Dinner dates and ‘flirting’: Europe’s biggest political parties try new tactic to save coalition
Manfred Weber, Iratxe García and their teams try to repair damage to avoid a rogue motion of censure against Ursula von der Leyen.
By MAX GRIERA
in Brussels
Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO
BRUSSELS — The leaders of Europe’s two biggest political parties are going on fancy dinner dates as they try to repair their frayed relationship.
Manfred Weber of the European People’s Party and Iratxe García of the Socialists and Democrats — plus 10 deputies each — went out for a meal in Strasbourg last month, according to five people who were there, and there will be more dates to come.
The idea is to stop the fighting between two traditional allies after a turbulent year in which they have clashed over everything from the EU’s migration policy to the Commission’s simplification agenda.
The first dinner date took place on Feb. 10 at the four-star Leonor Hotel in the center of Strasbourg, where a three-course meal can cost €85 per person, excluding wine. The EPP picked up the bill. The next one is expected in April.
Christophe Clergeau, vice-chair of the S&D, who was at the dinner, told POLITICO that the dinner had two main purposes: for the vice-chairs to get to know each other better, and to air grievances.
“It was necessary to have a frank and direct discussion … in a diplomatic way,” Clergeau said, adding that “there are problems … the game EPP plays with the far-right, the deregulation agenda of the Commission, the multiple initiatives weakening the Green Deal and social and environmental legislation.”
The dinner “was nice, it was very friendly and we agreed to send a message that we are a coalition and … we do like each other,” said Croatian EPP vice-chair Željana Zovko, another attendee, who joked that the groups “are flirting.”
The EPP and S&D have worked together for decades, voting alongside one another and sharing out the EU’s top jobs. But that alliance has started to fracture, as the 2024 EU election shifted the Parliament’s hemicycle to the right, with the EPP now voting through laws with the far-right Patriots group — home to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and France’s Marine Le Pen.
There’s also personal animosity between Weber and García, dating back to when the S&D chief (and the liberals) told Weber that she wouldn’t support his bid to become Commission president, a job that eventually went to Ursula von der Leyen. Manon Aubry, co-chair of The Left group in the Parliament, told POLITICO that the pair are like “two toxic exes.”
The aim of the dinner was to address these issues.
“The exchange was productive,” said S&D vice-chair Alex Agius Saliba, who attended the gathering. “We have always maintained that, during this parliamentary term, the pro-European alliance must do everything possible to remain effective. We believe that coordination is essential, and we are committed to continuing along this path.”
“We aim to explore how we can improve relations and do more things together,” said EPP vice-chair Siegfried Mureșan, who also went to the dinner. “We are not setting any unrealistic goals; rather, there is a general willingness to understand each other and to cooperate.”
“Group therapy” is how another of the lawmakers attending, granted anonymity to speak candidly, referred to the dinner, describing it as a game of “ping-pong” in which EPP and S&D members aired their grievances — albeit in a friendly manner. “It was good people willing to try to fix it.”
‘Political accidents’
In recent months, the EPP has voted through laws on toughening migration policy and cutting back green legislation with the right-wing and far-right groups in the Parliament.
Add in that a majority of governments in Europe are tilting to the right, and the S&D has been increasingly cut out of shaping the EU’s policy agenda. This has led them to harden their rhetoric against Weber and von der Leyen — with García accusing the Commission president of “buying into Trump’s agenda” and its “deregulation zeal.”
“There is also the feeling for some MEPs that if we do not spend more time exchanging and working together, there is a risk of a political accident in the next months … because there is a lack of trust between us,” said Clergeau.
Such an “accident,” Clergeau said, could be a Socialist boycott of key files — such as the EU’s long-term budget — or S&D support for a motion of no confidence in the von der Leyen Commission.
The Commission president has survived all four of the no-confidence motions tabled this term. But some lawmakers say the case for her removal remains.
She is “practically begging for a vote of no confidence,” Spanish MEP Jonás Fernández, who hails from García’s S&D party, said on Monday. He was referring to a speech von der Leyen made earlier that day, where she said: “Europe can no longer be a custodian for the old-world order, for a world that has gone and will not return.”
Senior S&D lawmakers have warned that frustration is growing among the ranks, and this could mean the group leadership being unable to control their MEPs. This already happened late last year when García and the EPP drew up a compromise on rules to slash green rules for businesses, only for many of her MEPs to vote against it.
Crossed fingers
Both the EPP and S&D leaders know that their relationship will likely never be the same again. EPP lawmakers are comfortable with voting for laws and setting the Parliament’s agenda with the right-wing majority.
Weber told POLITICO he “will not be stopped by anyone” in implementing the EPP’s program and argued that when the group has voted alongside the far right, it was not on “radical positions” and reflected the views of national governments and the European Commission.
The EPP voted with the right-wing bloc again on Monday on a bill allowing countries to establish deportation centers in non-EU countries, after negotiations failed among the centrist coalition. It is the latest in a string of laws and non-binding reports voted by the EPP with right-wing and far-right groups.
The S&D is slowly adapting to its new reality. At a group retreat on March 3, officials brainstormed how to improve internal coordination. The idea is to avoid lawmakers revolting against the group line, so García has a stronger hand when negotiating with Weber.
The retreat sought to make lawmakers think about “strengthening personal engagement, collective political judgement, internal trust and coordination, and our shared capacity to act effectively as a group,” according to an invitation letter sent to S&D lawmakers, seen by POLITICO.
“The emergence of an increasingly stable right-leaning majority, the shift towards modern communication strategies, the organized coordination between the EPP and far-right groups, and a more fragmented political landscape have altered both the space for influence and the conditions for cooperation,” the letter adds. “The effectiveness of the S&D Group depends not only on the strength of our policy positions, but also on how we work together internally.”
Following the retreat, García’s spokesperson, Andrea Maceiras, told POLITICO the group’s “next immediate political test will be the upcoming MFF interim report,” a reference to the EU’s long-term budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework.
The group aims to pressure the EPP on files where the right-wing bloc lacks consensus, such as the MFF, to leverage wins, according to two S&D officials, granted anonymity to speak about group positions.
While trust between the two groups needs repairing, the first dinner was seen by both sides as being such a success that another is being planned, with the S&D expected to choose the location and pay the bill.
“This time Socialists should host us, and it depends on the mood and financial capabilities,” Zovko said.
Dinner dates and ‘flirting’: Europe’s biggest political parties try new tactic to save coalition
Source: Viral Showbiz Pinay
0 Comments