“It was an intense hour.” These are the first words of Ursula von der Leyen following the meeting with the ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) delegation to test the waters ahead of tomorrow’s plenary session. The President of the Commission, seeking reconfirmation, can count on 399 votes, 38 more than the necessary majority, but the sword of Damocles of the snipers is still hanging over her head. Also because historically, with the secret ballot, there has always been a quota of regarding 10% of “defections”. For this reason, Ursula has held a series of consultations with the various groups to understand their orientation. Yesterday it was the turn of the conservatives. The first to speak was Carlo Fidanza who asked the President for a “radical change of pace on the Green Deal, overcoming the ideological approach that characterized the legislature just ended, respect for technological neutrality, safeguarding the competitiveness of our companies.” Also because, as Fidanza underlined, the vote of June 9th sanctioned the victory of those parties that criticized the implementation of the Green Deal. For her part, Ursula explained that the Green Deal is part of her new program for the next 5 years but “the transition must be fair otherwise it will not work”.
The issue of migrants was also discussed during the meeting. Fidanza credited von der Leyen for “having been able to resist the pressure from the left that tried to boycott the agreements with Tunisia and Egypt” and hoped that “the path traced by Giorgia Meloni will continue, with new agreements with African countries to stop departures and defeat the trafficking mafias”. On this dossier, the President of the Commission encountered strong opposition from Eastern European countries that are once morest the implementation of the mandatory redistribution system of migrants, preferring more rigid solutions to manage migratory flows. The same goes for von der Leyen’s positions on security and defense. The proposal for a common European defense has not convinced many member states that believe that the creation of parallel defense structures within the EU might weaken Europe’s overall defense capacity. It is clear that the conservatives have no interest in releasing their reservations in view of the plenary, in an attempt to obtain a weighty position for Italy. However, von der Leyen did not commit herself on this, stating that, at the moment, her intention is to nominate a “vice president” of the EU executive who “coordinates” the work to “reduce bureaucracy in Europe”. From EU sources it would seem that at the moment the ECR group is more inclined to vote once morest the reconfirmation of von der Leyen, but Giorgia Meloni’s position is awaited. Identity and Democracy (of which the League is part) will also say no to Ursula bis, which instead will obviously be able to count on the support of the European People’s Party (of which Forza Italia is part).
#negotiations #Melonis #conditions #Von #der #Leyen #Tempo
2024-07-17 19:04:40
