On Tuesday 26 November, on the eve of the European Parliament’s vote on the von der Leyen Commission, trends were emerging within the political groups regarding their votes. While the EPP, Renew Europe and the S&D should vote in favour of the new Commission, the Greens/EFA are expected to abstain and the GUE/NGL and ID groups are expected to oppose.
Members will vote on the College around noon, by simple majority and by roll call. The votes necessary for its validation should be easily obtained and the new Commission continued, on the evening of Tuesday 26 November, to make concessions to consolidate its advantage, in particular towards the Renew Europe group.
Consequently, Vice-President Margaritis Schinas’ portfolio, beyond the name change from “protecting the European way of life” to “promoting the European way of life” (see EUROPE 12368/4), will be amended, according to two European sources. Thus, Mr Schinas will handle dialogue with religious organisations. The coordination of the Equality Agenda will be placed under the authority of Věra Jourová, who will work with Helena Dalli, in charge of the issue. Ms Jourová will also be in charge of the dialogue with civil society organisations.
In addition, according to MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France), a discussion group on the European Commission’s priorities has been set up between the three Executive Vice-Presidents and the three political groups, which voted for Ursula von der Leyen in July (see EUROPE 12297/1), each represented by two members. According to the MEP, the exchanges come almost daily. The groups are thus currently working closely with the Commission on the communication on the Green Deal, scheduled for 11 December. This will include more details about the Green Deal, such as a more precise timetable and indications of funding. The MEP also pointed out that the Green Deal will have four dimensions: climate, biodiversity, resources and health.
Few surprises expected from the groups
Not surprisingly, the EPP will vote in favour of the College of Commissioners of Mrs von der Leyen, who comes from the EPP herself. “I suppose that tomorrow there will be clear support for Ursula von der Leyen and the College. We will be united in our support for the European Commission”, announced EPP group President Manfred Weber. Despite this expected support, Mr Weber recalled the priorities defended by his group: climate, jobs and digitisation. “The EPP’s priorities will have to be respected”, he explained. He also highlighted the strengthening of external borders, European defence and cybersecurity and the plan against cancer.
Like the EPP, the Renew Europe group should vote in favour of the new Commission, as it considers that there is a certain “adequacy” between the political agenda put forward by it and its own priorities. According to French MP Stéphane Séjourné, the important thing now is to ensure that the College of Commissioners complies with the commitments made by Mrs von der Leyen and thus maintain the achievements. However, an internal Renew Europe source has told EUROPE that the final decision would only be taken tomorrow morning, during the break after the debate and before the vote.
Although the official position of the S&D group was not yet known at the time of going to press, it is very likely that it will support the new Commission. Speaking to the press in the morning, the group's chairwoman, Iratxe García Pérez (Spain), welcomed the fact that this new College will be the most equal and, in her opinion, progressive Commission. She said that the Social Democrats had succeeded in influencing the political agenda of the future Commission over the past 6 months and that with nine Commissioners from their group, including the first vice-president responsible for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, they will be able to lead major issues in the new Commission. However, there are divisions within the group. According to one European source, the group would not give voting instructions to its members, but they should not go so far as to vote against the Commission. While the Spanish and German delegations are expected, for example, to broadly approve the College of Commissioners, the five members of the French delegation will abstain for reasons extremely similar to those put forward by the Greens/EFA group.
The latter have agreed that they can neither approve nor vote against this Commission, Greens/EFA co-president Philipe Lamberts (Belgium) told the press. However, unlike the vote in July on the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen, this time abstaining is not the same as opposing, but amounts to being considered as absent. Like the French Social Democrats’ delegation, which described its choice as “constructive abstention”, Mr Lamberts described the Greens/EFA position as “reasoned abstention”. In particular, the environmentalists believe that there is still a lot of uncertainty about the policies that the new Commission intends to pursue. In addition, the hearings of the Commissioners-designate for Trade and Agriculture, Phil Hogan and Janusz Wojciechowski respectively (see EUROPE 12339/7, 12339/4), did not convince them at all. Finally, while deploring the fact that the term “European way of life” has been retained in the title of Margaritis Schinas’ portfolio, the Greens/EFA reiterated their criticism of the future French and Hungarian Commissioners, Thierry Breton and Olivér Várhelyi. The first because of a potential lack of independence in view of his past activities and the second because of the fact that he will be responsible in particular for enforcing the rule of law, whereas he himself is very close to Viktor Orbán.
Nevertheless, despite these elements and the fact that the Greens/EFA have no future Commissioners, Mr Lamberts said that Mrs von der Leyen’s commitment to the environment is encouraging. Therefore, voting against it would be tantamount to considering that she “is pretending” before even having the opportunity to examine “the goods”, an attitude that environmentalists refuse, added the Belgian MEP.
On the side of the GUE/NGL and ID groups, this will be no. “At this stage, unanimously, we will not vote (in favour of the Commission), for democratic, ethical or political reasons that do not serve peoples and the planet”, GUE/NGL co-chair Manon Aubry (France) summarised in a press statement. She denounced the fact that, on certain subjects, the future Commission had received “generally vague” answers. “When it’s unclear, it’s because there’s something to hide”, she added. “We reject von der Leyen’s programme, we think it is on the wrong track”, added its co-chair Martin Schirdewan (Germany).
Concerning the opposition of the ID group, one source explained to EUROPE that, in principle, the group was against the existence of a Commission and that it was partisan, with inappropriate priorities and ideologically blind.
Finally, the ECR group is reportedly leaving the choice to its members, due to a lack of consensus within the group. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot and Camille-Cerise Gessant)