Bipartisanship has long since died in Europe and the Popular and Socialists, who had been sharing the European “cake” for years, had to open the door of their coalition to the liberals. But this understanding is losing more and more space with the rise of ultra, populist and anti-European forces. Ursula von der Leyen suffered this Wednesday during the vote for her new college of commissioners, coming in first with the smallest margin in a divided European Parliament where the far right occupies a third of the seats.
And the attempt of the European People’s Party, both Von der Leyen and Manfred Weber, to work with variable geometry had detrimental consequences on the final result. The obsession of the two German leaders is to seduce the Italian far right Giorgia Meloni, who abstained in the decision of the leaders of the 27 to nominate Von der Leyen for re-election and the 24 MEPs of Fratelli d’Italia voted against the month of July. Despite the rudeness, the hand remained extended and the president of the European Commission decided to bring the far right to the European leadership with a vice-presidency for Raffaele Fitto. And this despite warnings from socialists and liberals, who categorically rejected this decision.
The tension during the negotiations was maximum, the EPP defended Fitto as one of its own and even used him as a bargaining chip to advance liberal candidates (like high representative Kaja Kallas or French vice-president Stéphane Séjourné) . ) and socialists (Teresa Ribera and Romanian vice-president Roxana Mînzatu). Cooperating in this strategy was the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who maneuvered in Brussels to exhaust the candidate of Pedro Sánchez, thus giving his European colleagues an additional lever of pressure for the socialist group.
Vote leaks
The game gave Von der Leyen the 24th if it is of Fratelli d’Italia, even if the majority of the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group voted against (as happened in 2019, when the Poles voted for because they had a representative in the European Commission but that the others have distanced themselves). And along the way, he obtained the support of 43 socialist MEPs, who voted against (mainly French and Belgians) or abstained (several Germans). The Italians of the Democratic Party, on the other hand, voted for (with the exception of two independents).
And the negotiations for the new community government have left wounds in the coalition that “governs” the EU. This became evident during the parliamentary debate in which the leader of the Social Democrats, Iratxe García, who had to say “yes” to Meloni’s candidate after having ensured for months that her group could not enter into this equation , criticized the conservatives for their flirtation with ultra-forces. “We will not accept double-dealing. Europe cannot be built with those who want to destroy it,” warned socialist spokesperson von der Leyen and Weber.
Previously, the leader of the EPP had assured that the far-right forces, among which he cited the National Group of Marine Le Pen and the Fidesz of Viktor Orbán (both Patriots for Europe, of which Vox is a part) and Alternative for Germany, were its “political enemies”. “I will not allow them to destroy the Europe I love,” he said amid rumors from the chamber. In the four months since the legislature, the EPP has concluded several agreements with the ultra forces.
The Greens/ALE also marked their distance from the tripartite after the inclusion of Fitto. However, about half of the group remains faithful to the “yes” they had already given to Von der Leyen in July. Among those who voted against were the four Spanish representatives (Comunes, BNG, Compromís and ERC). And the left group took the opportunity to attack, in particular the socialists, for having allowed a vice-presidency to the far right. “The socialists are voting today in favor of the far right and will govern Europe together,” criticized Irene Montero (Podemos).
Von der Leyen evaded questions about losing support (four months ago she won the support of 401 MEPs in a secret vote and this Wednesday her government came in first with 370 votes). if it is). “Today is a good day for Europe, because the vote shows the preservation of the center,” the German said at a press conference.
Ribera, for his part, recognized the division of the European Parliament as a “challenge”. “In an extremely fragmented Parliament, we can also rebuild, above all, what unites us,” declared the current Vice-President of Competition and Fair and Clean Transition.
That Ribera is at the center of the right’s target is one of the certainties of the newly inaugurated legislature. The Feijóo PP consummated its rejection by voting against the entire community government, which includes fourteen commissioners from its European family, in addition to Von der Leyen herself. However, during the debate, the Spanish delegation played the game of diversion to try to minimize the damage of this decision.
“We remain firm in saying ‘yes’ to the Commission and no to Teresa Ribera,” said spokesperson Dolors Montserrat. However, they did not say “yes” to the European Commission, which would have been an affirmative vote. Not even with an abstention, as the PSOE voted in 2014 when it opposed the nomination of Miguel Arias Cañete. Popular Slovenes also voted “no” for their rejection of liberal commissioner Marta Kos.
Ribera, in the frame
The vote against is the second episode of the war of attrition that the Spanish conservatives launched against the Spanish candidate and took place just after the endorsement that Von der Leyen gave her, which assured that she would be the “first executive vice-president. .” , although it is a grade not formally stipulated in the organization charts. The socialist will be, de facto, the number two of community government.
The reaction of the European PP was not to applaud these words from the German. Quite a declaration of intentions after having kept the EU in suspense by delaying the evaluation of Ribera so that before being appointed she gives explanations to Congress on the management of DANA. Before the end of this appearance, the group led by Weber already took for granted its support for the Spaniard, although the fight was prolonged due to the efforts of the conservatives to include a note without any type of validity regarding a request for resignation in the event of being pursued by DANA management.
Despite Von der Leyen’s call to work “side by side”, the leadership of the European PP made it clear that it would not grant Ribera a truce. “It will be a burden for the European Commission because of the management of DANA,” Weber said in an interview with El Mundo hours before the European Parliament ratified her as vice president.
The European Commission has not yet started work and the right-wing war against Ribera has only just begun. For now, Sunday December 1, like the other 25 new commissioners, he will assume the portfolio and Monday will be his first day in a position in which he will have important challenges to face, such as that of improving competitiveness through his competition powers. and fight to ensure that the green agenda does not continue to run out of steam in the EU.
