Socialists warn von der Leyen: “Words are no longer enough, we want action”

Brussels – The increasingly evident rifts in the majority supporting Ursula von der Leyen took centre stage at the customary meetings of the main European political parties preceding the summit of the EU heads of state and government, which is taking place today (26 June) in Brussels. After the European Commission bowed to the will of the right-wingers by announcing the withdrawal of the law on environmental claims, socialists and liberals are licking their wounds. And they try to react.

Trying to sound the charge, already last night, was Elly Schlein, the Dem secretary, in the Belgian capital for the Summer School of the Democratic Party and to attend the meeting with the other leaders of the European socialist family. “Our votes are not guaranteed, and I assure you that our votes count. Our group is strongly critical of this Commission at the moment,” Schlein warned. The S&D group leader in the European Parliament, Iratxe García Pérez, informed colleagues of the tête-à-tête she had with von der Leyen to see if the rift was mendable.

“A constructive meeting,” the Spanish socialist called it, but she made it clear: “At the same time, today, as social democrats, we can say that words are not enough. We want action, we want political decisions, and we will work to defend our priorities.” A timid ultimatum, addressed not so much to von der Leyen as to her party, the PPP, which, strong in the current composition of the EU Parliament, calls the shots. “We cannot continue with this strategy of the populars negotiating policies with the extreme right and asking us to be responsible with our positions,” Garcia Perez added.

A few kilometres away, at the Renew Liberal meeting, the same wounded pride. “The Commission’s choice to block the Green Claims directive, under pressure from the EPP and the extreme right, is a very serious fact: a betrayal of its institutional role and of the coalition that supported it,” attacked Sandro Gozi, MEP and secretary general of the European Democratic Party. Gozi called for an “urgent political clarification, both among the democratic forces and with the Commission itself” and promised that the liberal family “will not stand idly by.”

The two groups, which in the last legislature were firmly at the helm of the European Parliament together with the Populars, and are now struggling to harness the more conservative instincts within the Christian-Democratic group, addressed a letter to the president of the European Parliament (also a Popular). The group leaders García Pérez and Valérie Hayer asked Roberta Metsola to raise the issue of respect for the “principle of loyal cooperation”—trampled on by the European Commission by deciding to scuttle a bill that was almost in the home stretch—not only with von der Leyen, but in her speech at today’s European Council meeting, in the presence of the heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries.

Metsola reportedly did not mention the issue in her speech, preferring to address it privately before the start of the proceedings with some of the leaders present. Meanwhile, after the earthquake caused by the Commission’s announcement and the cancellation of the third round of negotiations on the law between the co-legislators, the Polish presidency of the EU Council decided to continue the consultations between the member states and to coordinate the next steps with Denmark, which will take over the leadership of the 27 from 1 July. Italy confirmed that it would no longer support the proposal, effectively blocking the Council’s negotiating position.

“We did well,” said Vice-Premier Antonio Tajani from the European People’s Party’s pre-summit this morning, “because we have a duty to protect small and medium-sized enterprises.” The Forza Italia leader set Schlein and the allies of the ‘Ursula majority’ straight: “The socialists cannot decide what the line of European policy should be. The Socialists have their own position. The first political force is the EPP, which is against.”

Von der Leyen should watch her back: the far right is preparing a motion of no confidence

Paradoxically, those plotting to dethrone von der Leyen do not come from the progressive wing of Parliament. They come from within the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, with which the EPP has increasingly solidified its alliance: Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea has already collected 74 signatures to call for a motion of no confidence in the European Commission over the Pfizergate scandal. The list, published by Euractiv, includes 32 signatories from the ECR and others from the far-right Patriotic and Sovereignist groups and a handful of non-attached members. There is also one MEP from the European People’s Party. The signatures collected already exceed the threshold required to table the motion, set at one tenth of MEPs. To be approved, it would need to be supported by two-thirds of the House.

This is a golden opportunity for socialists and liberals, but Garcia Pérez immediately shut down the discussion and pressed the Popular Party: ‘We will never vote in favour of the far right’s proposal. Perhaps you should ask the EPP if they will, because they usually vote with the far right.’