Post by account_disabled on Feb 18, 2024 2:11:45 GMT -5
The number two on the PP list for the May 25 elections asked the general secretary, María Dolores de Cospedal, to remain on the PP executive until December, the date on which the appointment of Miguel Arias Cañete as European commissioner is scheduled. Esteban González Pons is promoted in the PP. This is the consequence of the plan agreed between Pons himself and the general secretary, María Dolores de Cospedal , before the European elections on May 25. The pact includes that González Pons will remain until December as Deputy Secretary General of Studies and Programs of the party, one of the three deputy secretaries of the Popular Party along with the one occupied by Carlos Floriano , Organization, and that of Javier Arenas , Territorial Policy. Subsequently, when Miguel Arias Cañete is appointed commissioner, González Pons will become spokesperson for the PP in the European Parliament and will become part of the small matin meetings chaired by Mariano Rajoy in Genoa on important occasions and attended by Jaime Mayor Oreja. According to the sources consulted, it was González Pons who proposed to the president of Castilla-La Mancha to remain within the PP executive until the planned changes occur in the European popular group for the month of December . “They have agreed on it between the two before the European elections and this will be the case, if nothing changes , until December. Overall, it's only a few months and the relationship between the two is good," these sources explain.
That “if nothing changes” refers to the fact that the initial plans of the PP happen because Miguel Arias Cañete , former Minister of Agriculture and number one of the popular ones in the past European elections, is appointed commissioner in Phone Number List December , when the Commission government is renewed. European. From then on, Arias Cañete will no longer be the spokesperson for the PP in the European Parliament, a position that would be occupied by González Pons. In fact, the PP has managed to have Pons, and not Arias Cañete, also named Vice President of the European Popular Group , a position held in the previous legislature by Jaime Mayor Oreja . Executive position The next step is for Pons to leave his position as deputy secretary general. “As parliamentary spokesperson he would already have the right to a position on the party's Executive. The plan then is that since he cannot occupy another position in the Executive as deputy secretary general, he would leave this position,” popular sources explain. And as European spokesperson, Pons would enter the matins that, on important occasions, Rajoy presides over. But everything happens because the initial plans are not broken . The electoral result of May 25 has taken away the strength of the PP to negotiate the distribution of positions in the Commission. In addition, there is some concern in the popular ranks about the words of Arias Cañete in the campaign and the controversy aired by the PSOE about his alleged machismo .
Furthermore, in the PP they also want the Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos , to preside over the Eurogroup, a position that must also be renewed in December. These three aspects could hinder the agreement reached in May by Cospedal and González Pons.The Government already has ' a plan B ' in the face of the possibility that the European Parliament opposes the appointment of Miguel Arias Cañete as commissioner. The name of Íñigo Méndez de Vigo is being promoted in Brussels as an alternative. If this change occurs, the efforts of the Executive will focus on the candidacy of Luis de Guindos to the Eurogroup. As sources from the Spanish delegation in Brussels explain to El Confidencial Digital , the Government has opened a period of consultations, among the groups that will make up the EU Parliament, to express their opinion about the candidacy of Miguel Arias Cañete for European commissioner. As reported in these pages , the Executive and the PP handle data that suggests that the former minister could have serious difficulties in being nominated for that position, after the accusations of machismo spread by the PSOE at the European level. For this reason, and given the doubts generated in Brussels, the ideal questions for parliamentarians also include the presentation of an alternative candidate. Specifically, the Government is moving the name of Íñigo Méndez de Vigo , current Secretary of State for the European Union, in the European Chamber.