On Tuesday 2 July, at the end of a meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and the presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups (CoPs), the environmentalists in the European Parliament reiterated their willingness, subject to certain conditions, to support the President-designate of the European Commission.
The political priorities - prosperity, security, the rule of law, the European ‘Green Deal’ - outlined by Ms von der Leyen are “pretty logical”, according to the co-president of the Greens/EFA group, Bas Eickhout from the Netherlands. In his view, the German Christian Democrat has been “very clear that she stands with the ‘Green Deal’”, even though her party, the European People’s Party, has “not always been clear” on this issue.
He went so far as to say that his group and the Christian Democrats could agree on issues of support for “European industry”. However, on the question of the end of new internal combustion vehicles in the EU after 2035, a measure that the EPP wants to reverse, he felt that the automotive industry, which wants predictability for its investments, is already in the process of making the transition.
The environmentalist nevertheless asked to see the details of Ms von der Leyen’s political priorities, which she will present to Parliament, probably in mid-July in Strasbourg. The European Parliament’s political groups are already working on their own priorities (see other news).
Mr Eickhout appreciated the fact that the EPP’s leading candidate stressed the importance of having “a stable majority” in the European Parliament during the 2024-2029 legislative cycle. And, that, from our point of view, “the environmentalists must be part of it”. In this respect, he advised Ms von der Leyen to discuss with the groups as a whole, whereas she has suggested discussing with national delegations (see EUROPE 13441/1). This could be the case with the Czech and Italian delegations of the ECR group.
On this point, the co-president of the Greens/EFA group warned the Christian Democrats against the “dangerous game” of seeking Conservative support. “If you do a deal with the ECR group, you lose the progressive side of Parliament, so you don’t have a majority. This is also the message from the S&D and Renew Europe groups. And Ms von der Leyen does not want to repeat the experience of the 2019 election, in which she obtained an absolute majority of the European Parliament by just nine votes.
Also speaking at the end of the CoP, the chair of the S&D group, Iratxe García Pérez from Spain, gave her favourable opinion to Ms von der Leyen’s proposals, while also wishing to see the details of the proposals put forward. Like Mr Eickhout, she emphasised “the social dimension and gender issues” and the ‘Green Deal’, but felt that Ms von der Leyen raised “important issues for pro-European political forces”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)