The European People’s Party chose this Tuesday the German Manfred Weber as its new president to face the second half of the European legislature and rearm the political project after sound defeats in Germany Y France and before several key electoral appointments in countries like Spain.
With a 89% of favorable votes, the EPP delegates chose the 49-year-old Bavarian, who was the only candidate, to lead the formation in a period that will include the next European elections and several key national elections for the European popular family to try to recover lost ground in the governments of several member states.
After a legislature with electoral setbacks in enclaves such as Berlin and Paris, the EPP has been left with only eight of the twenty-seven heads of State and Government of the European Union and they have been left in the opposition of the five main European economies: Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
In his first speech to the EPP congress after being elected, Weber thanked his fellow party members for their support and the trust they have placed in “a boy from (the Bavarian town of) Wildenberg” where, he stressed, he grew up “without a special education, without any title or privileges.
“Let’s be honest, we are not in the best moment in our history. How can we win the youth vote? How can we differentiate between right-wing populists and the liberal center? It is a challenge and the fight must start here, today in Rotterdam,” said the newly elected EPP president.
Weber, president of the popular group in the European Parliament since 2014, plans to combine both positions to improve ties between the parliamentary group and the European party and reinforce the political brand ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections and the different national elections in the Member States until then, including Spain.
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Weber replaces the Pole Donald Tusk, who after his presidency of the European Council (2014-2019) and of the European People’s Party (2020-2022) will return to his country’s politics ahead of next year’s elections.
The EPP will also elect its 10 vice presidents tomorrow, including the Spanish Esteban Gonzalez Pons its secretary general and its treasurer.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.