Ursula von der Leyen appears increasingly secure as the continued chair of the EU Commission following the EU election.
However, there are many demands from both her own and other parties.
The election result is not yet clear – particularly in Ireland, where only 5 out of 14 members have been counted so far. Those who can gather now in the EU Parliament's premises in Brussels to discuss demands and wishes ahead of the battle that has already begun over who will do what in the Commission and Parliament after the election.
Some are satisfied and confident, such as the Christian Democratic conservative party group EPP, which hopes to appoint both von der Leyen as continued Commission chair and Roberta Metsola as re-elected speaker.
New Demands
We are the kingmakers. There is no alternative to working with EPP, either to the right or left, says group leader Manfred Weber to the Financial Times (FT).
As more and more people see von der Leyen's job as virtually secured, Weber is already making other demands.
I will not accept the agricultural commissioner being taken from any other party, he says to FT.
EPP is counting on support from the social democratic S&D and liberal RE.
Greens Want In
However, the Greens also want to take a seat in a majority coalition.
We are ready to compromise. We are pragmatic politicians. We have the same goal: we want a stable pro-European majority, says group leader Terry Reintke at a press conference in Parliament.
Even the far-right hopes for increased influence. Discussions are underway between several parties on how to strengthen their position. For example, the Austrian FPÖ is said to be pushing for the German AFD to regain a place in the party group ID.
The somewhat softer far-right group ECR, which includes the Swedish SD, has now been joined by three members from Croatia, Cyprus, and Latvia, making the group now claim to have 77 members – 8 more than before.
This is the preliminary distribution of seats in the newly elected EU Parliament (compared to the current situation in parentheses):
EPP (Christian Democratic conservative): 189 (+13)
S&D (social democrats): 135 (-4)
RE (liberals): 79 (-23)
ECR (EU-sceptic conservatives): 73 (+4)
ID (EU-hostile nationalists): 58 (+9)
The Greens/EFA (environmental parties and regionalists): 53 (-18)
GUE/NGL (left-wing): 36 (-1)
Non-attached: 45 (-17)
New and unclear: 52 (+52)
The final results are still only available from 15 of the 27 member states. Note that the figures – centrally from the EU Parliament – differ slightly from what the groups themselves count.
Source: EU Parliament.
