President von der Leyen intervenes to dealer an settlement between the principle teams and save the brand new Commission.
Political jockeying between the centre-right European People’s Party and the Socialists and Democrats has frozen the method of agreeing the following European Commission as candidates stay topic to closing approval.
All candidate hearings have been organized and the letters of analysis are anticipated to be revealed on 21 November, whereas Parliament is predicted to vote within the Commission as an entire the next week.
Each candidate wants the help of not less than two-thirds of the European Parliament (EP) committee conducting the related affirmation listening to. This means that almost all of political teams should help every commissioner.
Before the hearings, all political teams in Parliament introduced that choices will probably be primarily based on the deserves of the candidates’ solutions. However, this was not completely true.
Twenty candidates have been authorised instantly after the hearings, whereas the affirmation of Hungarian candidate Olivér Várhelyi was postponed, forcing him to reply further written questions.
Then got here the principle occasion: on Tuesday 12 November the six designated Executive Vice Presidents have been questioned by MEPs. These embrace the Spanish Teresa Ribera Rodríguez, the Romanian Roxana Mînzatu (socialists and democrats), the Finnish Henna Virkkunen (European People’s Party), the French Stéphane Séjourné, the Estonian Kaja Kallas (Renew Europe) and the Italian Raffaele Fitto ( European conservatives and reformists).
The teams that supported the von der Leyen Commission within the earlier mandate – the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the liberal Renew Europe – have agreed to approve the vice-presidents in a “package deal deal” quite than individually , triggering a political tug of warfare over the composition of the following Commission.
The EPP is denying the inexperienced gentle to Spanish candidate Teresa Ribera till she addresses the Spanish Parliament about her function within the lethal Valencia floods. Ribera, awaiting affirmation as vice chairman of the Commission, stays the Spanish vice chairman in command of the ecological transition. That possible means suspending its approval till subsequent week.
The S&Ds have harshly criticized the EPP’s place, accusing the group of utilizing Ribera as a “scapegoat” and stating in an announcement press release that “the EPP management is keen to threat the steadiness of European establishments in a troublesome geopolitical local weather”. The socialists have put ahead their very own demand, nevertheless, calling for a “democratic, pro-European majority” that helps Ursula von der Leyen, excluding the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
In observe this might imply eradicating the vice-presidency from Raffaele Fitto of the ECR. “We can not settle for this. It can be a dangerous selection for the way forward for European establishments,” mentioned Brando Benifei, a outstanding Italian socialist MEP.
The EPP firmly opposes Fitto’s demotion to easy commissioner. The group argues that the Italian candidate deserves the vice presidency as a result of Italy’s measurement and significance, in addition to the broader political implications of the Commission’s shift additional to the suitable.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intervened on Wednesday to resolve the impasse as political negotiations grew tense. He met in Brussels with the leaders of the three massive teams: Manfred Weber of the EPP, Iratxe García Pérez of the S&D and Valérie Hayer of Renew, however no settlement was reached, though “the channels of communication stay open”, as one lady advised Euronews supply from the European Parliament.
Renew Europe appears extra open to reaching a compromise rapidly, implicitly criticizing each the EPP and the S&D for his or her ongoing conflict. “We denounce and deplore the irresponsible conduct of political forces that don’t contribute to a accountable and dependable resolution,” Renew president Valérie Hayer mentioned in an announcement earlier than the assembly with von der Leyen. “We urge the President of the European Commission to behave and take accountability now to beat this impasse and construct bridges.”
The Greens/EFA, who supported von der Leyen’s candidacy for Commission president in July however don’t have any designated commissioners, additionally expressed concern concerning the impasse and criticized the EPP. “The EPP management is playing, taking the EU hostage, aligning itself with the far proper. This is irresponsible.” wrote on X Greens co-chairman Terry Reintke.
The end result of those negotiations might result in slight changes within the duties and titles of some commissioners-designate, though outright rejection of a candidate stays unlikely. In the earlier legislature, Parliament had rejected three commissioners: the French Sylvie Goulard, the Romanian Rovana Plumb and the Hungarian László Trócsányi. Although such a situation appears unlikely this time, as one Spanish socialist noticed concerning the ongoing negotiations: “Everything is at stake now.”
