Frans Timmermans candidate to lead PvdA-GroenLinks bloc in upcoming election

European Commissioner Frans Timmermans (PvdA) has registered as a candidate to lead the PvdA-GroenLinks combination in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He is returning to national politics after ten years in Brussels and has informed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of his imminent departure, the Volkskrant reports.

The 62-year-old PvdA prominent will announce his candidacy later on Thursday in Maastricht. He can count on support from prominent figures in both parties, especially as Marjloein Moorman (PvdA) and Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) won’t be running, insiders told the newspaper. The party boards will present a joint preferred candidate in mid-August, and it will almost certainly be Timmermans, according to the newspaper.

Timmermans has extensive European and national political experience. Before he left for Brussels in 2014, he was a parliamentarian, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Between 2014 and 2019, he was involved in the Juncker Commission, where he was charged with improving regulation and the rule of law.

Recently, he’s been championing the Green Deal in the European Commission. Under TImmermans’ political leadership, the most extensive package of green laws in the history of the EU has been piloted through the Member States and European Parliament.

Timmermans will likely campaign mainly against Dilan Yesilgöz (VVD) and Caroline van der Plas (BBB) in the election, necessitated by the fall of the Rutte IV government earlier this month. According to the most recent poll by Maurice de Hond, these three parties are set to become the largest in parliament, with 25 seats each. That’s only if independent parliamentarian Pieter Omtzigt doesn’t run, however. If he sets up his own party, Omtzigt is projected to get 29 seats in parliament. The elections are scheduled for November 22.