The first week of auditions had, however, been relatively quiet. Nineteen of the candidates, including the Belgian Hadja Lahbib, received the green light from the competent parliamentary committees. Hungarian Varhelyi is the only one stuck in front of an orange light, his assessment having been postponed. But nervousness spread through the parliamentary ranks on Tuesday, the day (and evening) of the oral examinations of the three executive vice-presidents of the Commission.
Political groups protect “their own”
To understand this, we must look at the political pedigree of the “VPs”. The Finnish Henna Virkunnen (Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy) is a member of the European People’s Party (right and center-right EPP), the leading force in the chamber. The Spaniard Teresa Ribera (Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition), designated number 2 of President von der Leyen (member of the EPP) belongs to the family of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), as does the Romanian Roxana Mînzatu ( People, Skills, Preparedness). The Estonian Kaja Kallas, future head of European diplomacy, and the Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné (Prosperity and Industrial Strategy) carry the Renew label (liberals and centrists). The Italian Raffaele Fitto (Cohesion and Reforms) comes from the ranks of European conservatives and reformists (ECR, right and far right).
It soon became clear that political considerations mattered as much, if not more, than the assessment of individual cases. The designated commissioners were brought together in a “package” with inseparable parts, under penalty of explosion. Given the inability of political groups to agree on the said package “the situation is completely blocked”sigh several parliamentary sources. And no one can say when it will be unlocked.
Mutual accusations
“It’s not me, it’s the other”. The EPP accuses the S&D of being obstructive, by opposing Varhelyi’s candidacy, and by wanting to strip Raffaele Fitto, appointed by post-fascist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of his status as vice-president. The right, for its part, hit hard on Teresa Ribera, particularly targeted by Spanish MEPs from the Partido Popular who accused the current minister of Pedro Sanchez of being responsible for the terrible toll of the Valencia floods. The EPP adds, moreover, that she was not convinced during her hearing. “Von der Leyen needs to ask Sanchez to send someone else.”slices a PPE. The German Pieter Liese judges that the Spaniard does not “recognized the signs of the times” and behaved, according to him, during his eventful hearing.as if there was no economic crisis, no war and as if the parliamentary majority had not changed”. In the new hemicycle, the EPP is essential and the entire right field is more extensive, including at the extremes, than in the past.
In the European Parliament, the von der Leyen majority stumbles on the sanitary cordon
The socialists are fuming. He believes that the conservatives, by attacking Teresa Ribera in this way, are endangering the informal “von der Leyen majority” (EPP, S&D, Renew, with the support of the Greens) which had supported, in July, the renewal of the German to chair the Commission for a second term. In the S&D, as in other progressive groups, the EPP is criticized for not hesitating, since the legislature, to form “alternative majorities” with groups located to its right, even extreme, including the ECR. “The vote on the college of commissioners is at stake”warn the socialists. Green co-presidents Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout are on a similar line. They accuse Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP of practicing “short-sighted political and irresponsible games that endanger the pro-European majority”by secretly supporting Raffaele Fitto.
Ursula von der Leyen comes into play
Without naming anyone, Valérie Hayer, president of the Renew group, denounced “irresponsible actions of political forces” which block the path to a solution. “The content has been hijacked by games and political interests”lamented the Frenchwoman, calling on everyone to come back to the table to find an agreement. The ECR group, for its part, is careful not to comment.
Aware of the seriousness of the situation, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took the initiative of bringing together Manfred Weber and the head of the S&D group Iraxte Perez, and Valérie Hayer to defuse the situation. The meeting ended without any breakthrough. It will probably not be this week, specify several sources close to the discussions. “It went very high [mardi]the pressure must come down again.”whispers one of them.
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