From Benelux to Bavaria

For the last 21 years, the presidency of the European People's Party, the federation of centre-right parties, has been in the grip of Benelux politicians. Former Belgian prime minister Leo Tindemans was the first EPP president from 1976-85 and was succeeded, briefly, by Piet Bukman from the Dutch Christian Democrats Appeal (CDA). He gave way in 1987 to Luxembourg's Jacques Santer until Wilfried Martens, the current president, took over in 1990. German newspapers have reported that Edmund Stoiber (pictured), who will step down as boss of Bavaria's Christian Social Union in September, is being lined up to take over from Martens. A Stoiber takeover would be a blow to smaller states both east and west of Germany. The Bavarian has been a sceptic on EU enlargement and will probably be less enthusiastic than his predecessor to build links with centre-right parties in south-eastern Europe. If it came to pass, it would mean that the big member states – France and Germany – held the leadership of the EPP as well as the leadership of the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament (where Joseph Daul took over from Hans-Gert Pöttering in December).