Charles Michel has “p***ed off” numerous European leaders by announcing his plan to run in June’s European Council elections, an insider has claimed.
And Brussels sources have suggested only close ally French President Emmanuel Macron was kept in the loop as to the President of the European Council’s intentions, with one branding his decision “absolutely scandalous”.
The former Belgian Prime Minister announced on Tuesday that he would be standing in the elections after four years in the key EU job.
He will therefore step down as chairman of the 27 heads of EU governments in July, even though his term is due to run until November.
An EU official with close ties to Mr Michel told Politico all leaders of the bloc’s member-states had been informed of his decision “at the right time to avoid leaks”, some of them directly by him, some indirectly.
However, there appears to be significant anger towards the 48-year-old, with another EU official claiming Mr Michel had only properly discussed the situation with Mr Macron, while merely emailing the others in a move which left them all “p***ed off, and rightly so”.
An EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, likewise suggested many had to be caught on the hop, explaining: “Member states were not consulted in advance about Michel‘s decision.
“Obviously, capitals were not amused that they were informed at the same time as media started to report.”
There is significant concern about what will happen if a replacement cannot be identified before the elections given that Hungary is set take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU later this year. If a new President is not in place by then, Hungarian Prime Minister and Kremlin crony Viktor Orban will chair European Council meetings.
Commenting on Mr Michel’s announcement that he was quitting his job early, Andrew Duff of the European Policy Centre said: “It’s an absolutely scandalous thing to have done.”
Another Brussels source declared: “The bottom line is that the European Council is unlikely to let itself be hijacked by a campaign stunt.
“It’s quite disingenuous and disrespectful to the role of the European Council.”
Even Latvia’s Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins admitted that Mr Michel’s announcement had taken him “a little bit by surprise” and that it created a “difficulty” for the EU.
Austria’s EU minister Karoline Edtstadler this week pointedly observed: “Whether a candidacy for the European Parliament is right in view of this responsibility is something Charles Michel must assess for himself.”
In the European Parliament himself, the very place Mr Michel is hoping to be elected to, there are also suggestions that he should not even wait until June to leave his current post.
German MEP Jens Geier, said Mr Michel was on an “ego trip”, making it “necessary that he steps down from the office”,
And posting on X, formerly Twitter, Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld claimed he was “leaving the ship in the middle of a storm”.
She added: “If that is how little committed you are to the fate of the European Union, then how credible are you as a candidate?”
Announcing his decision at a press conference on Sunday, Mr Michel, who will top the list of the liberal Reformist Movement (MR) party, said: “I’ve decided to stand as a candidate for the European elections in June 2024.
“Four years after starting my term as a European leader, it’s my responsibility to give an account of my work these past years and to propose a project for Europe’s future.”
