ZAGREB, February 24, 2018 - Leaders of the 27 member-states of the European Union on Friday broadly agreed on the European Parliament's proposal on the reduction of the number of MEPs in the next composition of the parliament following the exit of Great Britain, however, they are against automaticity in the process of the election of the European Commission President in the lead candidate process (the so-called Spitzenkandidate process).
Croatia's Prime Minsiter Andrej Plenković said after the meeting that agreement in general was reached on the EP composition through downsizing the number of seats from 751 to 705. "Croatia would be allocated one more seat and would have 12 MEPs instead of 11," the prime minister said after the informal meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
One of the topics on the meeting's agenda was the election of the EC President. "On the issue of lead candidates — the so-called Spitzenkandidaten or Spitzenkandidatinnen — there was agreement that the European Council cannot guarantee in advance that it will propose one of the lead candidates for President of the European Commission. There is no automaticity in this process. The Treaty is very clear that it is the autonomous competence of the European Council to nominate the candidate, while taking into account the European elections and having held appropriate consultations," according to a press release issued on the official web site of the European Union and the press release which quoted remarks by the European Council President Donald Tusk.
The idea of transnational lists with candidates from several EU members running in the election together throughout the Union was not given support for the 2019 election. "As regards transnational lists, leaders will come back to this issue in the future," reads the press release.
The participants in the summit meeting discussed the post-2020 multiannual budget with Brexit in mind. The departure of Great Britain from the Union would also mean lower revenues by 12-14 billion euro annually. Furthermore, more funding should be ensured from the budget to tackle migrations, border protection and the defence of the Union.
Plenković expects a combination of savings and higher contributions to EU budget to offset a revenue gap to be caused by Brexit.
