Parliamentary battle or political coup? What is certain is that the report on European sovereignty, originally presented by ESN MEP Sarah Knafo (French), caused some wrangling within the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13601/16).
Adopted by 471 votes in favour - including that of its rapporteur - to 68 against with 71 abstentions, the report has had a rocky ride. Adopted last June by the Committee on Industry (ITRE), it was firstly almost completely rewritten. EPP, S&D, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA MEPs drafted a ‘parallel’ report in the form of a single amendment to be put to the vote in order to remove the far right from the text (see EUROPE 13652/10).
In broad terms, the amended version of the document calls for a comprehensive European industrial policy and addresses a much wider range of digital and technology-related issues: 5G/6G, artificial intelligence, satellite connections, network infrastructures, security of cables and communications networks, data centres, cloud services, cybersecurity and simplification, etc.
These amendments, which were largely adopted by the Committee on Industry, have led to an unusual situation, to say the least: the report, for which Sarah Knafo still claims authorship, no longer contains a single line written by her.
The vote on it in the European Parliament therefore became a dilemma for the most moderate groups: how could they vote in favour of a text claimed and supported by the far right, but the final content of which was drafted by MEPs from their own ranks?
A solution was therefore found: the introduction, via an amendment, of a recital explicitly referring to European far-right parties, including the French Reconquête party from which Sarah Knafo comes, as threats to the European Union.
This recital, which “denounces the support offered by certain political parties - such as the AfD, Reconquête, Fidesz or Konfederacja - which repeat narratives originating from outside the EU”, was adopted by 426 votes in favour, 180 against and 24 abstentions.
A bizarre outcome with the final report, which Sarah Knafo welcomes on her X account, including a passage denouncing the activities of her own political party. “A rare case of cognitive dissonance”, said Pierre Jouvet MEP (S&D, French) in response.
See the report voted on: https://aeur.eu/f/kcn (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)