European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, elected in July with the support of two-thirds of the Greens/EFA, has given "every signal in recent weeks that she doesn't need us," noted Belgian MEP Saskia Bricmont (Ecolo) at a press briefing in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
The Greens/EFA, which dropped from 70 to 53 seats in last June's European elections, are, despite this backlash, likely to form part of the "Von der Leyen II" parliamentary majority, joining the EPP (Christian Democrats), S&D (Socialists and Social Democrats) and Renew (Liberals and Centrists) groups.
The head of the European executive specifically thanked the Greens when she was elected, by a margin of 40 votes. But since then, they have seen nothing. And yet another vote of confidence is looming in a few weeks' time, once the hearings of the Commissioners-designate are over: the vote of confidence on the Commission as a whole. The Greens/EFA group has not yet decided how it will vote.
French MEP Marie Toussaint addressing plenary in October 2024. Credit: EU
Among the contested issues, are the decision to nominate the Italian Raffaele Fitto (a member of the far-right party of Giorgia Meloni) for an executive vice-presidency of the Commission, the "support shown" by the German to the Italian Prime Minister for a migration policy that would externalise asylum applications.
Furthermore, the Greens are displeased with the "empty promises" on investment strategies as well as the postponement by one year of the implementation of the anti-deforestation law, shortly after a meeting with Mercosur countries that led to the resumption of negotiations on the free trade agreement.
In the view of MEPs Toussaint and Bricmont, all this shows that Ursula von der Leyen is "more about continuity, or even going backwards, than about transformation and the desire to move forward."
There is no indication that the head of the European executive has been consulting Green leaders recently. "Ursula von der Leyen is notorious for not consulting anyone, including members of her own party," says Marie Toussaint.
The EPP, Ursula von der Leyen's party, has voted twice in recent weeks with the support of the far-right, against the wishes of the S&D and Renew parties.
'Unreliable EPP'
When questioned, the new co-president of the Greens/EFA Bas Eickhout did not believe in the ingenuity of Manfred Weber, the leader of the EPP group. "He feigned surprise after the vote. But if he wants to avoid this or that majority, he must start by working with the pro-European majority, which is there and which supported Von der Leyen. Then he won't have to say he's surprised by a majority he says he doesn't like, which I doubt..."
Among the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Elio Di Rupo (PS) also denounced the feeling of "omnipotence" of an EPP that paid little heed to its pro-European partners.
Questioned in the corridors of Parliament, Elio Di Rupo (PS, S&D) described the EPP as "unreliable". ‘There is the possibility of a solid alliance with us, with Renew, plus possibly the Greens. But the EPP is picking and choosing, sometimes voting with ECR (eurosceptic conservatives), sometimes with the 'Patriots for Europe' (Orbàn-linked far-right), sometimes with the pro-European majority."
The MEP fears that this is a more structural choice than the current transitional situation, where the new Commission is not yet in place. He denounced the "psychological attitude of omnipotence" in which the EPP currently finds itself, with a ‘slew of prime ministers’ in the European Council (14 heads of government out of 27, editor's note) and European Commissioners (more than half of the Commissioners-designate).
This suggests that Europe's largest party does not care enough about its pro-European partners. As far as Fitto is concerned, Elio Di Rupo believes that rejecting his candidacy is more realistic than rejecting it.
The latter option would only lead to his replacement by another far-right candidate, since the Italian government is responsible for nominating him. But it is Ursula von der Leyen's decision to "upgrade" the candidate to an executive vice-presidency that is "unacceptable."
