The government is so afraid of suffering this setback that Pedro Sánchez is negotiating with the EPP and with the party itself. Ursula von Der Leyen with an important transfer: the lifting of the veto Raffaele Fitto.
Fitto is candidate for the far-right Italian Commission Giorgia Meloniand was nominated by Von der Leyen as vice-president of cohesion. In other words, the socialists are ready to accept the Italians to save Therese Ribera.
Barely a week ago, Moncloa confidently explained that there was no chance his nomination would be rejected; Now this opinion has changed.
They explain that they did not believe that the PP was capable of going so far after having forged a complicated agreement in Brussels between the three main European political families, namely the Popular, the Social Democrats and the Liberals.
The pulse of the people can cause an unprecedented institutional crisis if the new European Commission. According to the official version, in this case, a very serious situation would arise on the eve of the start of the country’s second presidency. Donald Trumpwhich suggests a confrontation between the United States and the EU.
They further assert that Ursula von der Layen would be very powerless and weakened in the face of Manfred Weberleader of the European People’s Party.
It would also mean, as these sources admit, a serious setback for Sánchez, just at a time of maximum political weakness.
Calculation error
Members of the government speak of a “calculation error” on the part of Moncloa for not having predicted how far the PP would go. Alberto Nuñez Feijóo She had already announced to DANA that she would vote against Ribera, suggesting that they would influence an alleged conflict of interest with her husband, but they understood that she would not go so far as to try to convince the European People’s Party to block the nomination. and bring down the European Commission.
As they explain, this shows that in reality the PP is not questioning Ribera about DANA, because he had already decided to do so before. The consequences of the floods gave Feijóo excuses to go further, according to this analysis.
“This is a disproportionate response from Feijóo, which seeks to conceal responsibility for Carlos Mazonwithout worrying about the consequences,” say government sources.
Furthermore, the leader of the PP saw the opportunity to cause a political defeat for Sánchez in an area that has almost always been unfavorable to him, thanks to the strength of the President of the Government in Brussels.
We remember in Moncloa the doubts of the leader of the PP on energy policy and what he called the “Iberian thymus“and amnesty, and now, they claim, he intends to punish Sánchez by expelling the board of directors of the European Commission.
According to the government’s argument, “the EU cannot afford a myopic view of the delicate geopolitical context in which it finds itself.” “The decision to be made is not ‘yes Ribera or yes Fito’: the strategic decision is to reach a consensus that protects Europe in a particularly dangerous international scenario,” they add.
He explains that “what is relevant is what the EU does in the face of a new Trump administration which threatens tariffs on EU products, a trade war with China, which calls into question the multilateral order, which maintains a provocative attitude, with a The Secretary of State for Energy openly denier and oil, and the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine.
And they accuse the PP of seeking to plunge the EU “into instability with brief overview of cross vetoes“. “To protect Europe, out of responsibility, it is essential to have an operational Commission, which does not depend on the maneuvers of Trump and the far right,” they underline.
