The European People’s Party, the social democrats and liberals have agreed to postpone, which are being examined this Tuesday before the European Parliament, to do them all together and when the hearings have concluded. That is, vote on the suitability of all vice presidents. The pact seeks to ensure that no group can take as hostage to an applicant to ensure that the one his party has nominated is approved. Parliamentary hearings end tonight. In principle, the evaluations will take place a few hours later, this Wednesday morning at the earliest, according to sources from various parliamentary groups. However, the Spanish Popular Party, which is maneuvering against, designated as first vice president for Just, Clean and Competitive Transition and in charge of Competition, is pressuring the European conservatives to make the delay longer; even next week, according to parliamentary sources.
Despite everything, there is still a lot of confusion among parliamentary groups about when the evaluations will take place. By procedure, nothing can be blocked or postponed until the group coordinators meet to discuss the vice presidents in their initial evaluation, several sources point out. An appointment that, according to the rules, should take place this Wednesday, since it must be made within 24 hours of the candidate’s hearing. However, for the moment everything is postponed “until further notice,” sources say.
The PP is moving to expand the margins, despite the fact that (also the EPP) is in a hurry to approve the new European Commission in a turbulent and very delicate international context for the European Union. The German conservative, who has cleared her agenda to focus on parliamentary hearings, could hit the table if the delay is great. Von der Leyen appeared unexpectedly at the European Parliament this Tuesday afternoon, even before the hearings had ended, and met with some group leaders, such as the social democrat Iratxe García or the liberal Valérie Hayer. The atmosphere is tense.
Popular sources say that it would be desirable for Ribera to give explanations in Congress before the evaluation – he has a scheduled appearance on November 20 – but they do not confirm when or if the date for the evaluations in Brussels has been set. If successful, this initiative would mean that national politics would set the agenda of the European Parliament. The idea of postponing the global decision for so long—until next week, which is not in accordance with the preliminary agreements—has caused great discomfort among the rest of the parliamentary groups, but it would be a formula by the German conservative Manfred Weber to give an advantage to their Spanish colleagues in the parliamentary group, whatever happens next in the evaluations. The EPP is the majority group in the European Parliament and has a very important key in the negotiation. “Today, Ribera is not moving forward, the PP and the EPP are going to prevent it,” say PP sources, who accuse the socialists of holding the rest of the vice presidents “hostage.”
Given the possibility that the PP and EPP block Ribera, the social democrats warn of a domino effect. “We are not going to approve anyone until Ribera is approved,” warn sources from the social democratic group.
The logistics of Parliament are not simple. MEPs usually travel to their home territories on Thursdays, so if a decision is not reached before that day, everything will have to be delayed until next week. Delaying the evaluations until then, if there is no stumbling block by any of the commissioners, would still give time for the vote of the entire Commission to be held in the last November plenary session in the European Parliament. But it would put its six vice presidents, who appear this Tuesday, in trouble, and it would be a stormy start for the new community Executive. All very much in keeping with the political times we are experiencing in Europe, with a European Parliament leaning to the right in which the traditional conservatives have broken the cordon sanitaire and are increasingly closer to the extreme right.
Ribera, who is called to be the strong woman Von der Leyen, with the most powerful portfolio, would be one of the great losers of this delay. His appointment has been surrounded by noise from the Spanish opposition. But also the Italian Raffaele Fitto, appointed by the far-right Giorgia Meloni and whom the EPP has taken as if he were a member of its group, could be one of the victims, although the conservatives and the extreme right would have the numbers to approve him directly. , without the need for other groups. The Social Democrats do not like that Fitto has been appointed as one of the European vice presidents and had raised objections to this. Despite everything, the big piece of the whole puzzle is the Spanish Ribera.
In statements in the Senate, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has accused the PP of “irresponsibility, lack of loyalty and patriotism” for torpedoing the candidacy of Teresa Ribera for vice president of the European Commission and has stressed that What Spain and the EU need at this time is “unity” and for the Community Executive to be launched as soon as possible, reports Miguel Gonzalez.
