THE HAGUE (Reuters) -The Netherlands' Labour and Green Left parties have proposed EU climate chief Frans Timmermans to lead their joint ticket in a parliamentary election due in November, the Green Left party said on Friday.
In July, Timmermans said he wanted to become the next Dutch prime minister and would be a candidate to lead the ticket of the two parties who are joining forces in a bid to stem a decline in support for left-leaning parties.
"I want to become prime minister because I think we can do politics differently than in recent years, that we can create a more just society, in which the market serves the people and not the other way around", Timmermans said of his candidacy then.
Members of both parties have until Aug. 22 to vote on his candidacy.
The elections follow the collapse of the four-party coalition government of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte over a failure to reach an agreement on restricting immigration.
If the parties confirm Timmermans as their lead candidate, he would need to leave his EU post.
A European Commission spokesperson said that since the party votes are not completed until Aug. 22, there is currently "no impact on his availability as member of the college (of commissioners)", adding that Timmermans will continue his work as Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal.
Timmermans, who speaks English, German, French, Italian, and Russian in addition to his native Dutch, has been recognised as a skilled negotiator during international climate negotiations and his departure from EU politics will cause some concern in Brussels.
An IPSOS poll published late July indicated that a joint Labour and Green Left party could reach 27 seats, only two behind poll-leading conservative VVD party, outgoing PM Rutte's party.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, additional reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout from Amsterdam, Gabriela Baczynska from Brussels; Editing by John Stonestreet and Toby Chopra)
