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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What are the key priorities for the new von der Leyen Commission?
## Final Approval for Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission
**Host:** Welcome back to the show. Today we’re discussing the latest developments in the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen’s new cabinet received final approval from the European Parliament yesterday. Sarah, can you break down what this means and why it’s significant?
**Sarah:** Absolutely. This approval allows von der Leyen’s team to officially take office on December 1st [[1](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/11/27/ursula-von-der-leyens-new-commission-receives-final-approval-from-meps)]. This comes after a period of intense negotiation and political maneuvering. While she secured a comfortable majority in her reelection as President back in July, putting together a diverse and stable Commission proved to be challenging. We saw this play out with different political groups within the European Parliament expressing varying levels of support for the new pleasures.
**Host:** That’s right. We saw some interesting dynamics at play with the Greens and the ECR group.
**Sarah:** Precisely! Von der Leyen made some strategic moves to bring these groups on board. She appointed former Green group leader Philippe Lamberts as a special advisor on climate, which helped secure support from half of the Green MEPs. Regarding the ECR, which includes Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia party, their support came with a caveat – they’ll continue to assess von der Leyen’s policies and may adjust their stance accordingly. This highlights the complex web of political alliances and the need for careful balancing acts in European politics.
**Host:** So, despite some initial hesitations, the von der Leyen Commission is now officially ready to start its work. What are some key priorities on their agenda?
**Sarah:** The new Commission will face a number of pressing issues, including managing the ongoing economic recovery, tackling climate change, and addressing concerns over the rule of law in some member states. It will be interesting to see how von der Leyen and her team navigate these challenges and unite the diverse interests within the European Union.
**Host:** This certainly marks an important day for the European Commission. Sarah, thank you for shedding light on this complex situation.