Today Ursula von der Leyen goes to the count in Strasbourg with a fateful number in her head: 401. These are the votes with which she was re-elected president of the European Commission on 18 July last, by secret ballot. Its new college of commissioners will be voted on in plenary, by simple majority and by open vote. However, the European political landscape has undergone significant changes in recent months. One of the most important was the openness towards the ECR group, the European Conservatives and Reformists, of which Fratelli d’Italia is part, which will vote in its support since Fitto is both commissioner of the Pnrr and vice-president.
The president of the EU Commission has confidence and manages to include greens, socialists, liberals, EPP and ECR in her new majority. The Socialists are clear in declaring that the majority includes the Greens but not ECR. The Greens feel included in the coalition, but only partially. The EPP, then, through its group leader Manfred Weber, speaks of a European majority that goes “from the Greens to the ECR”, specifying that the pro-European front includes only a part of the ECR, or Brothers of Italy. In reality, Giorgia Meloni’s party will give its vote to today’s package, reserving the right to give its support in the future depending on the measures that will be launched by the new Commission.
Von der Leyen‘s other strategic move concerns the greens: he has in fact appointed former group leader Philippe Lamberts as special advisor on climate. At that point, half of the Green group, around twenty MEPs led by the German and Dutch delegations, chose to support the new Commission. The Italian, Belgian and French delegations instead opt for no. Difficult situation even among socialists. The group, led by the Spanish Iratxe García Pérez, decided to support the new Commission, taking a step back from the no to Raffaele Fitto, who many of them had described as an “exponent of a post-fascist force”. The Italian and Spanish delegations lead the yes front for von der Leyen, while the Germans, French and Belgians are divided between abstentions and votes against.
In Italy, meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s protests over the nomination of Raffaele Fitto as executive vice president have dissolved into a soap bubble. “Italians understand that having an executive vice president of the European Commission, a role never held before by Italy, with strategic delegations, is a great opportunity and reflects Italy’s role in Europe”, said Giorgia Meloni. According to breaking news reported by Ansa, however, the German SPD has decided to abstain. “For the first time in the history of EU institutions, a representative of a post-fascist party is about to obtain a leadership position. This was only possible because the President of the Commission proposed Raffaele Fitto to the prominent position of Vice President of the Commission, even if the family of his party, that is Ecr, did not vote for his nomination”, wrote the SPD delegation to the European Chamber, MEP Rene Repasi, in a note.
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How might Meloni’s Brothers of Italy’s conditional support impact the stability and effectiveness of von der Leyen’s coalition government?
## Heated Debate Over Ursula von der Leyen’s Re-Election and New Commission
**Interviewer:** Welcome to the show, Professor Rossi. Today we’re discussing the upcoming vote on Ursula von der Leyen’s new College of Commissioners in Strasbourg. As you know, she was re-elected President of the European Commission in July by a narrow majority. But her new team faces a diverse political landscape.
**Professor Rossi:** That’s right. Von der Leyen has skillfully managed to build a coalition spanning greens, socialists, liberals, the EPP, and even the ECR, the group Brothers of Italy belongs to. This is a significant shift, particularly the openness toward the ECR, a move heavily influenced by Raffaele Fitto’s appointment as Commissioner for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and Vice-President.
**Interviewer:** But this Strategic move has sparked friction within certain groups.
**Professor Rossi:** Absolutely. Socialists are divided.
Some, like the Italian and Spanish delegations, support von der Leyen despite reservations about Fitto, while others in Germany, France, and Belgium are leaning towards abstention or against. As for the Greens, half are onboard, energized by von der Leyen appointing their former leader Philippe Lamberts as a climate advisor.
However, Italian, Belgian, and French Green delegations are still hesitant.
**Interviewer:** So, it seems Von der Leyen is facing a delicate act of balancing these different ideologies.
**Professor Rossi:** Precisely. While she has secured the necessary votes, maintaining unity within this diverse coalition will be crucial, especially with Meloni’s Brothers of Italy reserving the right to withdraw support based on future Commission actions.
It’s a precarious situation. The biggest question is whether she can truly represent all these forces while simultaneously enacting her own agenda. Only time will tell if this expansive coalition can hold together and deliver for the European Union.
