The day after the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) voted on the regulation on the return of irregular migrants, the European People’s Party (EPP) came under fire.
The adoption of the alternative text presented by François-Xavier Bellamy (French) to the detriment of that of the main rapporteur, Malik Azmani (Renew Europe, Dutch), is all the more decried as it was essentially supported by a majority of the right and extreme right (see EUROPE 13824/10). The changeover leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of Renew Europe and the left-wing groups, who believe that this is not a simple coincidence, but a manoeuvre designed to establish a “union of the right” at EU level.
Renew Europe fulminates, Malik Azmani must decide whether to withdraw from his report. At a press conference on Tuesday 10 March, French MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe), who is also a member of the LIBE Committee, did not hide her indignation. She readily accused Mr Bellamy of having pursued a “deliberate political strategy” and of having sought the support of the nationalist and anti-establishment right by co-signing compromises with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Patriots for Europe (PfE), and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN). The MEP was particularly outraged that the ‘Bellamy report’ had received the votes of the Alternative für Deutschland Party (affiliated to the ESN Group), a blow to the “pro-European central majority” which, in her view, had worked until then.
She was followed by Valérie Hayer, Chair of the Renew Europe Group in Parliament, who condemned an “unnatural” and “irresponsible” alliance with the most radical forces in the Chamber, saying that the EPP “turns to the far right every time it has the opportunity or there is a difficulty in the negotiations”. She also lashed out at the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), with whom an alliance was initially envisaged, but who, in her view, had not had “the clarity to assume their responsibilities” by accepting measures that would have resulted in a “balanced and fundamentally effective” text.
Apart from this game of ‘whose fault is it’, the main question is what Malik Azmani’s next move will be after this vote: will he withdraw from his own report, even if it means sealing a symbolic victory for the EPP, or will he stay on to defend his position in the forthcoming interinstitutional negotiations? Mrs Hayer declined to comment, saying that the rapporteur “needed time” to make up his mind on the subject.
Left-wing parties fight back. On the left, while the enthusiasm of the far right for the ‘Bellamy report’ came as less of a surprise, protests are already being organised. Manon Aubry (The Left, French) criticised on the X platform the EPP’s attempt to “push the text through negotiations without a vote by the whole Parliament, as if it were a mere technical formality”. The day before, speaking to a few journalists as he left the Chamber, Mr Bellamy was delighted to have “a mandate to start interinstitutional negotiations”, adding that he was not expecting “long or complicated” ‘trilogues’.
Mrs Aubry also interpreted the vote as a call to create “a European equivalent of ICE” (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement). This analysis is shared by Silvia Carta, advocacy officer for the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM): in a press release, she deplored the fact that these measures expose “hundreds of thousands of people” to “abusive searches” and the sharing of their personal data with third countries “without guarantees”.
The S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left Groups are all planning to lodge a formal objection to the negotiating mandate at the plenary session on Thursday 12 March, when the date for the Parliament vote on the report is due to be announced, according to our information. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)