Almost two months after being elected president of the European Commission with the support of the popular, the socialists, the liberals and the greens, Ursula von der Leyen finds herself entangled in a new bobbin lace. This time the composition of the government of her second term. The German has dedicated the last few days to meeting the candidates proposed to her by the EU governments and has also done so with the spokespeople of the groups that gave her “yes” to her nomination to see how the music of the cabinet is doing. assembly. And for the moment, the possibility that Giorgia Meloni’s candidate, the Minister for European Affairs, Raffaelle Fitto, will assume the vice-presidency of the new College of Commissioners and be responsible for the important economic area, worries socialists and liberals.
“We are not satisfied with the possibility of having an ECR vice-president,” sources from the social-democrat group led by the Spanish Iratxe García in the European Parliament tell elDiario.es. Among the socialists are the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, whose Fratelli d’Italia – and Vox in the last term – are part of the far-right cordon sanitaire, but not the European People’s Party.
The liberals of Renew Europe also expressed their outrage and considered that giving a vice-presidency to Meloni’s candidate is “unacceptable”. “It is politically incomprehensible and I have already made it clear to Ursula von der Leyen that it cannot remain like this”, declared the group’s president, the French Valérie Hayer, who refused to place a far-right commissioner among the “heavyweights”. He also recalled that Meloni had not even supported the nomination of von der Leyen – neither at the European Council meeting where he abstained, nor in the European Chamber, where the Fratelli d’Italia claimed to have voted against.
Once elected President of the European Commission, Von der Leyen must configure the Community government according to the candidates proposed to her by the governments of the Member States. Thus, the extreme right has its place within the College of Commissioners because it is a representation of the executives of the 27 and everyone assumes that countries like Hungary or Italy, like Poland before, propose members of the ideological chain of their ultra governments. What socialists and liberals demand from Von der Leyen, who has the capacity to distribute the portfolios and the power of the commissioners, is that she reduces as much as possible her capacity for influence.
EPI winks at Meloni
However, Von der Leyen wants to ensure the most peaceful mandate possible and, as she did last season, is trying to avoid conflicts with the heads of government as much as possible, to whom she ultimately owes her position. And here, Meloni represents the third European power. Furthermore, the European People’s Party has been trying for some time to seduce the Italian Prime Minister, with whom one of its members governs (Forza Italia). And, at European level, the rise of the extreme right means that there is no alternative majority and that the EPP has the ability to tip the balance with agreements with the forces of its left or with the extreme right, even if it initially wants to maintain a stable majority supported by the traditional alliance of the popular, the socialists and the liberals – in which the Greens aspire to integrate this legislature.
Von der Leyen has been busy for weeks dividing the deck between the Member States in terms of the distribution of powers and portfolios, while at the same time she has to integrate the pieces of the puzzle concerning geographical balance and political affiliation into the distribution of power within the Union. the European Commission to announce your proposal next week. The Socialists and Liberals are trying to ensure that the far right is relegated as much as possible in the new organisational chart, although this does not mean that this will translate into a rejection by the European Parliament of the Italian candidate during his hearing and then by a simple majority. is required (more if it is that it is not) for the appointment to take place.
A relevant position for Teresa Ribera
The socialists also aspire to have two vice-presidencies this legislature and their candidates will also have to pass the European Parliament’s scrutiny. Pedro Sánchez, representing the most important country in the hands of the socialists (Germany is not included in the distribution because its representative is Von der Leyen herself) has demanded a vice-presidency with power for Teresa Ribera.
According to the Financial Times, Von der Leyen is considering giving her one of the EU’s most coveted responsibilities: the competition portfolio. Among its functions are the assessment of mergers, the control of antitrust regulations and state aid at a time when the industrialization of Europe is one of the keys. “It is the most powerful position after Von der Leyen,” say sources close to the negotiations. In previous groups and before the appointment of the Spaniard with her future boss, she was at the head of the Social, Digital and Green Transition.
Beyond political balance, the big problem von der Leyen has faced is the lack of parity. After being elected, she asked heads of government to send her two names (one man and one woman) for the configuration of the European Commission. Only Bulgaria met this requirement and only seven countries have nominated women to the post. They are joined by von der Leyen herself and Estonian Kaja Kallas, who will succeed Josep Borrell as head of European diplomacy. “If you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it, it’s not something that happens naturally,” von der Leyen lamented, who nevertheless celebrated that thanks to this request, at least female representation would reach double digits. “If I had not sent this letter, it would not have served as a hook to address the issue of diversity,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
