In Strasbourg on Wednesday 18 January, the day after his EPP group rival Antonio Tajani was elected to the Presidency of the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11705), the leader of the S&D group, Gianni Pittella of Italy, pledged that his group would not systematically oppose or block decisions made by the Assembly (see other articles).
Pittella reiterated that the 'grand coalition', entered into in 2014 by the EPP, S&D and ALDE groups, was dead and buried. Having said that, the Social Democrat group intends to work with the Right on various dossiers of importance to the EU. "We want a strong Parliament that is prepared to make decisions, but we are no longer straitjacketed by the 'grand coalition', in which you either have to agree with the core of the coalition or you're out" (our translation throughout). Pittella agrees to work on dossiers with the Christian Democrats and Liberals, as long as middle ground can be found.
Similarly, the Italian MEP will try to agree with the GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA groups on certain issues. These groups gave their backing to the S&D candidate during the election, even though a certain amount of criticism was levelled, particularly by the Greens.
Answering a question from the press, Pittella reiterated that as far as he is concerned, the embryonic trade agreement with the United States (TTIP) is "dead in the water". As regards the trade deal with Canada (CETA), which will be put to the Parliament for approval in early February, we voted no to bringing the matter before the Court of Justice of the EU, he said (see EUROPE 11674). The S&D group will not, however, oppose going into greater detail on certain aspects of the CETA, Pittella said.
A new political era is beginning
This break with the pact on taking turns in the top job in Parliament has allowed us, Pittella explained, to introduce a "healthy confrontation" between the various political sensitivities within the hemicycle. "Democracy is the ultimate victor. I lost out due to the weight of numbers, but I welcome the unity of my political group", he stressed. He wishes to represent an alternative to the right in Europe to solve the problems facing citizens.
Pittella feels that a new political era is now beginning. On the one hand, there is a conservative bloc made up of the EPP, ALDE and ECR groups, which "does not have the majority to deliberate in Parliament at a legislative level" and, on the other, progressive forces are trying to set in place a common platform, the Social Democrat leader explained. He slammed the contradictions in the EPP/ALDE/ECR grouping on human rights, freedom of information and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. He also spoke out against the ultra-liberal arguments defended there. Pittella went on to reiterate the will of the S&D group to change economic policy, the austerity policies defended on the right wing being, he argues, the principal cause of the crisis experienced by the EU.
The Social Democrat leader pledged that the second half of the legislative period would be far less dull than the first, thanks to this new political context. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)