The last hours in European politics have given rise to several chapters of Game of Thrones. The European People’s Party has shaken the community board paralyzing the appointment of Teresa Ribera as future vice president of the European Commission. The social democrats warn that the whole of the Von der Leyen Commission 2.0 is in danger. The head of the Community Executive herself has taken a step forward by mediating in the crisis to try to unblock the situation. But what has happened during these days leaves many keys to the future of governance in the EU, which enters unknown territory.
The popular ones now put two demands on the Spanish woman’s green light: that she appear first in Congress – an intervention that will take place next Wednesday – and that she resign if she is charged for the management of DANA, according to what she says. The World. Until then, they based the argument to block Ribera’s path to the European Commission on the fact that the social democrats had to give their favorable vote to Raffaele Fitto, the vice-presidential candidate of the far-right Giorgia Meloni. Fitto is not even part of the Christian Democrats, but rather belongs to the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) family, but the EPP has made his cause a personal one even though he does not belong to the Von der Leyen majority that make up EPP, S&D and liberals. The popular ones are already flirting with adding to the package of exchange for Víktor Orbán’s nominee, Oliver Varhelyi, who suspended the first phase of his examination in the Chamber.
From those around the popular Europeans they have endorsed the argument that Ribera could end up prosecuted by DANA and They require that you have a “clean table” before sitting down at the Berlaymont. The PP wanted to overthrow Ribera, something that is complicated by the drag effect it would trigger. For this reason, they have juggled to link their election with the events regarding DANA, demanding to delay the result until their intervention in Congress. For the Social Democrats, however, the fact that the decision goes ahead this week is a red line.
But what has happened in the last few days? Popular, Social Democrats and Liberals reached an agreement at the beginning of the week to issue an opinion on the six vice presidents of the European Commission jointly and not individually as had traditionally been done. There were just a few hours left for the exam of Teresa Ribera, candidate for vice president in charge of Just and Clean Transition and Competition, in the European Parliament. As the hours passed, the tone of the PP, which it has seen in Ribera the way to save face for the terrible management of the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón, before and during DANA, it was hardening. The instructions that came out of Genoa were to try to overthrow Ribera and the leader of the European Popular Party, Manfred Weber, who has always been very involved in Spanish affairs, endorsed the nein.
Shortly before the hearing began, The social democrats unexpectedly encountered the Spanish-style blockade of the EPP and with their intentions to link the verdict to the vice president’s explanations in the Congress of Deputies, an appearance scheduled for next Wednesday. The group led by Iratxe García Pérez felt betrayed. The relationship between the Popular Party and Social Democrats is increasingly tense, but it is reaching a point of no return. Trust is broken and the relationship between Weber and García Pérez barely borders on cordiality. The rest is history. The PPE’s strategy during the more than three and a half hours of the examination was to harshly attack Ribera for the catastrophe in Valencia, even suggesting that she could end up sitting in the dock. “History and perhaps also the judges will judge her for her inaction and incompetence,” said Dolors Montserrat, leader of the Spanish delegation.
So things are, In the popular ones a feeling of fun reigns. Among the social democrats there is great anger and disbelief. And nervousness prevails in the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen herself has been forced to intercede with several meetings with the leaders of the three families that supported her re-election to channel – without success – the situation. The calendar is pressing. The initial idea was for the European Parliament to give its new approval to the entire college of commissioners in the Strasbourg plenary session that begins on November 23. But the trip by the EPP, a family to which Von der Leyen herself belongs, leaves everything up in the air. For now, his spokesman Eric Mamer has made it clear that “his initial position has not changed” in reference to the maintenance of the German’s support for the Spanish, who was called to be one of the strong weights of his team for the next lustrum.
The pressure is maximum in the ranks led by García Pérez, who You will have to measure how many toads to swallow before the order launched by the PP. For now, Social Democrats accuse the Popular Party of assuming a “destructive”, “irresponsible” agenda and of using Ribera as a “scapegoat” to exonerate Mazón. “The conservative European People’s Party (EPP) has broken the pro-European democratic agreement between the conservative, social democratic and liberal groups in this House, thanks to the irresponsible behavior of its group leader, Manfred Weber,” they say in a statement. .
The Social Democrats stand firm: are not willing to accept an exchange that includes a member outside the agreed majoritythat is, they maintain their veto against Fitto and what will happen next is unknown territory. The slogan is clear, the formation of the rose is firm against the entry of the extreme right to one of the high positions in the Community Executive.
The Von der Leyen Commission is born wounded before it even starts. What has happened this week is a warning to sailors: the coalition that boosted Von der Leyen over the pro-European democratic majority in July is cracking. The popular ones are increasingly moving towards more radical positions to their right. The first resolution of the European Parliament to recognize Edmundo González as president of Venezuela was proof of this. And the sponsorship of the EPP by Fitto and Varhelyi is another sign that if they even overcome this obstacle in extremis, trust between the forces of the grand coalition is broken and it will be very difficult to reach agreements in this climate of mistrust and betrayal.
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