EU climate chief to run for Dutch PM in election

Frans Timmermans is in charge of European Commision's Green Deal

Frans Timmermans is to step down after a decade in Brussels. EPA

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans is to run for the Dutch premiership, local media reported on Thursday.

Mr Timmermans, 62, has been 10 years in Brussels and aims to lead a newly formed coalition between his centre-left Labour, or PvdA, and GroenLinks, or Green-Left, parties ahead of parliamentary elections in November.

“I want to became prime minister, because I think together we can do politics differently than how it had been done in the past few years,” Mr Timmermans told the NOS public broadcaster.

“I have told the parties that I would like to be the top candidate on their electoral list.”

Mr Timmermans has informed the EU Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen of his decision, a representative told The National by email.

The representative clarified that this does not mean he will have to leave his position immediately.

“At this stage, the executive vice president's candidacy remains hypothetical, as it is now subject to an internal party process,” the representative said.

“Pending the conclusion of this process, there is no impact on his availability as member of the college and he continues his work as executive vice president for the European Green Deal.”

Mr Timmermans is in charge of the EU's Green Deal – its wide-ranging package of policies on climate change and the environment.

He has played a key role in the build-up to Cop28 and in EU legislation aimed at achieving the continent's carbon neutrality by 2050.

The commission's code of conduct specifies that a member must withdraw from their role for the entire period of active implication in a national political campaign.

Along with EU energy and environment ministers, Mr Timmermans held a meeting last week in Spain with Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and President-designate of Cop28.

“I know that he’s ambitious. I know that he wants to take us forward,” Mr Timmermans said of Dr Al Jaber.

“I know that he’s also going to be very clear on reducing unabated fossil fuels which is an important element of getting us to net zero. I know that he also has clear ideas on adaptation, on finance, on loss and damage.”

Mr Timmermans is a well-known figure in the Netherlands, having served as foreign minister from 2012 to 2014 in the previous cabinet of departing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

He had been tipped as a top candidate to lead the Dutch parties following his campaign for European social democrats in the 2019 election, which was widely regarded as a success.

Mr Timmermans, who speaks English, German, French, Italian and Russian in addition to his native Dutch, is known as a skilled negotiator during international climate negotiations.

How well Mr Timmermans will perform in Dutch politics is an open question, but in a poll published on Thursday, 39 per cent of Dutch voters said they trusted him to lead the next government.

Agencies contributed to this report