European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal for a new college of commissioners did not go down well with the governing coalition parties in her home country on Tuesday, despite them previously backing a second von der Leyen-led executive.
In Germany, von der Leyen drew ire for nominating Italy’s Europe minister, Raffaele Fitto, as one of the six coveted executive vice president roles, although these still need parliamentary approval. Fitto hails from the hard-right Fratelli d’Italia party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“Thanks to our Green votes, von der Leyen was elected in July, while the far right rejected her,” said Terry Reintke, the German leader of the European Greens. Von der Leyen must “stay on her centre course and not suddenly slide to the right,” she added.
Rasmus Andresen, another German lawmaker from her group, said it was “completely incomprehensible” that “a right-wing extremist party” would get the coveted post.
Von der Leyen’s appointment had depended heavily on German support, and her centrist majority in the European Parliament continues to do so.
The European Parliament approved her nomination in July, partly with the help of the German-dominated European Greens and most of the EU’s S&D group, which includes MEPs from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD/S&D).
Earlier, Scholz had agreed that EU leaders should again nominate von der Leyen (CDU/EPP) for the Commission despite her being a member of the CDU, the main centre-right opposition party.
However, he had made it a condition that von der Leyen should not seek formal cooperation with the hard right.
The head of the SPD delegation to the European Parliament, René Repasi, also warned that von der Leyen would lose credibility if she appointed an Italian as her deputy, given that his boss and his party had voted against her both among EU leaders and in the European Parliament.
He also noted that only 40% of the commissioners were female, contrary to von der Leyen’s promise to restore gender parity.
Meanwhile, von der Leyen’s own party celebrated the new party balance of power in the Commission.
Gunther Krichbaum, the CDU’s leading MEP on European affairs, welcomed the fact that “Commissioners belonging to the European People’s Party (EPP) will be responsible for the topics of prosperity, security, migration and agriculture, which are important for Europe.”
