The European Parliament has given the definitive green light to Ursula von der Leyen’s new European Commission, although the margin has been narrow: 370 votes in favor, 282 against and 36 abstentions. Approval required a simple majority, that is, more if it is that it’s not. The new cabinet is characterized by a rightward shift with respect to the previous one, the result of the increase in conservative governments on the continent and the decision of the European People’s Party – finally supported by socialists and liberals – to give the vice presidency to the extreme right with the appointment of candidate of Giorgia Meloni. That 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. Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s PP has voted against the new European Commission.
The new European Commission has moved forward with the support of the EPP, socialists and liberals, although the margin has been the narrowest in history and Von der Leyen has lost 30 votes compared to her re-election in July. Conservatives and socialists have suffered some defections, largely due to conflicts between some delegations motivated by national politics. The PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo has, however, played the game until the last moment. “We remain firm saying ‘yes’ to the Commission and no to Teresa Ribera out of principles, loyalty and justice,” Dolors Montserrat said in 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 for a week, but not overthrow it, which was the only (and unattainable) objective.
After the vote, Ribera criticized Feijóo’s PP, which he accused of “isolation”: “They are left alone with the far-right groups in the European Parliament.” Furthermore, he regretted that he had not respected the people of the entire EU, of Spain and of Valencia, for the campaign launched against his candidacy under the premise of the management of DANA, which corresponded to the Generalitat of Carlos Mazón, and She has assured that she has received expressions of “affection” from her future colleagues in the College of Commissioners and from the groups for the campaign orchestrated against her.
Leaks in the socialists, division in the Greens and Meloni’s ‘yes’
However, there have also been leaks in 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 are the ones who have followed voting discipline the most, although six have abstained.
The Greens/ALE, who overwhelmingly supported Von der Leyen in her re-election in July, have practically split in half in the vote for the community government, mainly to incorporate the extreme right in the vice presidency. The MEPs Jaume Asens (common), Ana Miranda (BNG), Vicent Marzà (Compromís) and Diana Riba (ERC) have voted against. The Left group (of which Sumar and Podemos are part) have also opposed it.
The Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group has been divided since the Fratelli d’Italia have supported the community government of which Fitto is a part as vice president while the rest of the delegations have opposed it. The other two far-right forces (Patriotas por Europa, of which Vox is a part, and Soberanistas por Europa) have voted against.
Despite his flirtation with the ultra forces, to which he has lifted the sanitary cordon in several negotiations, the leader of the EPP, Manfred Weber, has assured that forces such as Alternative for Germany or Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz are “political enemies” for his party. “I will not allow them to destroy the Europe that I love,” he said, amid rumors from the chamber, after having reached agreements with those parties.
“The European forces that have built the EU since its foundation have sealed an agreement and the agreements are fulfilled. We will not accept a double game. You cannot build Europe with those who want to destroy it,” the head of the Social Democrats, Iratxe García, warned Weber and Von der Leyen, who also took the opportunity to make a veiled criticism of the PP for having tried to blow up the negotiations: “There is “who have undermined the prestige of the institution and exposed the EU to a governance crisis.”
‘No’ to the normalization of the extreme right
“We cannot support what is clearly the normalization of the extreme right. We know that there are people on your Commission who are uncomfortable with this decision. We tell them that we will make a constructive opposition,” said Republican MEP Riba (The Greens/ALE). “The European Commission is a possibly fatal wound to the European project,” Irene Montero ( Podemos ) has warned: “It turns the extreme right of Meloni and Orbán into stable partners, not only of the right, but also of social democracy. “The socialists today vote in favor of the extreme right and will govern Europe together.” Estrella Galán (Sumar) has spoken along the same lines, ensuring that it is a Commission that “embraces the extreme right and grants it a vice presidency.” “Do they owe them that much?” he asked: “We are not going to be accomplices of a Commission that is laundering the heirs of fascism.”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has outlined the priorities of her new government and has detailed them with the presentation of each of its members. The great priority of the new European Commission will be to boost competitiveness in an increasingly complex world in which the EU is falling behind the United States and China. That is why the first major initiative that it will promote will be a ‘Competitiveness Compass’ that 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 to emerge 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 has opted for public investment from Brussels, he has defended the need to promote private investment, which is 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 United States).
“The second is a joint decarbonization and competitiveness plan,” listed Von der Leyen, who has assigned duties to her team so that in the first 100 days of her mandate they have a Clean Industrial Agreement ready. And the weight will fall on the Spanish socialist, as Von der Leyen explained: “We will have Teresa Ribera, our first executive vice president for the Competitive, Fair and Clean Transition. It is prepared to ensure that we have a modern competition policy to support our ambitions. “She is a true and devoted European.” Those words were followed by one of the longest applauses of the intervention, but it ended with the liberals: neither the European People’s Party nor the extreme right forces applauded.
The German’s speech has been substantially 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 has only cited the conflict in the Middle East on that occasion while focusing Much of his speech on security was mainly due to the war in Ukraine, a country that he has reiterated will end up being part of the EU.
And that is the third pillar of the compass: “increase security and reduce dependencies.” “Russia spends up to 9% of its GDP on defense. Europe spends an average of 1.9%. Something is wrong in this equation. Our defense spending must increase,” which has advocated creating a “single defense market.” Also in the first 100 days of his mandate he has committed to presenting a White Paper on the future of European defense.
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