The Party of European Socialists (PES) will not sit at the negotiating table for a pro-EU majority after the next European Parliament elections, if any member from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) or far-right Identity and Democracy is also present, according to Giacomo Filibeck, the PES secretary general told Euractiv in an interview.
“I have to be clear: The European People’s Party (EPP) can talk to whoever they want, but among those who will gather around the table for negotiations for a pro-European majority following the results of the next elections in the European Parliament, will not be ECR or ID people”, Filibeck warned.
He added that if individual MEPs from other groups want to “vote in the same way we vote, it’s them that have to justify this with their electorate, not us. Good luck. This doesn’t grant them any negotiating power”.
On Wednesday, the centre-right EPP will hold its congress in Bucharest, where Ursula von der Leyen is expected to be nominated to re-run for the European Commission’s presidency.
According to the latest projections, the EPP is expected to rank first with 180 seats, followed by the Socialists with 140 seats.
But discussions over post-election alliances have already started. EPP chief Manfred Weber, as well as von der Leyen, have said they are open to collaborating with ECR forces, such as Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia and Czechia’s ODS, as long as they respect the red lines: pro-EU, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law.
In an interview with Euractiv earlier this week, EPP Secretary General Thanasis Bakolas said there will be “healthy” elements in the 720-member EU Parliament who will support the EPP’s red lines.
“We need to look at who these political elements are and help them distinguish themselves from the far right”, he said.
Filibeck lashed out against the EPP stance, saying this “cherry-picking” approach was not helpful for the EU integration project.
“The ECR has people like Santiago Abascal (Spain’s Vox), who has been calling to hang Pedro Sánchez from his feet, [they] have Éric Zemmour – the new acquisition – who has been condemned for instigation to racial hate or PiS from Poland that has been opposing women’s right to abortion”.
“I could continue the list. Regarding ID, I don’t even want to mention German AfD’s deportation plan of millions of people just because they have a different colour of their skin”, Filibeck said.
“If these are the people that they are sitting together in the same political group, in the same political family, and you want to cherry-pick them, because maybe today they are pro-Ukraine or pro-NATO, I’m very sorry. This is not the way we will advance in the European integration project. This is not a serious way”, the socialist official noted.
Meloni joining the EPP?
In what many described as a clear reference to Meloni, who is also the chair of ECR, von der Leyen recently stated, “We do not know who is forming the ECR after the elections, what groups will leave ECR and, for example, join EPP, which is also possible.”
Asked about the possibility of Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia joining the EPP, Filibeck commented:
“I can understand a lot of things in the name of realpolitik, but I can’t imagine how it would be possible for the EPP to accept in their family a party leader who still fails to declare herself anti-fascist […] It will be surprising, considering the political history of the movement that Giorgia Meloni represents.”
Filibeck noted that the EPP will decide, but they will have to bear the consequences: “If this is their plan, then I think it’s fair to say so very clearly, officially and transparently to their voters now, not afterwards. I don’t think they can fool people.”
He stressed that Meloni is the ECR chief and, therefore, is fully responsible for who sits with her under the same roof.
“So, for PES, for the next five-year institutional cycle, there will be no cooperation, no negotiations whatsoever on policies with ECR and ID,” he said, adding that he is “fully convinced” about the formation of a pro-EU coalition as long as the EPP remains a stable pro-European force.
EPP ‘confused’ over Green Deal
Filibeck strongly defended the Green Deal, saying EU socialists have consistently invented and advanced it, which is not the case for the EPP.
“At the beginning, they agreed with us. Ursula von der Leyen made it the flagship of her own mandate. And now we see in this past 1,5 years that her group in the parliament (EPP) and then herself backtracking on different pillars of the Green Deal […] He said they are confused and scared and don’t have a clear view of where to stand for”.
“I would dare to say that it may be easier for the EU to reach net zero before the EPP finally gets clarity on where they stand”, he noted, expressing his “hope” that the EPP will clarify its position at the Bucharest congress.
Referring to farmers’ protests and the EPP attempt to claim that it’s the “agriculture party”, Filibeck said in 1985 was the last time the EU socialists had an agriculture commissioner.
“After that, it has always been a conservative, maybe one liberal in between”.
“Who really shaped in the past decades the Common Agricultural Policy? Now they are trying to claim that we need to support agriculture, that they are the agricultural party, and they are protesting against policies they decided in the past”, he noted.
Filibeck explained that the Green Deal is needed to avoid the European fields being transformed into dry soils, but this transition needs to be accompanied by the social justice aspect, otherwise it won’t work.
“Do farmers need help? Yes. Should we give them help? Yes, for sure”.
“So first, it was Timmermans who was embodying this ambition, which was also transformative for our political family to embrace the great challenge of climate change and global warming, and then today, in the implementation phase, Schmit is embodying this profile of combining this permanent challenge with the social aspect”.
Asked whether keeping the Green Deal portfolio is a red line for socialists, he replied:
“We don’t have red lines on the posts because this is not what matters for us. What matters for us is the red line on policies. We cannot hit pause on the Green Deal because there are problems within the major political group in the European Parliament or among member states, as global warming is not waiting for us or the polls. So, this is a clear red line”.
Key portfolios
In his interview with Euractiv, EPP Secretary General Bakolas said everybody agrees that the EPP will take the EU Commission Presidency and that the EPP will keep key portfolios in steady hands.
For Filibeck, his centre—right counterpart was “a bit hyperbolic if not borderline disrespectful for voters”.
“To say that you have the prerogative on this or that portfolio, sorry, I’m afraid it’s a bit too early to say. I know that polls are there, but I will never do politics if I would only trust polls”, he said, citing Spain, Portugal and Germany national elections where the polls proved wrong.
Attacking Borrell, Michel was not ‘wise’
In his interview, Bakolas criticised European Council chief Charles Michel and High Representative Josep Borrell, saying they prioritised their personal ambitions.
Commenting on these remarks, Filibeck called on the EPP to be “wise”.
“Attacking the High Representative or even the president of the Council at this time, when we are surrounded by real enemies of the EU and what the EU stands for, is not a wise thing. It’s dangerous because it’s delegitimising the values we stand for”.
“These figures, once they assume the position they take, they go beyond their party political affiliation. They become the face and voice of the European Union”, he added.
Filibeck also noted that for years, the EU socialists, from Federica Mogherini to Josep Borrell, have been advancing the EU defence structures in close complementary relations with NATO.
“In this past ten years, we have built tools for our defence forces to work together. Now treaties will have to be changed if we want to step up the defence mechanism and capacity in Europe […] we are ready to discuss it”.
He added that additional spending in defence is needed but not by cutting on social policies.
“We need to spend better: joint procurement, closer intelligence cooperation, cybersecurity, protection of infrastructure”, he said.
“We have a strong defence industry in Europe. We should build on that. We are calling for a Made in Europe Strategy, and defence has a place there,” he concluded.
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com – Edited by Alice Taylor)
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Source: euractiv.com
