The European Parliament today approved the European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen, who will lead the executive body of the European Union for a second time.
The MEPs voted as follows:
– Pro: 370
– Against: 282
– Abstinences: 36
It is worth noting that in 2019 it received 461 votes in favor, 157 against while 89 MEPs were absent. This is the slimmest majority a European Commission has ever received.
The European Parliament approved the new European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen
What had come before
A series that lasted about four months is expected to end tonight in Strasbourg, as MEPs attending the Plenary Session of the European Parliament will be asked to decide whether to give a vote of confidence to the College of Commissioners, i.e. the "Von der Leyen Commission 2.0".
The second European Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen is expected to take up its official duties on December 1, as the political groups of the European Parliament managed to reach an agreement in principle, last Wednesday, to give, not only the green light, to the new executive body of the European Union, but also the... hands, so as to complete a yawn within the second legislative body of the EU, which almost turn into a parody.
The negotiations and the "cohabitation agreement" of the political groups of the EP
Last July, the European Parliament, as required by the EU Treaties, gave a vote of confidence to President von der Leyen with 401 votes in favor, 284 against and 22 blanks or voids. The process does not differ significantly from what happens in most EU member states. That is, the citizens vote for the composition of the Parliament, in this case the European Parliament, and then the MEPs vote for or against the government. In the case of the EU, the European Commission, the executive body of the Union.
However, in the last, at least, 20 years, the EU has evolved, from something that seemed distant to European citizens, into a de facto political union, where almost every confrontation, even in its smallest member states, has a European impact. In this context, the halls in Brussels and Strasbourg, when required or when imposed, turn into loudspeakers of disagreements between, not only EU member states and political groups, but even MEPs who refuse to follow the current party line.
A pointless confrontation
In recent decades, the European Parliament managed to bring together, despite occasional disagreements, the so-called "pro-European political groups", i.e. center-right (European People's Party, EPP), center-left (Social Democrats S&D), Liberals (Renew) and Greens, to gather the necessary majority to vote in favor of flagship EU policies. However, after the 2024 European elections, things have changed dramatically. Far-right parties, in the sense that they are further to the right of the EPP, such as the "Patriots", the "European Conservatives and Reformists" (ESR) and the "Europe of Sovereign Nations" (ESN), although they have not recorded a huge rise, however they cannot be ignored. In 2019, political groups to the right of the EPP controlled 18% of the seats in the European Parliament, while in 2024, they control 26%.
The bras de fer and the (necessary?) compromise
The weeks that followed the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen to the presidency of the Commission, in some ways looked like a "playground" and in others with the change of relationships within the European Parliament. It took more than 80 hours of hearings of the 26 proposed Commissioners, so that 19 of them were approved by the relevant EP committees. The six Executive Vice-Presidents of the Commission, as well as the proposed Commissioner from Hungary, Oliver Varkheli, went into the "freeze" for a while.
The occasion was Mrs. Teresa Ribera (Social Democrats, Spain and number 2 of the new Commission) from Spain and Mr. Raffaele Fito (Fratelli d'Italia, and the elect of Georgia Meloni).
Ms Ribera's European Parliament hearing became the scene of a fierce row over her responsibility for the tragic flooding in Valencia, which killed 222 people, as she was the responsible minister in Spain at the time. The conflict, despite this, also concerned the pressure exerted by the Partido Popular of Spain, the center-right party that belongs to the EPP and which co-rules in the local parliament of Valencia with the far-right VOX, so that Mrs. Ribera is not appointed as Executive Vice-President of the Commission, until he testifies in the Parliament of Madrid.
The EPP supported the Partido Popular's proposal and where many thought there would be an issue with the approval of the College of Commissioners, everything changed overnight. EPP, Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, signed a "cohabitation agreement", essentially renewing the vows they had taken last summer.
So why all the drama?
President von der Leyen's European Commission is expected to be re-elected, barring the most unlikely of events. Only a simple majority is required. That is, 50% of the MEPs present tonight, at the Plenary Session of the House in Strasbourg. However, as he pointed out to newmoney.gr, a source with excellent knowledge of the relationships within the EP, "the issue is not the majority. This is guaranteed. The issue is abstinence. In 2014, 89 MEPs abstained. If the number of MEPs who choose to abstain increases, there will be an issue.
The so-called "pro-European majority" is not certain to continue to exist, at least unconditionally, throughout the five years of the new European Commission. The rise, albeit small for the time being, of far-right parties offers a good outlet for the EPP, (s.s. this is the political group to which President von der Leyen belongs), which can form ad hoc alliances, as long as and mediate the political groups sitting to his left. However. and even within the "friendly-European alliance" there are objections to the election of the College of Commissioners, as the French MEPs of Renew, the Liberals, i.e. the EP, will vote against it while the MEPs of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party are expected to vote for it .
Source: protothema.gr
