On Thursday 18 July in Strasbourg, a pro-European majority in the European Parliament made up of four political groups - EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA - re-elected German Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen to head the European Commission until 2029 by an absolute majority of 401 votes (see EUROPE 13456/1). An overview of the positions of the various political groups, which expressed their views following the presentation by the EPP’s leading candidate of her political guidelines for the 2024-2029 Commission.
Ms von der Leyen embodies political stability, according to the EPP Group
The Christian Democrat group in the European Parliament gave massive support to the candidate heading the European People’s Party list during the European election campaign, apart from a few defections from the French and Slovenian delegations.
On behalf of the EPP group, Germany’s Manfred Weber called on pro-European MEPs to vote in favour of his party’s candidate. “If you want to defend democracy, vote for Ms von der Leyen! (...) Europeans want a united, not a divided Europe”, he urged. He noted that the EPP’s campaign priorities were fully reflected in its programmatic discourse, praising the fact that competitiveness was at the top of the agenda.
Recently elected Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group, France’s François-Xavier Bellamy confirmed that the French delegation had voted against Ms von der Leyen, who was considered to be French President Emmanuel Macron’s candidate since 2019. He has defended this line since the EPP’s Bucharest Congress (see EUROPE 13366/1). Pointing to “major differences of opinion” with the President-elect of the Commission that had arisen during the last term of office, such as over the ‘European Green Deal’, he promised to fight to reorientate the content of the European policies that were to be pursued.
The S&D group’s support is “not a blank cheque”
Spain’s Iratxe García Pérez announced the support of the Social Democrat group she chairs for Ms von der Leyen, although some delegations remained divided.
The French-speaking Belgian MEPs abstained, criticising the lack of ambition on social issues. The Irish, who advocate stronger support for Gaza, and the Slovenians voted against the re-election of the German Christian Democrat. Messaging on the social network X, Slovenian MEP Matjaž Nemec felt that Ms von der Leyen’s election did not send “an encouraging message”.
According to Ms García Pérez, the S&D group’s support was expressed after careful consideration of the EPP candidate’s political guidelines, which largely met their main demands. The in-depth discussions with Ms von der Leyen, in particular at the meeting on Tuesday 9 July in Brussels (see EUROPE 13449/15), and the debate in plenary session were decisive in this decision.
Ms García Pérez warned, however, that this support was not a blank cheque. She stressed that the S&D group would ensure that the Commission honoured its commitments, particularly on social and environmental issues. “We have obtained political commitments from the Commission that are the most social and ecological ever seen”, she declared.
According to her, the Socialists have obtained clear commitments on the fight against poverty, on climate change and on a just transition, as well as a European strategy to combat poverty and the creation of a post of Commissioner responsible for housing.
Welcoming the proposal to set up a European Commissioner dedicated to housing, Ms Iratxe García Pérez also announced their intention to propose the creation of a special committee on housing in the European Parliament. She reaffirmed the Group’s commitment to promoting gender equality, with a new gender equality strategy and the inclusion of gender violence in the EU list of crimes, and to combating social inequalities.
On the French side, Raphaël Glucksmann stressed the importance of maintaining a solid, pro-European political agreement to avoid chaos. He warned against a coalition between the right and the far right, and called for clear demands, particularly on financial matters, during the hearings of the European Commissioners-designate in the autumn.
The far right votes against Ms von der Leyen’s re-election
“I call on the MEPs of this Parliament to ensure that Ms von der Leyen’s term at the head of the Commission remains a single one”, concluded Jordan Bardella (PfE, French), at the end of a one-way speech, guided by a firm opposition to the policy pursued by the European Commission over the last 5 years.
More than Ursula von der Leyen’s speech, the chairman of the far-right Patriots for Europe group noted that the European elections had strengthened the ‘patriots’ right across the continent. From these election results, he deduced that “the peoples of Europe have made their aspirations to protect and defend their identity heard”.
Immigration was at the heart of the reactions from the Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) groups. According to Mr Bardella, the people of Europe reject mass immigration and want to “become themselves again”.
A more vindictive Ewa Zajaczkowska-Hernik (ESN, Polish) accused Ms von der Leyen of being “responsible for every rape, every assault, every tragedy caused by an illegal migrant”. If “millions of women and children are going to feel threatened on the streets”, it’s because of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, she declared, in no uncertain terms. Going on to state: “We vote for those who protect Europeans, never for those who expose them to immigration and Islamisation”.
Majority of ECR Group opposed to Ms von der Leyen’s re-election
How the conservative ECR group would behave during the vote was one of the major unknowns of the election, particularly the attitude of the Italian delegation made up of the Fratelli d’Italia party of the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni.
After the vote, the Italian MEPs Nicola Procaccini and Carlo Fidanza declared that the Fratelli d’Italia MEPs had not supported Ms von der Leyen, in line with the principles they defend, such as respect for national sovereignty and the rejection of punitive ecology. They felt that, despite this position, Italy should be given an important portfolio within the ‘von der Leyen II’ Commission.
“Things will go wrong if the losers in the European elections are the key to your re-election”, Mr Procaccini said to Ms von der Leyen in the Chamber, referring to the support needed from the Greens and Liberals for her re-election. Later, speaking to the press, he said that the Christian Democrat candidate had been “saved by the Greens”.
Several national delegations - such as the Czechs from Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s ODS party, and the Belgians from the NVA party - supported Ms von der Leyen. Assita Kanko (ECR, Belgian), who confirmed the choice of the three NVA MEPs to Agence Europe, said that she felt the difficulties of being a woman politician to justify her vote in favour of the German leader. In politics, “the price of imperfection is higher if you are a woman”, she said.
The Renew Europe group will be a demanding but reliable partner
On behalf of the centre-right Renew Europe group, France’s Valérie Hayer assured candidate von der Leyen of the presence of a strong pro-European majority, including the Liberals. She assured us that the elected members of her group would be “demanding” but “reliable” partners in guaranteeing the interests of Europe in the years to come.
The MEP made “freedom” her watchword, seeing it as “the foundation of Europe” that should guide the EU’s action. Calling for democratic values and the rule of law to be guaranteed, she urged Ms von der Leyen to activate Article 7 of the EU Treaty against European leaders who fail to respect these principles.
Ms Hayer also called for the right to abortion to be included in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. This request provoked a strong reaction from the far right. Romanian MEP Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă (NI) was even excluded from the Chamber. The Liberals’ request is in line with the European Parliament’s April resolution in favour of such an inclusion. It is supported by the S&D and Greens/EFA groups.
On the economic front, Ms Hayer called for a simplification of administrative processes, investment in innovation and support for SMEs. In her view, in-depth reflection will be needed to create a genuine European defence market.
On climate issues, Ms Hayer asked Ursula von der Leyen not to back down on the ‘European Green Deal’, calling for an end to fossil fuels and a climate adaptation deal. She emphasised support for households and businesses through just transition funds, not forgetting farmers affected by the recent crises.
Within the Renew Europe group, the Irish delegation opposed the re-election of Ms von der Leyen.
The Greens helped Ms von der Leyen to be re-elected
On Thursday, just before the vote, the Greens/EFA group finally announced its formal support for Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy. This position was adopted following informal talks between the President of the European Commission and the ‘Greens’, which were thought to be “constructive” (see EUROPE 13455/1).
However, the environmentalists have been slow to adopt an official position. “If you ask me whether this is a ‘green’ programme (...), I can tell you, no”, said the group’s co-chair, Terry Reintke from Germany, during the plenary debate. But what is crucial, in her view, is the formation of a “majority of pro-European democratic groups” united against the far right.
The same goes for Dutchman Bas Eickhout: “This is a four-party majority document. There are points lacking and we will, of course, use our parliamentary work to bring that on the agenda as well. But we see enough in these political guidelines on the consideration of the Green Deal and further expanding it to say ‘this is good enough to continue”. Asked by Agence Europe whether Ms von der Leyen had been saved by the Greens, he agreed.
In the opinion of German Damian Boeselager, leader of the five elected members of the pan-European Volt party, being part of the pro-European four-party coalition will enable the Greens/EFA group to make its position heard on all future legislative texts. “For me, it was crucial to be able to deliver on the promises we made during our campaign”, he told Agence Europe.
Of the 53 MEPs in the group, 45 approved Ms von der Leyen’s re-election. The French delegation voted against. “It did not seem possible to us (...) to be part of a majority that was less committed to social and climate justice and human rights than the previous one, in which we had refused to participate”, explained David Cormand in a press release.
The radical left criticises Ms von der Leyen’s neo-liberal policies
The Left group criticised Ms von der Leyen’s policy guidelines, which focus on strengthening industry and the EU’s competitiveness, in line with the position it has always defended (see EUROPE 13454/3).
“Your speech illustrates the contempt you have for people in dire straits. You haven’t mentioned poverty or unemployment once, but there’s been a lot to say about competitiveness, prosperity and cosying up to businesses”, said Manon Aubry from France, co-chair of the group, to the President-elect of the Commission.
On Thursday lunchtime, The Left Group proposed adjourning the vote on Ms von der Leyen’s candidacy, a proposal that was rejected in a vote. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry, Mathieu Bion, Florent Servia, Bernard Denuit)