‘Everyone is just so tired’ of Charles Michel

BRUSSELS — “OK, I understand I have to put the Champagne back in the fridge.” 

That was what one EU official said they thought after European Council President Charles Michel announced he would in fact remain in his job until the end of his term in November. Officials have often pointed out what they described as chaotic handling of leaders’ meetings and of Council affairs, as well as rivalry with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as reasons to look forward to a change.

The Brussels bubble was scandalized by both Michel’s announcement three weeks ago that he intended to run for European Parliament in Belgium and his rescinding of the announcement on Friday evening.

“Everyone is just tired of Michel,” said one Belgian official. “All that’s left for him now is to make sure the meeting starts on time and that everyone has a pen that works,” said one EU diplomat who, like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about one of the EU’s most well-known figures.

The role of the president of the European Council, one of the European Union’s main institutions, is critical to brokering much-needed agreement between the 27 leaders of the bloc. It is an especially critical position ahead of a special meeting of the EU’s heads of government this Thursday where 26 leaders will have to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to unblock a €50 billion aid lifeline to Ukraine as it enters a third year of war with Russia. After his U-turn, European officials and diplomats said, Michel has even less political credibility to make urgent decisions. And some in Brussels are already researching names for his replacement.

“He has committed political harakiri,” said the same EU diplomat quoted above. “There is no shred of credibility left now.” 

Michel staying won’t make much difference, said a second diplomat. “Already [he] does not inspire much confidence as a chair of the European Council,” adding that “we have seen before [Dutch Prime Minister Mark] Rutte chairing from the sidelines.”

POLITICO reached out to Michel’s office for comment on the reaction from officials and diplomats but did not receive a response.

Ukraine cash on the line

The stakes of this week’s summit are high. Signing off on aid to Ukraine is essential both for Kyiv and the EU’s messaging to Russia that Ukraine has the backing of Brussels, especially as Washington struggles to agree on its own money to Ukraine. It was Michel himself who called for a Special European Council when EU leaders failed to agree on sending the money at their meeting in December.

And while his U-turn may have been unpopular, European leaders will now get to focus on the decision to support Ukraine rather than discussing succession plans, as Michel will stay on until the end of November instead of taking up his European Parliament seat in mid-July. 

Those who defend him say there was little pressure anyway. Michel staying “doesn’t make a difference. He wasn’t leaving now anyway,” said a third diplomat. “Running for elections is what they [politicians] do.” 

Still, Michel’s announcement earlier this month fired the firing gun on the European top jobs race. European capitals have now actively been thinking (if they weren’t already) about how to distribute the top jobs at the European Council, Commission, Parliament, and the EU’s diplomatic service after the European election in June. 

Mette Frederiksen, the current socialist prime minister of Denmark, is a name that continues to be floated around Brussels. For some, she is seen as too right-wing on migration, but that could be a political plus if the European Parliament swings more to the right, as is expected. 

But Southern European socialists still hope Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who was the frontrunner to replace Michel, will be untouched by a corruption investigation that forced his government to resign.  

Another name being repeated in Brussels is former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who has been tasked with drawing up a report on the future of the single market for European leaders.

This homework has given Letta, the former leader of Italy’s center-left Democratic Party, an excuse to tour the bloc, diplomats said, although it’s unclear if the former prime minister would receive the backing of Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.  

For now, Michel remains and his defenders point to the increasing scrutiny he will have to face ahead of the EU’s big decision on Ukraine. 

“Europe should have embraced and encouraged his courage to submit himself to the electoral will of the people,” said Nima Hairy, president of the international committee of the youth wing of Michel’s MR party. “Instead, they now have to grapple with the consequences of their bullying to the point of pushing the man to respectfully say: enough is enough.”

But even officials from his own liberal Renew grouping can’t help but be relieved that Michel won’t run for European Parliament. “Very few members considered his arrival in Parliament to be good news,” said the official, pointing to Michel’s recent decision-making.

“When he has three options, he always chooses the worst.”

Jakob Hanke Vela contributed reporting.