Belgium’s Didier Reynders welcomed the broad support that the European Parliament granted on Wednesday to the new Commission, in which he will be in charge of Justice from Sunday, but stressed the need to stabilise the new parliamentary majority.
The executive headed by Ursula Von der Leyen received the support of 461 members, with 157 voting against it and 89 abstaining. Votes in favour came essentially from the three largest political groupings, the PPE, S&D and Renew Europe, which will now form the parliamentary majority after decades of a PPE-S&D duopoly.
For Reynders, the majority now needs to be stabilised. “At the national level, it’s easy,” he said. “Compromises have to be forged between the parties that make up a coalition, while, in the European Parliament, another majority may need to be sought on a case-by-case basis."
Despite the broad support shown for Von der Leyen’s team, Reynders feels the PPE-S&D-Renew coalition is not yet stable, “even if it’s more stable than before.”
In July, candidate Von der Leyen was elected in plenary with only 9 more votes than required for her nomination, since the socialists had voted separately on the German conservative politician.
The Brussels Times
