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On 15 April the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) launched their campaign for the coming EP elections. JEF activists were there to ask them the same question as they had asked the Socialists in Madrid and the Greens in Brussels: Who is your candidate for the President of the European Commission?
The aim of these actions was to raise awareness on the idea that the European Parties should nominate their candidate and the need to make the European Commission more democratic. For JEF this idea is not new, but for many it is.
As expected the launch did not present any candidate for the position of the Commission President, instead the leader of the Liberal Democrat political group, Graham Willson, was introduced as candidate for the position of the President of the European Parliament – a position that clearly does not represent powers even close to the executive powers of the Commission.
In his speech Mr Willson mentioned the failure of the Socialist Group to nominate a contra-candidate to conservative Barroso and put it sarcastically by saying “the Conservatives and Socialists never miss an opportunity to miss and opportunity, but in fact, at least in this case, the same is true for the Liberals as well. Aloys Rigaut, LYMEC President mentioned his disappointment with the Liberals not nominating a Commission President, which the European Liberal Youth had demanded.