Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its leader, Friedrich Merz, are poised to support a second term for Manfred Weber as the head of the European People’s Party, giving the incumbent the best chance of being reelected during a party congress in Spain in April.
The decision is due to be confirmed by the CDU on Sunday, according to two people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The CDU would thus back the 52-year-old politician, a prominent figure in its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Weber has led the EPP since 2022.
The new EPP leader is to be elected at a congress in Valencia at the end of April. The fact that the CDU, the largest member party of the EPP, is backing the incumbent leader would be seen as an important signal. Weber’s conservative CSU has already nominated him.
But Weber will need to rally the support of other big EPP delegations such as the Spaniards, Poles and Greeks. The Spaniards feel especially sore after Weber sidelined them by voting in favor of Spain’s Socialist Commissioner Teresa Ribera during the European Commissioner hearings at the end of last year.
The endorsement of Weber apparently has been prepared in the smallest of circles. The agenda for the CDU meeting on Sunday did not indicate what it was to be about. It merely referred to preparations for the EPP congress in Valencia.
The endorsement would follow a grand show of force in Berlin organized by Weber in mid-January, when he brought together major EPP figures from across the EU to support Merz’s bid for the German chancellery. The CDU regarded the meeting as a great success in retrospect.
Merz, the favorite to become Germany’s next chancellor after the Feb. 23 snap election, expressly praised the cooperation with Weber. Together, they have agreed on a plan to reduce bureaucracy in Europe.
From the CDU’s point of view, there is no alternative to a second term for Weber, even if there is some criticism of his dual role as party chairman and European Parliament group president — including the fact that the chairman is paid a handsome salary.
Most recently, the party’s secretary-general openly challenged Weber and accused him of centralizing power. Meanwhile, Weber has transferred key allies from the EPP group in the European Parliament to leadership positions in the party headquarters.
“Weber has a firm grip on the parliamentary group,” a CDU MEP said. There is no one, so far, among the former heads of state and government of the party family who has said they would try to challenge him for the EPP chairmanship. The office is not considered suitable for active heads of government.
Merz has repeatedly made it clear in recent weeks that, compared to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he wants to play a much more active role in Brussels if he becomes the next German leader. For that purpose, he needs support from Weber, who would keep chairing the party holding the biggest representation in the European Parliament and Council, the EU’s co-legislators.
Merz will have to go up against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) at one point or another in order to come closer to his goals — for example when it comes to reducing bureaucracy.
“I will not accept that this machine continues to run as it does now,” Merz told attendees at an election campaign event in Erfurt on Friday evening. “This whole machine has got into a rhythm, it feeds on itself.”
Europe’s industry must become competitive again, he said. “We must not make ourselves smaller than we are.”
The CDU leader wants the future German government to take a clear stance in Brussels. The “German vote” should be a thing of the past, according to him. “A country like Germany, by far the most populous and economically strongest country in the European Union, must not abstain in Brussels,” Merz said.
German conservatives to back Weber for second term as EPP leader
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