Good morning from Brussels, The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) 's victory in the EU elections has increased the chances of its candidate, Ursula von der Leyen, being reelected to the European Commission presidency. On Tuesday, von der Leyen stressed the need for a “broader” pro-EU majority prioritising the political groups with which she worked well in the last mandate, the EU socialists (S&D) and liberals (Renew). “As you know, there is no coalition-building in this sense and no coalition agreements, but rather structured cooperation, which then actually takes place on a looser basis”, she said. While a pro-EU majority in the Parliament seems solid, the EU liberals may prove to be a weak point. Due to the heavy defeat by the far-right in Paris, France’s influence within the liberal Renew Europe group is under threat with the Renaissance delegation down 10 seats and Valérie Hayer’s President stature heavily weakened following her call to kick Dutch allies out. Euractiv’s Max Griera from Brussels and Théo Bourgery-Gonse from Paris have all the details. But before seeking a majority in the EU House, von der Leyen first needs the support of the EU leaders, particularly 15 out of 27, representing 65% of the bloc's population. A new element after the elections is that the governments in Europe’s largest economies are in crisis mode. In France, President Emmanuel Macron called snap parliamentary elections to face the rising far right, while in Germany, social-democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz—who came third behind CDU and far-right AfD—is under pressure to follow the French example. While the German coalition government has not excluded nominating von der Leyen, the final decision will have to be supported by the entire ruling coalition, including the Liberals and the Greens. Jonathan Packroff and Oliver Noyan report from Berlin that German liberals, in particular, set high demands in return for their approval. Another element is the role of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who comes from the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and said on Tuesday that it’s still too early to discuss von der Leyen’s reelection. Although, according to numbers, von der Leyen seemingly does not need her votes, analysts in Rome told Euractiv’s Alessia Peretti that Meloni is still important for the EPP due to the lack of trust in Socialists and the Greens. According to analyst Lorenzo Castellani, von der Leyen risks facing opposition also from factions within the EPP, making it likely that she will seek support from the right, with Meloni as a key interlocutor. What the EPP says? Contacted by Euractiv, an EPP official said the EU centre-right’s victory in the elections was “crystal clear”. “We went up significantly and they lost spectacularly […] there is no room for manoeuvre”. Referring to Meloni’s statement, the official estimated that she seeks a big portfolio for Italy in the next Commission so that her MEPs can vote for von der Leyen. Regarding Macron and the scenario of putting forward another candidate, the official said the French leader is already taking a big risk in confronting the French far-right. “Macron will seek to be constructive, it’s not in his interest and it’s not easy to open in parallel a front with Brussels and cause uncertainty”. Also, Reuters quotes two sources suggesting that Macron will back von der Leyen. “We aim to have von der Leyen nominated on 27 June”, the official added. On Thursday, informal discussions between Paris, Berlin and Rome are expected to start on the sidelines of a G7 summit. See here some key dates that could determine the talks. | 