European Parliament Election: May 23-26, 2019

[Velasco]

Horrible decision from the EU

While I wanted Timmermans (or Vestager I guess) why kill the spitzenkandidat process just to install another CDU politician?

I'd much rather have Manfred Weber over von der Leyen; at least that would give the EU a bit more democratic legitimacy and keep the spizenkandidat process alive for a couple more years.

I can only hope the EU parliament rejects this but it's probably not happening. Only silver lining seems to be Josep Borrell as "EU Foreign minister" (basically the top diplomat). He has done a good job, but still.

Borrell is a terrible choice. Imagine him trying to call out the likes of China for their behaviour in Hong Kong? They'll just show him the pictures of Spanish police's disproportionate response to Catalan "voters" in the sham referendum.

Actually the appointment of Josep Borrell is terrible news for the Cstalan separatists. Certainly the police's disproportionate response was a shame for Spain, slthough Borrell is not personally responsible for the incompetence of the Rajoy's Interior minister. However Josep Borrell is a man with a long career in Spain and Europe, as well as one of the smartest and more consistent opponents to separatism inside Catalonia.

From the EU perspective, the appointment of Borrell reflects the increasing weight of Spain. This is partly consequence of Brexit and the populist turn in Italy. Right now the Spanish government led by Pedro Sánchez is the main ally of the German-French axis and the main counterweight to Salvini in Italy, who is alligned with Trump and Putin.

But the failure of Frans Timmermans is also a failure for Pedro Sánchez,  who is now the de facto leader of the European socialdemocracy. I think that Timmermans faced fierce opposition from Salvini and the Visegrad group.

[DavidB.]

Not sure what the collaborationist, fiercely Nazi mayor of Antwerp during WWII has to do with Pedro Sanchez...

[Andrea]

Second ballot for Vice Presidents

Marcel KOLAJA (Czech Rep, Pirates) 426 ELECTED

Laura HUHTASAARI (Finland, True Finns) WITHDRAWN
Mara BIZZOTTO (Italy, Lega) 142

Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI (Poland, Civic Platform) 261

Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS (Greece, Syrza) 401 ELECTED

Fabio Massimo CASTALDO (Italy, 5 Stars) 284


Still one to be elected

Sassoli proposes an electronic vote. ID disagrees. Somebody else is in favour. They vote on how to vote. Electronic vote wins.

One MEP asks for a technical break of 10 minutes. Sassoli gives a 5 minutes break


And the 5 Stars guy wins leaving out ECR and I&D.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Uschi now has her own official Twitter account 😁 😂 🤣:

https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1146408775689129985

[Velasco]

Not sure what the collaborationist, fiercely Nazi mayor of Antwerp during WWII has to do with Pedro Sanchez...

Lol I wrote "Jan" instead of "Frans". Sorry for the lapsus

[Tender Branson]

MEPs' gender balance by country 2019 - Constitutive session:

Finland is the only country hat has a majority-female EU parliament delegation.

Several countries such as Austria have a 50-50 composition. In fact, Austria would have joined Finland with a majority-female delegation, but Petra Steger decided in the last minute to run again for parliament in September and the FPÖ replaced her with a guy next on the list.

Cyprus has a 100% male delegation.



The EU share of female MEPs is now up to 40% in total (higher than the 25% share in the US Senate or 23% in the US House):



https://election-results.eu/mep-gender-balance/2019-2024

[Former President tack50]

The EU share of female MEPs is now up to 40% in total (higher than the 25% share in the US Senate or 23% in the US House):

I mean, regarding this point it is worth noting that pretty much all EU member states (minus Ireland and Malta?) use party lists in order to elect their MEPs.

I am not sure how widespread this is, but at least here party lists have quotas (so you need at least 2 women and 3 men or viceversa in every group of 5 consecutive candidates so getting a mostly balanced parliament is not hard.

Not sure how accurate it is, but I remember some study or analysis finding out that women tend to do much better in parliamentary systems than presidential ones. There is a reason why (for example) the UK elected Thatcher all the way in 1979 while France or the US have not elected a female president (though interestingly France did elect a female PM once)

[Diouf]

The EU share of female MEPs is now up to 40% in total (higher than the 25% share in the US Senate or 23% in the US House):

I mean, regarding this point it is worth noting that pretty much all EU member states (minus Ireland and Malta?) use party lists in order to elect their MEPs.

I am not sure how widespread this is, but at least here party lists have quotas (so you need at least 2 women and 3 men or viceversa in every group of 5 consecutive candidates so getting a mostly balanced parliament is not hard.

Not sure how accurate it is, but I remember some study or analysis finding out that women tend to do much better in parliamentary systems than presidential ones. There is a reason why (for example) the UK elected Thatcher all the way in 1979 while France or the US have not elected a female president (though interestingly France did elect a female PM once)

Several countries have some kind of preferential voting. In some places, it is strictly open lists where only personal votes matter. In other places, you need to get a certain quota to break open the lists. But open lists should give fairly equal representation, as long as the parties run a fairly equal share of candidates.
The horrible FPTP system will tend to make it harder as there are strong incumbency effects, which is why I think the Thatcher example is more of a coincidence than a pattern. There were only 3% women in the British parliament in 1979, when the share was e.g. 23.5% in Denmark. You could argue that it would be slightly easier for someone to vote for their local male parliamentary candidate who would make Thatcher PM rather than voting directly for a woman as president, but I don't really think that difference matters a lot when party leaders are as prominent as they are in UK.

[Tender Branson]

But open lists should give fairly equal representation, as long as the parties run a fairly equal share of candidates.

Which they often don't do:

Until Kurz rode in and promised gender equality in the ÖVP (which still has not happened after the 2017 federal election, but in the 2019 EU election => the ÖVP-delegation is now majority female), the ÖVP and other parties would simply rank a lot of males to the first 10 or so electable spots, despite a lot of qualified women wanting to run. Mostly it had to do with incumbent men not willing to give up their seats in parliament which they occupied for the past 20 years or so ...

It seems this is changing now with the Me too ! movement and another good step in the right direction was the new campaign finance law that was passed in parliament yesterday, which will already apply in the September election, and which will grant a public financing bonus to parties with a female share of MPs of 40%+ in their future parliament groups ...

(I still think that the FPÖ won't care about this bonus and will still not present a 50/50 list for the upcoming election ... )

[Diouf]

But open lists should give fairly equal representation, as long as the parties run a fairly equal share of candidates.

Which they often don't do:

Until Kurz rode in and promised gender equality in the ÖVP (which still has not happened after the 2017 federal election, but in the 2019 EU election => the ÖVP-delegation is now majority female), the ÖVP and other parties would simply rank a lot of males to the first 10 or so electable spots, despite a lot of qualified women wanting to run. Mostly it had to do with incumbent men not willing to give up their seats in parliament which they occupied for the past 20 years or so ...

I think the Austrian example is not open lists, but closed lists (which can be broken by a large personal vote)? Otherwise it doesn't really make sense to talk about electable spots, as all spots are in principle equally electable on an open list. So yes, in closed list systems like this, the party leadership decides the most, while in open lists there is a big "responsibility" at the voters if the lists are fairly equal, and normally they would vote in a fairly equal share of women.

[Tender Branson]

But open lists should give fairly equal representation, as long as the parties run a fairly equal share of candidates.

Which they often don't do:

Until Kurz rode in and promised gender equality in the ÖVP (which still has not happened after the 2017 federal election, but in the 2019 EU election => the ÖVP-delegation is now majority female), the ÖVP and other parties would simply rank a lot of males to the first 10 or so electable spots, despite a lot of qualified women wanting to run. Mostly it had to do with incumbent men not willing to give up their seats in parliament which they occupied for the past 20 years or so ...

I think the Austrian example is not open lists, but closed lists (which can be broken by a large personal vote)? Otherwise it doesn't really make sense to talk about electable spots, as all spots are in principle equally electable on an open list. So yes, in closed list systems like this, the party leadership decides the most, while in open lists there is a big "responsibility" at the voters if the lists are fairly equal, and normally they would vote in a fairly equal share of women.

Theoretically, we have an open-list system - but practically, the preference vote system to move candidates up the list was never really promoted to the public and therefore the voters don't really use it. Result: Only the frontrunners and maybe 1 or 2 others get enough preference votes, because only they have the necessary name ID to achieve it. Some unknown candidate will never really achieve to be promoted upwards the list - unless that candidate runs a smart social media campaign or something.

Aware of that situation, the Greens and NEOS use party list primaries - so that their lists are more balanced.

[Diouf]

Tusk is asking the countries to name a few Green commissioners. "I will appeal to all my partners to involve the Greens in the nominations, even though there is still no European Council leader from this party. I am fully confident that cooperation with the Greens and their presence in the EU decision-making bodies will benefit not only the governing coalition, but Europe as a whole.”
I'm not exactly sure how the procedure for naming the commissioner is in Lithuania, but with a government led by Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, it would be logical if they named a Green commissioner. Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg also have Greens in government, although Finland has already nominated a Social Democrat. There are also Greens in the French government (and perhaps in Belgium next?). Climate and Environment commissioners would be obvious for Green representatives.

Other rumours about commissioner roles.
"Conte gets in exchange for the support to the package a vice presidency of the Commission and the competition portfolio. The Italian Commissioner will be appointed by right-wing party Lega. “They got a lot of valuable political figures. I don’t see any difficulty to find the best person for the job”.
Sefcovic should get a vice-presidency as well. Apparently Merkel told Tspiras that Greece could keep the migration Commissioner, but hopefully there will be a change in government soon, so that doesn't happen. Nea Demokratia should be more interested in Energy portfolios. Croatia wants Regional Policy, Slovenia looking for Enlargement, Czechia wants Trade or Internal Market. The most concrete is Bulgaria wanting to re-nominate Mariya Gabriel, and her to stay as Digital Commissioner.

https://omeuropa.se/eu-topparna-har-en-tom-stol-for-de-grona-svenskt-dromlage-for-isabella-for-brussels/

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/member-states-eye-eu-commission-portfolios/

[DavidB.]

Slovenia looking for Enlargement
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/member-states-eye-eu-commission-portfolios/

Enlargement is a minefield for Slovenia. Not necessarily a smart decision with France and the Netherlands' unwavering opposition to enlargement, which means a Slovenian will have to sell the WB6, situated in the country's vicinity, a "no" for five years. This is also why Bulgarian PM Borisov didn't want Georgieva to become High Representative. And the accession process of the WB6 is already contentious given that they are highly dissatisfied with the lack of progress. Though few of them deserve it: Serbia is sliding into authoritarianism, Albania's opposition is still boycotting elections, Montenegro has a less-than-kosher strongman, North Macedonia has got a long way to go, Kosovo should first come to an agreement with Serbia (and has a gazillion other problems), and Bosnia is as paralyzed as ever.

[parochial boy]

Going back to the results, I was looking at some of the French departments where either RN or LREM were pushed out of the top two.

Just in  metropolitan France, RN were pushed into third by EELV in:

Paris
Hauts-de-Seine
Val-de-Marne
Yvelines
Ille-et-Vilaine
Rhône
Haute-Savoie

Which conforms to clichés a bit, but notable that the list excludes Seine-Saint-Denis; and includes Rhône and, especially, Haute-Savoie - which were among the FN's best back in the 80s/90s

LREM were beaten by LR in
Haute-Loire

And by EELV in
Haute-Corse
Corse-du-Sud

So basically a rural, catholic LR stronghold and... a somewhat unique island

[MaxQue]

Going back to the results, I was looking at some of the French departments where either RN or LREM were pushed out of the top two.

Just in  metropolitan France, RN were pushed into third by EELV in:

Paris
Hauts-de-Seine
Val-de-Marne
Yvelines
Ille-et-Vilaine
Rhône
Haute-Savoie

Which conforms to clichés a bit, but notable that the list excludes Seine-Saint-Denis; and includes Rhône and, especially, Haute-Savoie - which were among the FN's best back in the 80s/90s

LREM were beaten by LR in
Haute-Loire

And by EELV in
Haute-Corse
Corse-du-Sud

So basically a rural, catholic LR stronghold and... a somewhat unique island

More importantly, Haute-Loire is the department of Wauquier, the LR leader.
For Corse, Régions et Peuples Solidaires (a national alliance of regionalist parties) is allied with EELV and had candidates on the list, including a Corsican nationalist in 8th (he got elected).

[Helsinkian]

In an interview with Finnish media, MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP) justified excluding the eurosceptic groups from committee chairmanships on the grounds that their MEPs did not stand for the "national anthem", meaning the Ode to Joy that was performed at the Parliament's opening session, and therefore did not "behave properly".

I find it interesting that the PC crowd who cheer Kaepernick and other Americans for not standing for the Star-Spangled Banner nevertheless view the EU flag and the "EU national anthem" to be so sacred that not standing for them is viewed as akin to treachery.

[Andrea]

Parliamentary Committee Chairs elected this afternoon



Foreign Affairs:  David McAllister (Germany, CDU)

Agriculture and Rural Development: Norbert Lins (Germany, CDU) defeats Maxette Pirbakas (France, RN)

Budgets:  Johan Van Overtveldt (Belgium, NVA) 

Culture and Education: Sabine Verheyen (Germany, CDU)

Development:  Tomas Tobé (Sweden, Moderates)

Economic and Monetary Affairs:  Roberto Gualtieri (Italy, PD)

Employment and Social Affairs: post-poned  Beata Szydlo (Poland, Law and Justice) is rejected 27 to 21 votes.

Environment, Public Health and Food Safety:  Pascal Canfin (France, LREM) 

Internal Market and Consumer Protection: Petra De Sutte (Belgium, Greens) 

International Trade:  Bernd Lange  (Germany, SPD) 

Industry, Research and Energy: Adina-Ioana Vălean (Romania, National Liberal Party)

Legal Affairs: Lucy Nethsingha (UK, LibDems) defeats Gilles Lebreton (France, RN) 15 to 6 votes

Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs:  Juan F López Aguilar (Spain, PSOE) 

Regional Development: Younous Omarjee (France, La France Insoumise) 

Transport and Tourism:  Karima Delli (France, Greens) 

Constitutional Affairs: Antonio Tajani (Italy, Forza Italia)

Fisheries: Chris Davies (UK, Libdems)

Petitions:  Dolors Montserrat (Spain, PP)

Women’s Rights and Gender Equality: Evelyn Regner (Austria, SDP)

Budgetary Control:Isabel García Muñoz (Spain, PSOE)

Human Rights (Subcommittee):  Marie Arena (Belgium, Parti Socialiste)

Security and Defence (Subcommittee): Nathalie Loiseau (France, LREM)

[Zinneke]

Again Eastern Europe seems unrepresented a lot to me. More and more like a Franco-German, tripartite stitch up.

I don't like Zaradil's politics by why can't someone like him get a strong committee or the EP President role. He seemed fair and balanced during his campaign. Whether we like it or not his views on the range the EU has represent a vast swathe of the opinions of Europeans on integration, and I'm not talking about the vocal minority of political arsonists, just those opposed to Lisbon and further integration. I guess ECR being steered by the UK conservatives doesn't help.

And honestly watching Von Der Leyen court ECR then immediately hope over to S&D and promise them some stuff...I have a sneaky feeling she's engaging in overstretch.

[Andrea]

In the Employment and Social Affairs committee, S&D asked for a secret vote. EPP opposed and reminded to respect the agreement based on De Hondt. Renew Europe backed the secret ballot.

Vice-Chairs

Committee on Foreign Affairs
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Witold Jan WASZCZYKOWSKI (ECR, PL)
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Vice-Chairs will be elected at a forthcoming meeting

Subcommittee on Security and Defence
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Kinga GÁL (EPP, HU). Secret ballot: 17 in favour, 8 against
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Özlem DEMIREL (GUE/NGL, DE)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Lukas MANDL (EPP, AT)


Subcommittee on Human Rights
1st Vice-Chair: Ms Irina VON WIESE (Renew Europe, UK)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Hannah NEUMANN (GREENS/EFA, DE)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Karoline EDTSTADLER (EPP, AT)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Raphaël GLUCKSMANN (S&D, FR)

Committee on Development
1st Vice-Chair: Ms Pierrette HERZBERGER-FOFANA (Greens/EFA, DE)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Norbert NEUSER (S&D, DE)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Chrysoula ZACHAROPOULOU (Renew Europe, FR)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Erik MARQUARDT (Greens/EFA, DE)

Committee on International Trade
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Jan ZAHRADIL (ECR, CZ)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Anna-Michelle ASIMAKOPOULO (EPP, EL)
4th Vice-Chair: Ms Marie-Pierre VEDRENNE (Renew Europe, FR)

Committee on Budgets
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Janusz LEWANDOWSKI (EPP, PL)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Olivier CHASTEL (Renew Europe, BE)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Margarida MARQUES (S&D, PT)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Niclas HERBST (EPP, DE)

Committee on Budgetary Control
1st Vice-Chair: Ms Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ (S&D, ES)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Caterina CHINNICI (S&D, IT). She beats Matteo Adinolfi (ID, IT) by 18 to 7
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Martina DLABAJOVÁ (Renew Europe, CZ)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Tamás DEUTSCH (EPP, HU). Elected in secret ballot by 11 votes to 6 with 3 abstentions

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Luděk NIEDERMAYER (EPP, CZ)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Stephanie YON-COURTIN (Renew Europe, FR)
3rd Vice-Chair: Mr Derk Jan EPPINK (ECR, NL)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr José GUSMÃO (GUE/NGL, PT)

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Bas EICKHOUT (Greens/EFA, NL)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Seb DANCE (S&D, UK)
3rd Vice-Chair: Mr Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI (EPP, RO)
4th Vice-Chair: Ms Anja HAZEKAMP (GUE/NGL, NL)

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI (ECR, PL)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Morten PETERSEN (RE, DK)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Patrizia TOIA (S&D, IT)
4th Vice-Chair: Ms Lina GALVEZ MUÑOZ (S&D, ES)

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Pierre KARLESKIND (Renew Europe, FR)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Maria GRAPINI (S&D, RO)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Róża THUN (EPP, PL)
4th Vice-Chair: Ms Maria Manuel LEITÃO MARQUES (S&D, PT)

Committee on Transport and Tourism
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Johan DANIELSSON (S&D, SE)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Sven SCHULZE (EPP, DE)
3rd Vice-Chair: Mr István UJHELYI (S&D, HU)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Jan-Christoph OETJEN (Renew Europe, DE)

Committee on Regional Development
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Krzysztof HETMAN (EPP, PL)
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Vice-Chairs will be elected at a forthcoming meeting

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Francisco GUERREIRO (Greens/EFA, PT). He beats Maxette Pirbakas (ID, FR) 38 to 6
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Daniel BUDA (EPP, RO)  He beats Maxette Pirbakas (ID, FR) 37 to 7
The 3rd and 4th Vice-Chairs will be elected in a forthcoming meeting

Committee on Fisheries
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Peter van DALEN (EPP, NL)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Søren GADE (Renew Europe, DK)
3rd Vice-Chair: Mr Giuseppe Ferrandino (S&D, IT)
4th Vice-Chair: Ms Cláudia MONTEIRO DE AGUIAR (EPP, PT). She beats Rosanna CONTE (ID, IT) 19 to 8

Committee on Culture and Education
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Romeo FRANZ (Greens/EFA, DE)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Dace MELBĀRDE (ECR, LV)
The 3rd and 4th Vice-Chairs will be elected in a forthcoming meeting

Committee on Legal Affairs
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Sergey LAGODINSKY (Greens/EFA, DE). 17 votes in favour, 4 against
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Marion WALSMANN (EPP, DE). 18 votes to 4
3rd Vice-Chair: Mr Ibán GARCIA DEL BLANCO (S&D, ES). 17 to 4
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Raffaele STANCANELLI (ECR, IT). 14 to 8

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
1st Vice-Chair: Ms Maite PAGAZAURTUNDÚA (RE, ES)
2nd Vice-Chair: Mr Pietro BARTOLO (S&D, IT)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Emil RADEV (EPP, BG)
The 3rd Vice-Chair will be elected in a forthcoming meeting

Committee on Constitutional Affairs
1st Vice-Chair: Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, DE). She beats  Gerolf Annemans (ID, BE) 17 to 8
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Vice-Chairs will be elected at a forthcoming meeting

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
1st Vice-Chair: Ms Eugenia RODRÍGUEZ PALOP (GUE/NGL, ES)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA, FR)
3rd Vice-Chair: Ms Elissavet VOZEMBERG-VRIONIDI (EPP, EL)
4th Vice-Chair: Mr Robert BIEDROŃ (S&D, PL)

Committee on Petitions
1st Vice-Chair: Ms Tatjana ŽDANOKA (GREENS/EFA, LV)
2nd Vice-Chair: Ms Yana TOOM (Renew Europe, EE)
3rd Vice-Chair: Mr Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL).  Elected with 18 votes in favour, 10 against.
4th Vice-Chair: Ms Cristina MAESTRE MARTÍN DE ALMAGRO (S&D, ES)

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

Committee on Foreign Affairs
1st Vice-Chair: Mr Witold Jan WASZCZYKOWSKI (ECR, PL)
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Vice-Chairs will be elected at a forthcoming meeting

Dear Lord.

[bigic]

At least PiS foreign policy doesn't seem that bad - they are pro-West, pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia (they are pro-Trump though)? But I think PiS does need to be put behind cordon sanitaire, as it is a party that undermines institutions and liberal democracy.

[Tender Branson]

Tusk is asking the countries to name a few Green commissioners ...

Not here ...

Commissioner Hahn (ÖVP) will be extended for another term (ÖVP+FPÖ+NOW will vote for him):

https://kurier.at/politik/inland/bierlein-schlaegt-hahn-als-eu-kommissar-vor/400548935

The SPÖ was opposed to another term and wanted a woman instead.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Commission-Presidental nominee Uschi has been questioned by the MEP for over an hour now. Prior to that she had delivered an impassioned speech.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Von der Leyen is trying very hard to sway S&D/Green votes in her favour by announcing a "Green deal", supporting more efforts to save refugees from the Mediterranean Sea, and attacking Nigel Farage.

Could potentially backfire if this scares away ECR/Fidesz MEPs she has to depend on. The Green group had already voted last week to oppose VdL. Maybe it will convince some social dems though.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Von der Leyen is trying very hard to sway S&D/Green votes in her favour by announcing a "Green deal", supporting more efforts to save refugees from the Mediterranean Sea, and attacking Nigel Farage.

Could potentially backfire if this scares away ECR/Fidesz MEPs she has to depend on. The Green group had already voted last week to oppose VdL. Maybe it will convince some social dems though.

I wish we could just elect the Commission President directly instead in order to avoid all that hodgepodge.
Apropos of election, the ballot voting begins at 6 pm CEST.