Ursula von der Leyen, the German candidate to head the European People’s Party (EPP) list for the European elections in June, did not rule out, on Monday 29 April, the possibility that if she is re-elected as head of the European Commission, she will seek to include sovereignist movements currently belonging to the conservative ECR group in the political majority in the European Parliament that she will have to gather around her.
“It really depends on the composition of the European Parliament and who will sit in this political group”, said Ms von der Leyen in response to a question from the Green Party MEP, Bas Eickhout, during a debate in Maastricht between the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ of the European parties, organised by the local university and the news agency Politico.
Since her appointment by the EPP in Bucharest at the beginning of March, Ms von der Leyen has been defending the following line: during the 2024-2029 legislature, the Christian Democrats will only cooperate with political families that openly declare themselves to be pro-European, pro-Ukraine and pro-Rule of Law (see EUROPE 13365/10).
However, some national parties belonging to the ‘European Conservative and Reformists’ (ECR) party have distanced themselves from this political line. In power until recently in Poland, the PiS party has on several occasions been criticised by the European Commission for its reforms of the justice system, which run counter to the principles of the Rule of law. In general, sovereignist parties oppose any reform of the European treaties, which they describe as a confiscation of national powers for the benefit of a European federal superstate.
During the election debate, the candidate heading the list of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Nicolas Schmit from Luxembourg, said he was “astonished” by Ms von der Leyen’s comments. “Values and rights cannot be divided by political arrangements. Either you can deal with the far right because you need them, or you can say clearly: There can be no agreement because it does not respect the fundamental rights for which our Commission has fought”, he said.
Mr Schmit noted the existence of governments currently in power in EU Member States, in which sovereignist parties participate and which are going back on certain fundamental rights, citing “gender equality and media freedom”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)