The European Commission vice president and former Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans will lead the Party of European Socialists (PES) in the 2019 European elections. He was the only candidate on the ballot.
Image: Reuters/F.Lenoir
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European socialist parties have approved Frans Timmermans of the Netherlands to lead them in May elections and to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as head of the European Commission. Juncker is due to step down in mid-2019.
Timmermans, who currently serves as Juncker's deputy, won the election at the 11th congress for Europe's alliance of socialist parties in Lisbon on Saturday after his only rival, Slovakia's Maros Sefcoviv, dropped her candidacy in November.
"I am aware of the burden on my shoulders," Timmermans said in a speech to delegates in Lisbon. "But how can I fail with a family like this behind me."
Socialist parties have suffered major electoral defeats across the continent in recent years amid a surge in support for anti-establishment and nationalist parties.
Timmermans against Weber
Timmermans will lead the PES, the second largest grouping in the European Parliament, against the assembly's largest grouping, the conservative European People's Party (EPP).
Candidates for European Commission president
Germany's Manfred Weber, the conservative candidate, is considered the front-runner in the race to lead the European Commission. DW takes a closer look at him, and his main rivals.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Seco
Manfred Weber (EPP)
The center-right European People's Party (EPP) — the largest faction in the European Parliament — has picked Manfred Weber, its German parliamentary party leader. He has the backing of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Though considered the front-runner, Weber is little known on the international stage, and his language skills are considered poor.
Image: Reuters/V. Kessler
Frans Timmermans (S&D)
Frans Timmermans, the European Commission's first vice president, will lead the campaign for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D). Weber's main rival promises to bring the bloc closer to ordinary voters at a time when Britain's looming exit is one factor behind the nationalist movements across the EU.
Image: Reuters/F.Lenoir
Margrethe Vestager (ALDE)
Margrethe Vestager, 51, is one of seven lead candidates for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats. As the current EU commissioner for competition, the Danish MEP has taken on corporations like Apple, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet. It's also been said that she served as the inspiration for the main character in <i>Borgen</i>, a Danish series where a woman becomes Denmark's first female leader.
Image: Reuters/Y. Herman
Jan Zahradil (ECR)
The third-largest group in the EU Parliament, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), has just one candidate: Jan Zahradil, chairman of the Czech ECR delegation. Zahradil, 65, is affectionately known as "Forrest Gump" for cycling from Prague to Strasbourg for a session of the European Parliament and for once running 1,300 kilometers (about 800 miles) across the Czech Republic for charity.
Image: imago/Belga
Ska Keller (Greens/EFA)
The Greens/EFA is the seventh largest group in European Parliament, so the German is a long shot to become European Commission president. The Greens have proposed a job share, with two candidates serving for two-and-a-half years each. The most favorite to join Keller is Dutch lawmaker Bas Eickhout.
Image: European Green Party
Violeta Tomic and Nico Cue (GUE/NGL)
The EU's left-wing groups will be headed by Spanish trade unionist Nico Cue and Violeta Tomic (at left). Tomic is a deputy in Slovenia's National Assembly, best known as a TV presenter and actress. She entered into politics in 2014 and has been an advocate for LGBT rights and stronger citizens' rights in Europe. Cue grew up in Belgium after his family was forced to flee Franco's Soain.
"It's about the choice between Manfred Weber from Bavaria and Frans Timmermans from Europe," said Achim Post, a German Social Democrat and PES secretary general. "Frans, we are relying on you and you can rely on us."
Polls show the EPP winning 183 seats and the PES winning 140 in the 751-seat assembly.
Spitzenkandidaten
Groupings in the European Parliament first elected lead candidates — also known by the German translation "Spitzenkandidaten" — in the 2014 European elections.
