Body hopes to pull off a surprise at the Eurogroup against favorite Donohoe
The mission is complicated, but the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, isn't throwing in the towel as a candidate for the Eurogroup presidency. "We are optimistic," say sources at the Ministry of Economy. The Socialist minister will travel to Brussels tomorrow to face a difficult vote, hoping to pull off an upset and defeat the favorite, the current president, Pascal Donohoe. Another Socialist, Lithuanian Rimantas Sadzius, is also in the running, but he has little chance in this race.
The Irishman comes from a political family, the European People's Party (EPP), which is very well-established in the European Council. Currently, seven of the ministers who will take part in this conclave—those from Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Portugal—belong to this parliamentary group in the European Parliament. In addition, there are two other representatives from far-right governments—in Finland and Italy—who, following partisan logic, might prefer a conservative in the post.
Pedro Sánchez has personally been involved in lobbying with calls and messages.The Social Democrats only have four ministers, while the Liberals have three others. So far, only the Slovak government of Robert Fico—under fire from Brussels for blocking new sanctions against Russia—has publicly stated that it will support the Spaniard.
Donohoe's team believes the Irishman has a surplus and expects him to win 14 of the 20 votes in the running, three more than necessary—a majority of 11 countries is required—including Germany. All eurozone countries have equal weight in electing the Eurogroup president, but the opinion of the German powerhouse is always taken into account in Brussels. However, other sources warn that Donohoe is overconfident, counting on these 14 votes.
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The vote is secret and will take place around 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Since there are three candidates, if no country reaches 11 votes in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes of the three must withdraw from the race. If a second round is required, and, as all indications suggest, the Lithuanian candidate is the one who has been ruled out, then Cuerpo could hope to gather his votes against Donohoe.
No effort has been spared in the Spanish bid. Calls and messages have been exchanged with several countries in an attempt to secure this position. Not only from the Corps personally, but also from the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who has made a significant contribution to this bid. Sources close to these discussions rule out the possibility that the recent controversy in NATO over Spain's refusal to allocate 5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense could have an impact on the Corps' bid. At the media level, the Spaniard is also making a name for himself with interviews in foreign media outlets such as Politico and the Italian Corriere della Sera .
Spain wants to streamline the functioning of the institutionThe Economy Minister's main weapon in this race is his electoral promise to breathe new life into an institution that has lost ground in recent years. For this reason, a few weeks ago, Spain, along with Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, presented a joint document calling for a more agile revolution in the Eurogroup, with more focused meetings aimed at achieving concrete progress in eurozone integration. The letter did not advocate for any candidate—and Cuerpo had not yet formally nominated himself—but it could be helpful.
If she doesn't succeed, the battle won't have been a complete waste of time. In the end, she will have established herself as a figure in Europe and could gain influence in the future. The other Spaniards who missed out on the Eurogroup, Nadia Calviño and Luis de Guindos, now hold far-reaching positions such as president of the European Investment Bank and vice president of the European Central Bank.
No Spanish presidentCarlos Cuerpo is not the Spanish prime minister vying for the Eurogroup presidency, which he has not held so far. Former Vice President of the Government and current President of the European Investment Bank, Nadia Calviño, was already a candidate, losing to Donohoe in 2020 when the Irishman succeeded the Portuguese Mário Centeno. Luis De Guindos also tried in 2015. The current Vice President of the European Central Bank was Minister of Economy for the People's Party (PP) and challenged the Dutchman Jeroen Djisselbloem for the position, but Djisselbloem was reappointed for a second term. The first president of the organization was Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker, who held the position from 2005 to 2013.
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