Far-right ECR group gets powerful Commission post, stirring Parliament

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to appoint Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, from Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right party, as one of the six powerful executive vice-presidents (EVPs) has been criticised by moderates who backed her reappointment in the European Parliament.

Von der Leyen proposed Fitto as executive vice-president for Cohesion and Reforms on Tuesday when she unveiled her new dream team for the next five years after weeks of negotiations that saw her balance gender, political affiliation and geography.

But Iratxe García, the Socialist leader in the Parliament, said the appointment “does not meet the demands of our political family”, claiming that the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group was not part of the majority backing von der Leyen for another term.  

Neither Socialists and Democrats nor EU liberals see Fitto’s appointment as a “red line” for withdrawing support for von der Leyen’s commission, but Fitto will need MEPs’ approval to get the job.   

“We have already warned of this political decision by Ursula von der Leyen. She has confirmed it. We take note of that. Now it’s time for the hearings and we will make real demands on Mr Fitto,” French MEP Valérie Hayer, leader of the EU Liberals, told a press conference in Strasbourg.   

Competence, independence from national member states and a pro-European commitment will be three key requirements for Hayer’s Liberal group, she said.   

The Greens/EFA group, on the other hand, believes that rewarding Italy’s hard right with a vice-presidency could push the Commission further to the right and expressed doubts about other commissioner appointments, notably the Hungarian and Austrian candidates: Olivér Várhelyi and Magnus Brunner.    

“He [Várhelyi] didn’t perform very well in the previous term […] and also, as far as I know, he doesn’t know anything about animal welfare and health, so in that sense there are also concerns,” said MEP Bas Eickhout, co-president of the Greens/EFA group, adding that an Austrian conservative in charge of migration was also a big concern for them.   

The Left group welcomed the gender balance achieved by von der Leyen, but not so much the fact that this is the most right-wing European Commission ever and that Fitto has been given an EVP position.   

“This is unprecedented and I think it says something about today’s political orientation of the European Commission,” said French MEP Manon Aubry, co-leader of the left-wing party.  

The next steps will see the European Parliament preparing the so-called ‘commissioner hearings’, where each candidate will have to secure at least a two-thirds majority in the relevant European Parliament committee(s) to be approved – which won’t be an easy task for some.