions and security are compatible.”
Elections for the European Parliament will take place between June 6th and 9th. Around 350 million eligible voters will be called to vote in the 27 Member States.
This article was updated on March 2, 2024 at 5pm with more information from the PES Congress.