Italy’s populist leader Mattero Salvini (Image: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Next May’s EU parliamentary election is already being billed as a battle between pro-EU reformists and eurosceptic populists – the final vote could forever reshape European politics.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League party, may consider running for the presidency of the European Commission at the next elections, the Italian daily La Repubblica reported on Thursday.
He said: “It’s true, friends from several European countries are asking me to run.
“May is still far away. We shall see, I’ll think about it.”
Mr Salvini’s possible bid to run for the bloc’s top job is likely to spark a lot of controversy.
Mr Salvini, who is widely regarded as the everyman leader of Italy’s populist revolt, regularly launches verbal attacks on EU officials in Brussels, who he blames for Italy’s many woes, including its financial and migration problems.
Earlier this month, Mr Salvini accused Mr Juncker of annihilating Europe, telling reporters in Rome: “People like Juncker and [European Economics Commissioner Pierre] Moscovici have ruined Europe and our country.”
Current president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (Image: ARIS OIKONOMOU/AFP/Getty Images)
Mr Salvini has also formed alliances with far-right political groups in other EU countries and is working with US President Donald Trump’s former political strategist Steve Bannon to combat the Brussels bloc and build a network of eurosceptic parties.
He said: “I will be happy to rebuild a new Europe with the popular vote of May, I work only for the good and the future of the Italian people.”
And decisions to to block migrant rescue boats from docking at Italian ports caused fury among the EU, with an emergency summit and new policies having to take forged.
European Parliament in Strasbourg (Image: PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images)
The current head of the EU’s powerful executive arm, Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker, is to step down next year.
Mr Juncker’s successor must be agreed by leaders of the EU member states following next May’s European Parliament elections, which are due to be held between May 23 and May 26.
Their nominee must then be confirmed by EU lawmakers before taking up the reins of power in November 2019.
But Mr Juncker’s successor will likely be influenced by next year’s crunch parliamentary vote.
The two biggest groups in parliament usually decide between them who gets the commission job.
But they risk not securing a combined majority this time, meaning at least one other group may have to be involved in the decision-making process.
The candidate for commission chief, for his part, needs the support of a majority of members in the parliament, where no party has more than 30 per cent of the seats. This puts extra emphasis on coalition building.
Eurosceptic populists: Salvini and France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen (Image: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)
The European elections are already shaping up to be a major tug-of-war between centrist, pro-Europe reformists and far-right populists such as Mr Salvini, who think the bloc would benefit from a political overhaul after nearly a decade of financial and immigration crises.
Moreover, eurosceptic parties could expand their power in the European parliament by over 60 per cent next May, according to a Reuters survey of national opinion polls.
The survey, which was published in July, indicates a clear spike in voter support for movements outside the traditional mainstream.