EuroVeeps?
Veeply Roundup
While I’ve been waxing philosophical this week, there’s been VP news from Europe of all places.
In a continent full of prime ministers, you would think there wouldn’t be much veepology, but you’d be wrong. In fact, the continent appears to be brimming with vice presidents—and presidents.
Welcome to your Veeply Roundup where take investigate the vice presidents of Europe, starting with my favorite, Italy!
The Roman Veeps
The French and Italians are mad at one another. The Vice President of Italy, Matteo Salvini, called French President Emmanuel Macron a warmonger for his advocacy for sending troops to Ukraine. The French responded by summoning the Italian ambassador for a tongue lashing.1
Naturally, my takeaway was: Italy has vice presidents?
Fieldwork is needed! Someone please fund my research trip (I really, really, love Italy!)
The Italian head of government is generally referred to as the Prime Minister, but their actual title is Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri (President of the Council of State). This is confusing, as there is also a President of Italy, who is the head of state. Should something happen to the head of state president, they are succeeded by the President of the Senate and then by the President of the Chamber of Deputies. I’ve written about countries with lots of VPs. Italy has a surfeit of presidents and potentially a whole bunch of vice presidents.
The Italian vice presidents aren’t really comparable to the U.S. vice presidents. Despite the names, Italy has a parliamentary system. Most reports refer to the President of the Council of State as the Prime Minister and the vice presidents of the Council of State as Deputy Prime Ministers. The vice president of the council of state position is not outlined in the Italian Constitution, and there does not appear to be a limit on the president appointing them or a requirement to do so.
The Italian PM hands out the Deputy PM slots for coalition building purposes and to give key allies a bit more prominence. They don’t have any real authority. Salvini, who is also Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, and the other Deputy PM Antonio Tajani, who is Foreign Minister, are both heads of political parties that are part of the governing coalition.
It does raise the question of whether the study of deputy prime ministers should be added to the burgeoning field of Veepology.
Speaking of Deputy Prime Ministers…
Are Deputy Prime Ministers the same as Vice Presidents?
Meanwhile, in the U.K. the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner just resigned, both as Deputy PM and as housing secretary over accusations of tax evasion.
Prime Minister Starmer is taking this opportunity to mix up his cabinet, including moving Foreign Secretary David Lammy (and JD Vance fishing buddy) to Justice and installing him as Deputy PM.
As in Italy, the Deputy PM role has no formal standing in law—not even the right of succession. It can be used to give seniority to a favored minister, for strengthening the coalition, or to provide additional support for the prime minister. Fun thing, in the U.K. there is also a First Secretary of State, which is essentially the same thing as the Deputy PM. It was established because the Crown objected to the Deputy PM role, believing it infringed on their role in choosing the prime minister. There is no requirement for the Prime Minister to fill either of these roles.
The U.K. has more stable political parties than Italy so the Deputy PM role can be chosen from within the party and serve some quasi-Veep functions—although unlike the VP, they have a ministry to run. The recently resigned Deputy PM Raynor was a charismatic, rising star in Labour. Her background and support within the party was different from Prime Minister Starmer’s but in that sense she could provide useful perspective and balance. In practice, they clashed in office. Lammy is also a rising star, who was generally credited with managing the foreign portfolio well.
After Ursula
The Russians targeted the GPS on a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula Van der Leyen. After relief that she was fine, my immediate question was: Does she have a vice president to succeed her?
The short answer is yes.
The first vice president takes the lead if the president of the EU is unable to fulfill their duties or leaves office before the end of their term. Right now, that is Teresa Ribera of Spain. There are however four other Executive Vice Presidents, all appointed by the president.2 The European Commission is a cabinet, with one commissioner from each of the 27 member states. The executive vice presidents serve as a super-cabinet each over-seeing several of the commissioners.
Looking deeper, it’s too bad Turkey isn’t in the EU given the Byzantine structure of its institutions. The European Parliament is the legislature. It is led by a President. The European Commission, led by Von der Leyen is the executive branch. There is also a European Council of State, consisting of the EU ministers and the European Council which consists of the leaders of the EU members and which really calls the shots.
Research Questions
I submit that the U.S. style vice presidency can be a real asset to any leader. At its best the U.S. vice president is an experienced political leader with some political standing (as an elected official), resources, but no organizational affiliation. Such a figure can be an invaluable advisor, troubleshooter, and junior partner to a national leader.
In a parliamentary system the ministers have political standing greater than U.S. cabinet ministers. The deputy prime minister role elevates cabinet members, usually for political/coalition management reasons. Given the differences between the parliamentary and political systems, could a vice presidency like position work at all and would it be an asset?
The President of the European Commission would be a tough gig, whatever the institutional framework, but the Frankenstein monster or councils that is the EU only makes it harder. It isn’t exactly a parliamentary or presidential system. Could the U.S. style vice president, instead of the current VP/minister positions, be a real force multiplier?
More study and (and fieldwork!) is needed.
Looking Ahead and Looking Back
This week we posted:
A cri de coeur for readers: how this publication on Veepology can make your life better, richer, and more fulfilling
For Throwback Thursday we posted the final installment of our trilogy of posts on humanity and technology, it’s about how emerging technology can help us delve deeper into the great mysteries
Next week will feature:
Our overdue in-depth feature on the South Sudanese vice presidents (they have about a half-dozen)
For Throwback Thursday I’ll share some thoughts on “presentism”
Friday will be the Veeply Roundup—no doubt Vance will have done some newsworthy stuff, plus we’ll check in on the Philippines where VP Sara Duterte has evaded impeachment and is shaking things up!
This was brought to my attention by the always insightful Carl Prine.
The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is also ex officio a vice president, for a total of six.
"It’s too bad Turkey isn’t in the EU given the Byzantine structure of its institutions." This deserves a callout, at least!
Also: a daughter studying French was trying to make sense of the textbook chapter on the EU. When asked, the French speaking parent referred her to me. I explained that it didn't make sense in English, either.