Feuding groups strike deal to back new EU top team

The European Parliament’s main political groups struck a deal Wednesday to greenlight the EU’s new executive team — including a controversial hard-right commissioner — after a week-long standoff threatened to derail the process.

Leaders of the centre-right European People’s Party, the centre-left Socialists and Democrats and centrist Renew agreed to back Ursula von der Leyen’s new European Commission, clearing the way for a parliament confirmation vote next week and a December start.

Senior lawmakers gave the go-ahead following late-night talks in Brussels to the seven commission members whose approval was still pending — including all six of its vice-presidents, the political groups involved confirmed.

Ensuring a swift handover at the EU’s helm is seen as critical as the bloc grapples with complex challenges — from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, to the economic threat from China and now the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House.

But the process hit a stalemate last week as lawmakers squabbled over several nominees, amid a broader tussle over the balance of power in parliament.

Centre and left groups were unhappy that Raffaele Fitto of Italy’s hard-right Brothers of Italy party was handed a vice presidency despite his political affiliation. His European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group did not support von der Leyen’s bid for a second term.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni celebrated Fitto’s confirmation as “worthy” of Italy’s “role as a founding country of the EU, the second largest manufacturer in Europe and the third largest economy on the continent”.

Wednesday’s deal hinged on Renew and the Socialists and Democrats obtaining an EPP pledge to uphold a “pro-European” majority in parliament, after it occasionally sided with the far right in recent months.

A three-way agreement shared with AFP states that the three leaders agreed to “cooperate” on a series of issues, including boosting Europe’s defence and competitiveness.

Renew said the deal secured a “shift back to a pro-European majority for this mandate” while the S&D called it an accord “reinforcing democracy and the values on which the European Union is based.”

– Flood spillover –

The standoff had seen the right, in turn, hold up the confirmation of Spain’s Teresa Ribera, a socialist tapped to become arguably the EU’s most powerful commissioner as competition chief with responsibility over a vast environmental portfolio.

They accused Ribera, a Spanish government minister, of mishandling deadly floods that hit the Valencia region — and demanded that before her nomination she address the parliament in Madrid, which she did on Wednesday.

Lawmakers on the left and centre also wanted to block the nomination of Hungary’s commission pick, Oliver Varhelyi, an ally of nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban.

Under the deal, Varhelyi obtained a green light but his portfolio was stripped of the sensitive matter of sexual and reproductive health, after his confirmation hearing failed to lift concerns over his stance on abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Despite Wednesday’s breakthrough, frustrations were still simmering among some on the left unhappy with Fitto’s role — and some defections during next week’s vote cannot be ruled out — although the outcome was in little doubt with the main forces on board.

Each of the EU’s 27 states gets to nominate one member to serve on the commission, the EU’s top executive body and one of the world’s most formidable regulators. (BSS/AFP)