Poland in the EU

The news from the EP election which makes Poles happiest: the Germans won, the Italians are not the biggest in the EPP.

All the votes have not yet even been counted, but everybody in the European Parliament is already talking about the next state: election the president. The victorious Christian Democrats (EPP) have two candidates: the Pole Jerzy Buzek and the Italian Mario Mauro. Now they have to decide which one it will be.

The Buzek camp seems to be quite happy with the result.

1. The Italians from Silvio Berlusconi's party are not the most numerous among the EPP. Yet to be confirmed tallies put them at around 36 mandates, while the German CDU/CSU will have 42. If the Italians were the largest, it would be hard to deny them what they want. Now the pro-Buzek Germans will feel they can push their idea.

2. The French head of the EPP Joseph Daul has obviously had a success. He is almost guaranteed to stay in his post and thus less likely to cut deals with the Italians.

3. The Polish EPP members did well (somewhere between 28 and 31 mandates). If they get 50 % of the vote, which may happen or not depending on which poll you look at, they will be quite strong too. And no sex scandals in Poland.

4. The argument that something has to be given to the new still stands.

Having said all that, Buzek's nomination is still not in the bag. All will depend on what the French and perhaps the Romanians decide. There is also the very difficult question of what to give the Italians to soothe their sadness. Not many things available, Mauro was already deputy head of Parliament.

So you see, the game is just beginning.

Enough gossip for tonight, sleep well.