by
Martin Banks
Verhofstadt, a former Belgian PM, was selected after a possible rival, EU commissioner Olli Rehn, opted for other "senior" EU posts.
Verhofstadt is currently Liberal group leader in the European Parliament.
He now hopes to replace Barroso, the Portuguese Christian democrat, once his mandate as European Commission president expires later this year.
So intense was the battle between Verhofstadt and Rehn for the Liberal candidature that the German liberal leader Christian Lindner and the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte were appointed as arbitrators.
A vote would have been held at the beginning of February if no agreement was reached.
This, however, will not now be necessary as the two leading liberals have now reached an agreement.
Rehn and Verhofstadt with both play "an equal role" in the campagn, said a Liberal source.
The agreement was hailed by some liberal MEPs, such as Andrew Duff, a British MEP, as a “a great victory for Guy and for his campaign skills, which he brings to the fore. It is a victory of his ideas and the programme he proposes, too".
“There is a critical decision to make on a Europe along the federalist track. The outcome of this process, as well as the manifesto that we, ALDE, decided on, clearly shows that the majority of ALDE is prepared to stick to the idea of a reinforced Europe,” Duff continued.
Verhofstadt is one of the EU’s most avid euro-federalists. In 2005, he published a book on closer EU integration, ‘The United States of Europe’, and he is one of the driving forces behind the Spinelli Group of federalist MEPs, launched in 2010.
Last month, Verhofstadt faced criticism from members of the Dutch liberal party, including the former Dutch EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein who accused him of “barking at the moon”.
Bolkestein added that “Europhiles pose a greater danger to Europe than eurosceptics”.
Verhofstadt said he was delighted that through the work of Rutte and Lindner, they had found a compromise formula that "would enable liberals to work together and allow the two former opponents to contribute respectively to the campaign and deliver a strong showing from the Liberals and Democrats in the new Parliament."
“Pro-Europeans are under attack in a number of member states so it is all the more important that those who still believe in the European Union stand together to combat the reactionary forces of nationalism and populism that is spreading doubt and fear in the minds of Europe’s citizens,” Verhofstadt said.
Meanwhile, Jean-Claude Juncker - who chaired eurozone meetings for some 10 years and who, until last year, was the EU's longest-serving PM - has again said he is keen to be the next Commission chief.
As the potential candidate of the European centre-right, the 59-year-old Luxembourg politician said he relishes the idea of a "lively" debate with Martin Schulz, the official centre-left candidiate and current European Parliament head.
By: N. Peter Kramer
