The European Parliament has given the final green light to Ursula von der Leyen’s new European Commission, even if the margin is narrow: 370 votes for, 282 against and 36 abstentions. Approval required a simple majority, i.e. more if it is that it’s not. The new cabinet is characterized by a shift to the right compared to the previous one, the result of the proliferation of conservative governments on the continent and the decision of the European People’s Party – ultimately supported by the socialists and liberals – to entrust the vice-presidency in government. far right with the nomination of the candidate of Giorgia Meloni. This was the bargaining chip to guarantee the position to Teresa Ribera, who will be the key piece of the socialists in the community government as vice-president of Competition and Fair and Clean Transition. The PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo voted against the new European Commission.
The new European Commission moved forward with the support of the EPP, socialists and liberals, although the margin was the narrowest in history and Von der Leyen fell 30 votes short of his re-election in July. The conservatives and socialists experienced some defections, largely due to conflicts between some delegations motivated by national politics. Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s PP, however, played the game until the last moment. “We remain firm in saying ‘yes’ to the Commission and no to Teresa Ribera, out of principle, out of loyalty and out of justice,” Dolors Montserrat said during the debate. The Spanish conservatives launched a war of attrition against the Spanish Socialist Party and managed to delay the appointment of the new commissioners by a week, but without overthrowing it, which was the only (and unattainable) objective.
After the vote, Ribera criticized Feijóo’s PP, which he accused of “isolation”: “They find themselves alone with the far-right groups in the European Parliament.” He also regretted not having respected the people of the entire EU, of Spain and Valencia, for the campaign launched against his candidacy under the premise of the leadership of DANA, which corresponded to the Generalitat of Carlos Mazón, and she assured that she had received expressions of “affection” from her future colleagues in the College of Commissioners and groups for the campaign orchestrated against her.
Leaks among the Socialists, division among the Greens and “yes” from Meloni
However, leaks also took place within the social democratic ranks due to the division caused by the final acceptance of Raffaele Fitto as vice president. 25 socialist MEPs (mainly French, Belgian and German) voted against and 18 abstained. The Liberals were those who respected electoral discipline the most, even if six abstained.
The Greens/EFA, which overwhelmingly supported von der Leyen in his re-election in July, virtually split in two in the community government vote, mainly to incorporate the far right into the vice-presidency. MEPs Jaume Asens (common), Ana Miranda (BNG), Vicent Marzà (Compromís) and Diana Riba (ERC) voted against. The left group (which includes Sumar and Podemos) also opposed it.
The Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group has been divided since the Fratelli d’Italia supported the community government of which Fitto is part as vice-president while the rest of the delegations opposed it. The two other far-right forces (Patriotas por Europa, of which Vox is a part, and Soberanistas por Europa) voted against.
Despite his flirtation with the ultra forces, to which he lifted the sanitary cordon during several negotiations, the leader of the EPP, Manfred Weber, assured that forces like Alternative for Germany or Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz were “political enemies » of his party. . “I will not allow them to destroy the Europe that I love,” he declared, amid rumors from the House, after having reached agreements with these parties.
“The European forces that have built the EU since its founding have reached an agreement and the agreements are respected. We will not accept a double game. We cannot build Europe with those who want to destroy it,” warned the leader of the Social Democrats, Iratxe García, to Weber and Von der Leyen, who also took the opportunity to address a veiled criticism to the PP for having tried to blow up the negotiations: “There are some “who have undermined the prestige of the institution and exposed the EU to a crisis of governance”.
“No” to the normalization of the far right
“We cannot support what is clearly a normalization of the far right. We know that some members of your Commission are uncomfortable with this decision. We tell them that we will put up a constructive opposition,” declared Republican MEP Riba (The Greens/ALE). “The European Commission is a potentially fatal wound for the European project,” warned Irene Montero (Podemos): “It transforms the far right of Meloni and Orbán into stable partners, not only of the right, but also of the social- democracy. “Socialists are voting today for the far right and will govern Europe together.” Estrella Galán (Sumar) expressed herself in the same sense, assuring that it is a Commission that “embraces the extreme right and grants it a vice-presidency”. “Do they owe them a lot?”, he asked: “We are not going to be complicit in a Commission which whitewashes the heirs of fascism”.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, outlined the priorities of her new government and detailed them with the presentation of each of its members. The new European Commission’s top priority will be to strengthen competitiveness in an increasingly complex world in which the EU is falling behind the United States and China. This is why the first major initiative that it will promote will be a “Competitiveness Compass” which will be based on the axes of the report prepared by the former president of the ECB Mario Draghi, which estimated the investment needs for the continent is emerging from the crisis at 800 billion euros per year, its “slow agony”.
The objectives of this strategy will be to “close the innovation gap with the United States and China”. Although he opted for public investments from Brussels, he defended the need to promote private investment, which lags far behind on the continent (1.3% of GDP) compared to its competitors (1.9% in the case of China and 2.4% in the case of the continent). UNITED STATES).
“The second is a common plan for decarbonization and competitiveness,” listed Von der Leyen, who assigned tasks to his team so that during the first 100 days of his mandate they have a clean industrial agreement. And the weight will fall on the Spanish socialist, as Von der Leyen explains: “We will have Teresa Ribera, our first executive vice-president for competitive, fair and clean transition. She is ready to ensure we have a modern competition policy to support our ambitions. “She is a loyal and dedicated European.” These words were followed by one of the longest applause of the intervention, but it ended with the liberals: neither the European People’s Party nor the far-right forces applauded.
The German’s speech was noticeably different from that of five years ago, mainly due to the complex geopolitical situation. “War, conflict and human suffering do not stop in our neighboring countries, from Ukraine to the Middle East and parts of Africa,” said Von der Leyen, who did not cite this occasion as the conflict in the Middle East while focusing a large part of his speech. his talk on security was mainly due to the war in Ukraine, a country he reaffirmed would eventually be part of the EU.
And this is the third pillar of the compass: “increasing security and reducing dependencies”. “Russia spends up to 9% of its GDP on defense. Europe spends on average 1.9%. Something is wrong with this equation. Our Defense Spending Must Increase,” which calls for the creation of a “single defense market.” During his first 100 days in office, he also committed to presenting a White Paper on the future of European defense.
