It seems that the white smoke about the new European Commission is a little closer. Popular, socialists and liberals advance a three-way agreement in the European Parliament to unblock Von der Leyen’s new Executive, in such a way that Teresa Ribera is approved as the new vice president, as well as the other five candidates who are also waiting for the ‘yes’, the same as the Hungarian commissioner, Oliver Valerhyi . The “written” pact will also serve as a guide for the entire legislature in the European Parliament.
The parliamentary sources consulted by 20 minutes They point out that the final signature can take place this Wednesday, after Ribera appears in Congress to explain his management of the DANA, something that was a demand of the Spanish PP, until now it was completely closed to supporting “a European Commission that includes” the still vice president of the Government, even if that meant going against Von der herself They read. The green light to all the vice presidents en bloc, as well as Valerhyi will allow the Commission as a bloc vote in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg the week of November 25as planned.
The main doubt lies in whether this agreement should be put in writing or not, and sources assure that it would be a “roadmap” for the entire legislature, in such a way that the centrist bloc can be maintained in the European Parliament. This step comes after several days of a certain clash of arguments between Brussels and Madrid; of PPE and S&D on the one hand and PP and PSOE on the other, almost everything around Ribera but also with regard to the Italian Raffaele Fitto.
“The condition is that she resign if a judge prosecutes her”express parliamentary sources to 20 minutesemphasizing that this is the premise they give to support Ribera. “We doubt that they will prosecute her and given the speed at which the Spanish justice system works, it will be serious in more than 5 years and it will no longer be serious or a commissioner,” they add. The still vice president of the Government, on the other hand, continues to have a resounding ‘no’ from the Spanish PP for her to be the new vice president of the community Executive. “There is no chance that the Popular Party supports a community government in which Teresa Ribera is after everything that has happened in these two weeks,” said Dolors Montserrat, in the line also marked by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who even asked Pedro Sánchez for “responsibility” and the proposal of another candidate.
If Ribera does not retire (or is removed), The popular Spaniards want to force “a secret vote” by Ribera so that each party can position itself. This is also complex because the idea continues to be that the six vice-presidents of the new Commission are voted as a bloc. There is the game of crossed vetoes: if the Spanish one falls, the social democrats will not give their support to Fitto, so the entire College of Commissioners would go down. The most dramatic scenario would be that. In the PP, in fact, there are some voices who believe that Ribera will not make the cut “in any case”, but the subsequent domino effect would complicate things.
All in all, the EPP seems in a more ‘constructive’ position than the Spanish PP at this point. The arguments of community sources They imply that if Ribera accepts the conditions, everything will go ahead. On the other hand, Genoa is confident that Ribera will fall even if that means going against Von der Leyen. On the progressive side practically the same thing happens, but in the opposite sense: the socialist MEPs insist that “if Teresa falls, the entire Commission falls”, while from Moncloa the message is already coming out that their votes can go to Fitto if that helps Ribera get the yes vote too. This also involves the other designated commissioner of the radical right, the Hungarian Valerhyi, who is also waiting for the mess to be resolved.
“The EU cannot be plunged into instability with short-sighted cross vetoes. To protect Europe, out of responsibility, a functioning Commission is essential, which does not depend on the maneuvers of Trump and the extreme right,” explained sources from the Spanish Government. The fact that the six vice presidents of the Commission are voted as a bloc, Yes, it does not guarantee anything; the veto against Fitto comes because there is a veto against Ribera, not the other way around. In S&D they assume that the Italian had a good audience, so right now he is simply hostage to the Spanish mess. All this leads one to think that removing Ribera’s veto would imply removing Fitto’s, but in the opposite direction the same thing would not have to happen. However, this ‘kidnapping’ of the Von der Leyen Commission 2.0 zero is close to being resolved.