Comments on: Peer Steinbrück – The new German EU Commissioner? http://www.kosmopolito.org/peer-steinbruck-the-new-german-eu-commissioner/ The Blog with the European perspective Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:00:18 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: german learn http://www.kosmopolito.org/peer-steinbruck-the-new-german-eu-commissioner/comment-page-1/#comment-7342 german learn Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:49:04 +0000 http://www.kosmopolito.org/?p=1448#comment-7342 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">Peer Steinbrück – The new German EU Commissioner? – Kosmopolito: Just a quick post about the German discussions .. http://bit.ly/Jw12Y</span></span> Peer Steinbrück – The new German EU Commissioner? – Kosmopolito: Just a quick post about the German discussions .. http://bit.ly/Jw12Y

]]> By: Kosmopolit http://www.kosmopolito.org/peer-steinbruck-the-new-german-eu-commissioner/comment-page-1/#comment-4734 Kosmopolit Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:11:13 +0000 http://www.kosmopolito.org/?p=1448#comment-4734 Yes, I am still trying to make sense out of it. It would be quite a remarkable thing as the last CDU/CSU <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_Commissioners_by_nationality#German_Commissioners" rel="nofollow">commissioner was Peter Schmidtbauer in the early 1990s</a>! Especially if there is a CDU/CSU-FDP government after the general elections I doubt whether Merkel can resist the pressure from her own party to nominate a CDU member. On the other hand Merkel could secure herself quite some influence in Brussels if she promotes Steinbrück especially if he gets an important portfolio (which is quite likely). It could also be a strategy in the case of another grand coalition. A good bargaining chip that could secure her SPD support for something else... Yes, I am still trying to make sense out of it. It would be quite a remarkable thing as the last CDU/CSU commissioner was Peter Schmidtbauer in the early 1990s!

Especially if there is a CDU/CSU-FDP government after the general elections I doubt whether Merkel can resist the pressure from her own party to nominate a CDU member.

On the other hand Merkel could secure herself quite some influence in Brussels if she promotes Steinbrück especially if he gets an important portfolio (which is quite likely).

It could also be a strategy in the case of another grand coalition. A good bargaining chip that could secure her SPD support for something else…

]]> By: Brusselsblogger http://www.kosmopolito.org/peer-steinbruck-the-new-german-eu-commissioner/comment-page-1/#comment-4732 Brusselsblogger Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:44:46 +0000 http://www.kosmopolito.org/?p=1448#comment-4732 What a strange world: while in Austria the Socialist-led government will very likely nominate a Conservative member for the European Commission Germany could now do the opposite. In Austria the main reason is that the SPÖ is in a coalition with the Conservative ÖVP. But nominating somebody from the opposition? Anyway, maybe the difference is that Austrian Socialists wouldn't even have a person with the skills necessary to become EU Commissioner. What a strange world: while in Austria the Socialist-led government will very likely nominate a Conservative member for the European Commission Germany could now do the opposite.

In Austria the main reason is that the SPÖ is in a coalition with the Conservative ÖVP. But nominating somebody from the opposition? Anyway, maybe the difference is that Austrian Socialists wouldn’t even have a person with the skills necessary to become EU Commissioner.

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