The Party of European Socialists (PES) held their election congress in Rome over the past weekend.
Over the weekend, Nicolas Schmit was officially elected as the European Socialists' lead candidate, or spitzenkandidat, leading them into European elections this June.
The PES congress was attended by top-ranking European Socialists, including Germany's Olaf Scholz, Spain's Pedro Sánchez, and Portugal's António Costa. All were gathered in the Italian capital to agree on a manifesto for the elections and to officially elect the man of the hour, Nicolas Schmit.
For June, Schmit sees a favourable outcome for European Socialists. He will now be able to defend the PES manifesto by starting his campaign tour around the EU's Member States.
As a spitzenkandidat, Schmit will now be joining the race with his current boss, the current EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen is expected to be confirmed as the European People Party's (EPP) official candidate next week at the EPP's election congress taking place in Bucharest.
During the past two European elections, the centre-right EPP received the most votes. What will become of Nicolas Schmit's political future should the EPP secure the top spot once again? The question remains yet to be answered.
In his time in Brussels as the Luxembourgish EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit launched a €100-billion programme for short-time work schemes during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and introduced an EU directive to ensure fair minimum wages and strengthen collective bargaining.
