The plenary session of the European Parliament approved this Wednesday the new Community Executive of Ursula von der Leyen, a Commission that will begin its mandate next Sunday, December 1, with seven vice-presidencies on its team, including the Just Transition for the Spanish Teresa Ribera and that of Cohesion for the ultraconservative Raffaele Fitto.
After overcoming a week of difficult negotiations with crossed vetoes, the plenary session meeting in Strasbourg (France) has confirmed its green light with a tight majority of 370 votes in favor, 282 against and 36 abstentions.
Von der Leyen’s team needed a simple majority of the votes cast in the session to move forward, which was guaranteed after the agreement sealed last week by the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Renew (RE) liberals for a “pro-European” agenda in the legislature. Also a majority of the Greens group and part of the ultra-conservatives of ECR advanced their support.ç
The Spanish PP votes ‘no’
In the absence of the roll-call vote being published, the Spanish PP and Vox announced that they will vote against of the Commission as a whole for their rejection of Ribera, while MEPs from Sumar, Podemos, BNG, EH Bildu, ERC, Compromís said they rejected the vice presidency for Fitto because they saw in it a turn towards the extreme right.
Popular sources confirmed the meaning of the vote after last week they announced that they would not support Von der Leyen’s new team, with whom they share a political family. by the mere presence of Ribera.
Genoa justifies its veto of Ribera in the management of DANA, since considers that it is the main person responsible for the tragedy due to the information provided by the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ) and the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) to the Generalitat Valenciana. Furthermore, he reproaches her for “disappearing” during the disaster and for being focused on her exam as European commissioner.
The Spanish PP tried to get the EPP to veto Ribera, but was unsuccessful. However, they were satisfied with the outcome of events. First, because they consider that the PSOE’s argument is weakened.
In the national leadership they agree that Feijóo is not in La Moncloa mainly because of the covenant of Government that the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, closed with Vox in the prelude to the general elections on July 23, 2023. Sánchez took advantage of this agreement to stir up fear to the arrival of the extreme right to the institutions.
The PP is already trying to exploit this rapprochement with Meloni and Orbán to combat this story. “He has opened the door of governability to the extreme right,” the sources consulted summarized last week, who compared Sánchez’s endorsement of the Italian Raffaele Fitto with the decision of the president of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, to enter his Government to Juan García-Gallardo, from Vox.
And, secondly, because they say that, By delaying Ribera’s appointment for a week, doubts about his management have been “internationalized” in the face of the catastrophe, which left at least 219 dead in Valencia. The EPP, in fact, wanted to include in its evaluation letter its demand that she resign if she is charged.
Adding to the doubts about DANA is that the alleged commission agent of the ‘Koldo case’ plot, Víctor de Aldama, said last week that he met with her on several occasions. Given this information, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, defended that Ribera should withdraw her candidacy, which she refused.
