Dave Sinardet, political scientist and professor at VUB and in Saint-Louis, was present on the LN24 set this Tuesday evening, in the show “Les Visiteurs du Soir”. He returned to Charles Michel’s decision to run in the European elections on June 9, as head of the MR list. The liberal will therefore leave the presidency of the European Council before its term.
For the political scientist, “in Flanders but not only, we were very critical of this announcement and this decision by Charles Michel”. And Dave Sinardet finds these criticisms justified. “When I hear him say that it is to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the European Union that he is running in the next elections – I remind you that only 4 million French-speaking Belgians will actually be able to vote for him – I have the impression that his choice rather contributes to delegitimizing the European Union. Because I thought that the position he held here was not unimportant…”
The professor continues: “Charles Michel puts his party and personal interests before European interests all the same. Although one could say, ironically, that it is perhaps not a bad thing that he left his job prematurely, given that I know very few European observers who think he did a good job .”
Dave Sinardet, who expected a lot from Charles Michel at the European Council, given his experience as Belgian Prime Minister, says he is “disappointed”. “It still wasn’t a resounding success,” he concludes.
This article is originally published on dhnet.be
