Brexit Negotiator’s Chief Obstacle to EU Job Is Allies He Upset

(Bloomberg) --

Acceptance is growing for European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to be appointed the bloc’s most senior official, even as his natural allies remain unconvinced.

As the race to fill the EU’s top jobs descends ever further into messy horsetrading, Barnier is emerging as a compromise candidate to become president of the European Commission despite not publicly saying that he wants it. His biggest difficulty is that his political brethren accuse him of undermining their formal candidate.

Barnier belongs to the pan-European political group allied to the Christian Democrats of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which won the most votes in May’s EU elections and so is widely acknowledged as having the first claim on the job. But it’s the opposition socialist and liberal groups that are beginning to think the Frenchman could fit the bill if they can’t get their own choices installed, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

The EU’s 28 leaders hold their third summit to discuss how to fill the vacant positions on Sunday in Brussels. As well as the commission job, they need to fill the post of European Central Bank chief and find a successor to European Council President Donald Tusk who chairs their meetings. The process is deadlocked as competing governments make conflicting pitches and the EU tries to make sure power is shared across geography, gender, and political parties.

Merkel on Wednesday said her favored candidate for president of the commission is still the German Manfred Weber but acknowledged the choice “doesn’t depend on me alone” and cited resistance from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Weber is rejected by Macron and a number of other EU leaders and has failed to win the backing of a majority in the European Parliament which would have to approve any appointment. Barnier has been criticized privately by his own side for appearing to be conducting a shadow campaign while Weber was officially the candidate.

The people familiar with the views of the socialists and liberals said that Merkel looked to be the biggest obstacle to a Barnier appointment. The Frenchman could also end up losing out only because he has support among the opposition.

As leaders acknowledge that time is running out and that the credibility of the EU is at stake, EU officials don’t rule out Merkel backing down. Berlin, and governments elsewhere in Europe, recognizes Barnier’s achievements as Brexit chief over the past three years and that counts in his favor, a person familiar with the administration’s thinking said.

World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva and Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, both allied to Merkel’s political family, are also in the frame, officials said, although both would also encounter opposition.

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