EEP-ED leadership election rescheduled

The centre-right group in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party-European Democrats, has brought forward the date for choosing a new leader by one week so that the new chairman can go to Berlin to discuss Germany’s priorities for the presidency of the EU.

The EPP-ED group was originally scheduled to vote on a new chairman on 16 January, the same day that the entire Parliament will choose a new president.

But the group has brought the decision forward to 9 January so that the new leader is in place for a visit of group leaders to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel and government ministers on 11-12 January.

French UMP MEP Joseph Daul is still the front-runner to replace Hans-Gert Pöttering as EPP-ED chairman but Austrian ÖVP MEP Othmar Karas is gaining support among German and Austrian members. One EPP-ED source said that if Daul dropped out of the race, a lot of his support could pass to Karas.

But Swedish Moderate MEP Gunnar Hökmark is still in second place though some way behind Daul.

Spanish PP member Jaime Mayor Oreja has not yet announced whether he is standing for the chairmanship of the group.

In a separate development, Monica Frassoni, the candidate of the Greens/European Free Alliance for president of Parliament, has unveiled her programme. "The Parliament should once more become the forum for open and truly European debate on key issues for Europe, for example how to resolve the constitutional impasse and reforms of the EU budget," she said in her campaign manifesto.

n European Voice will be hosting a debate on 15 January with the four candidates for the presidency of Parliament. The event, which will be held in Strasbourg, will be chaired by European Voice editor Dana Spinant.

It will give the candidates an opportunity to set out their campaign priorities, followed by a question-and-answer session involving members of the audience and a panel of senior EU affairs journalists.

The centre-right group in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party-European Democrats, has brought forward the date for choosing a new leader by one week so that the new chairman can go to Berlin to discuss Germany’s priorities for the presidency of the EU.