The European liberal and centre-right family officially launched its “Renew Europe Now” campaign and platform on Wednesday 20 March in Brussels, in the presence of key figures from the political family such as Kaja Kallas, Věra Jourová, Didier Reynders and Thierry Breton. The subject of collective security was on everyone’s lips.
At the launch, the main candidates of the three entities forming the platform – Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of Germany for the ALDE, Sandro Gozi of Italy for the European Democratic Party (EDP) and Valérie Hayer of France for the non-affiliated parties (see EUROPE 13374/29) – were officially presented to voters. Together, these three personalities will lead the election campaign against the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ of the other political families.
On their arrival at the Royal Museums of Art and History, they told the press that they were proud of this configuration, which will enable them to campaign as candidates in the elections “for the people” and not for themselves, explicitly thumbing their noses at the heads of the EPP list, Ursula von der Leyen, and the PES list, Nicolas Schmit.
They also briefly outlined the Group’s priorities (see other news) on migration, defence and competitiveness.
Valérie Hayer, who is also President of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, once again emphasised the need to combat extremes: “There is no (possible) flirtation with the extremes, with the populists. We want to shape Europe from the political centre with pro-European forces”.
Sandro Gozi, for his part, explained that the group was proud of what it had achieved since its creation: “Europe has started to change since 2019, largely thanks to Renew Europe. We want to continue to change, starting with our priorities. Defence is our top priority and, to this end, we want to provide the European Union with military and economic resources and be clear about this”.
Asked specifically about Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said that Ukraine had a future within the EU and that Russia could not triumph. “We must put an end to the conflict and stand up as Europe to explain and show Russia that this is not the future of our world”.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas took to the stage to reaffirm the importance of European solidarity and individual freedoms.
She also called for the EU’s collective security to be strengthened: “We need to strengthen our defence preparedness and ensure that EU countries can defend themselves. We also need to secure our economic market to ensure our security”.
Several European Commissioners then spoke on their favourite subjects.
The Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, praised the efficiency of the European free market, while her Energy counterpart, Kadri Simson, highlighted the actions taken by the EU over the last two years to diversify energy supplies and ensure the EU’s security.
Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, said that his political family was at the forefront of respect for the Rule of law and fundamental rights, while Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the Internal Market, stressed the importance of the EU’s competitiveness.
Current polls predict a significant loss of seats for Renew Europe, currently the third largest group in the European Parliament, which would eventually relegate it to fifth place, behind the ID and ECR groups.
At a meeting with the European press prior to the launch of the campaign, Valérie Hayer explained that the number of MEPs does indeed count, but that it is above all a question of maintaining one’s “influence” on the decisions and policies being implemented.
“Whatever happens, Renew will remain in the coalition. (...) We will remain the central force, both because we are at the balancing point on the political priorities that we carry and because the other groups will continue to need us”, she assured. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)