Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election dilemma: move right or go green?

This article was originally published in English

As Ursula von der Leyen seeks support from MEPs in her bid for a second term as President of the European Commission, His European People’s Party does not plan to expand the three-party centrist alliance with the Socialists and Democrats and the liberal Renew group.but one way or another she might need the support of the Greens or the hard right.

A senior EPP source told Euronews that:“There will be no formal inclusion of the Greens in the alliance”.

This information was confirmed by a spokesperson for the centre-right group. “We have a coalition with Renew and the Social Democrats, so it is up to Ursula von der Leyen to negotiate support outside of this coalition.”the spokesman said.

“If she wants to negotiate with the Greens or the ECR, that’s her business, not ours”he adds.

But the word “coalition” is perhaps a bit strong to describe the nature of the cooperation between the three largest groups in Parliament, even if it is often used.

When Ursula von der Leyen reached out to the S&Ds and Renew immediately after the announcement of the EPP victory in the European elections on 9 June, she spoke not of a coalition, but of a “platform”.

“This platform worked well, it was reliable, constructive and efficient”she said.

For the Greens, any alliance with the extreme right is unthinkable

Green Party co-chairs Bas Eickhout and Terry Reintke met with her on Monday and made it clear that:They would not support her if she made any agreement with the extreme right..

Since their first meeting a few days after the election, the Greens have been saying that the Commission president cannot count on the support of the three major centrist parties alone to secure a second term.

It is no secret that the figurehead of the European Green Deal is far from unanimous, even among some factions of his own political group – and the confirmation vote to be held at a plenary session from 16 to 19 July will be a secret ballot.

Ursula Von der Leyen met with the leaders of the European Parliament’s political groups at a conference of presidents on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Bas Eickhout warned that The Commission president could also lose the support of the S&D if she were to move closer to the right-wing ECR group.or simply to the 24 members of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party who are part of it.

“We are all concerned about the future of European industry; Greens and EPP, let’s see how far we can go together – we might surprise you”said Bas Eickhout.

What programme for the next Commission?

The “platform” that Ursula von der Leyen speaks of is therefore in reality an agreement on the political orientations of the next Commission, which the current president has not yet finalised – just as the political groups on which it is counting have not yet presented their demands.

An S&D source dismissed the idea that any coalition was in sight, saying that current discussions were only about the political agenda for the next Commission.

A spokesperson for the centre-left group later confirmed that *he would never accept an alliance with “those who want to destroy the EU”whether it is ID or ECR*, echoing the group’s president, Iratxe García.

“We of course have our own demands regarding the future programme and policies”said the S&D spokesperson. “We are finalizing them and will present them in due course.”.

The liberal group Renew also pointed out thatno agreement had yet been reached with the EPP or the Commission President.

“This week we are working as a group to define our priorities and conditions for Ursula von der Leyen”said Clara de Melo Ponce, spokeswoman for the Renew group, on Wednesday. “We will inform him of this at our group meeting next week and we will listen to him to see what his commitments are.”.

Renew chairwoman Valerie Hayer said on election night that her group – which was defeated at the polls – was ready to lead a pro-European coalition if its conditions and ambitions were met.