Circus, spectacle, right-wing campaign, desire to transform Brussels into Madrid… Numerous media, journalists, reporters, correspondents and columnists are drawing attention to the unprecedented offensive of Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s PP in Brussels against the nomination by Vice President Teresa Ribera. as vice-president of the European Commission.
Of course, after three hours of attacks and requests for withdrawal, at the end of Teresa Ribera’s appearance in the European Parliament, this Tuesday evening, the head of the PP delegation, Dolors Monserrat, came to congratulate Teresa Ribera. Despite the fact that the Montserrat campaign, Feijóo, supported by the president of the European PP, Manfred Weber, makes the future European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen tremble.
Jeremy Cliffe, editorial director and senior policy researcher of the think tank ECFR and contributor to media outlets including the New Statesman, The Guardian and The Economist, said: “This is ridiculous. A highly coordinated campaign by the Spanish right led to questioning of a competent center-left candidate for the new European Commission, Teresa Ribera, about the failures of the Spanish right (Mazón’s failure to prepare Valencia for the flood despite numerous warnings ).
“A “shit show” or a “troll show”? “By the standards of European commissioner confirmation exams, it was both… or even more,” he wrote. one of the main Brussels media for information on the EU, Politicoparaphrasing comments from some MEPs present at Ribera’s hearing: “Members of the Spanish European People’s Party tried to shift the blame for the disaster onto Ribera, with the aim of diverting attention from the central regional president right, Carlos Mazón, who is under pressure to resign over his botched handling of the crisis. Under Spanish law, regional authorities are responsible for emergency management, but center-right MEPs have allied themselves with members of the far-right group Patriotas. [el de Vox] to try to attribute responsibility for the tragedy to Ribera. His repeated references to this subject have infuriated MEPs from other countries, eager to debate issues relevant to the commissioner-designate’s portfolio.”
Lewis Crofts, editor-in-chief of MLex, one of Europe’s leading media outlets specializing in international energy markets and industrial competitiveness, said: “MEPs are turning this hearing into a circus. Lots of booing, clapping, wailing, banging on tables. Many things divide this house. Giving political details at this stage is a complicated task.”
“Teresa Ribera explains…, the right is limited to attacking.” This is the conclusion reached by Euractiv in its titleanother of those specialized in community information.
The French media specializing in energy Contexte describes the PP offensive as follows: “After the appearance of the vice-president-designate, the new Commission is blocked by tensions in the European Parliament. The violence of the EPI attacks and the demand to subordinate Teresa Ribera’s evaluation to an appearance in Spain marked a breaking point.”
The PointFrench conservative weekly, affirms for its part: “The deputies of the Spanish PP were waiting for this moment to settle scores which have little to do with Europe”.
