Brussels – The Socialists and Democrats group in the EU Parliament chooses “continuity and unity.” It unanimously chooses to confirm its leader, Spanish Socialist Iratxe García Pérez. In defiance of the group’s custom, which wants the president to be an expression of the largest national delegation, the Italian Democratic Party did not propose any candidate.
The ‘dem’ elected in Brussels number 21, one more than the Spanish PSOE MEPs. The negotiations were handled directly by the Elly Schlein secretary, who flew to the European capital on Friday, June 21, to meet personally with García Pérez. It was a meeting from which very little leaked out, with the PD delegation remaining—even in the days that followed—in the ranks and not mincing a word about the outcome of the negotiations between the two leaders.
A defeat, apparently. But today, on the sidelines of the group’s constituent meeting in which the chair was unanimously confirmed, the PD head of delegation, Brando Benifei, said Schlein had wrested a “clear, transparent, and public” agreement, whereby at mid-term—at the beginning of 2027—the PD will be given “one of the top jobs in the Parliament.” The presidency of the EU Parliament, which in two and a half years is expected to pass from the Populars to the Socialists, or the leadership of the group, in a hypothetical relay to the leadership of the Socialists at the turn of the legislature.
In any case, an agreement is not confirmed by the group leader. In a press point at the EU Parliament, García Pérez “thanked colleagues for the unanimous support” and emphasized the “continuity and unity in the social democratic project.” In negotiations with the PD delegation, the Spanish socialist merely assured that “the Italians will have very good representation in different areas of our group and the European Parliament.” But she immediately took the talk back to another level: “With them and all the other delegations, when we negotiated, we always thought about the unity of the group,” she said.
Tomorrow is the turn for the election of the nine vice presidents who will flank García Pérez. Among the twelve candidates there’s PD Camilla Laureti. Moreover, the chairwoman said that “for now”, there are no negotiations for new members to join the group, which currently has 136 MEPs. That makes the Social Democrats a “crucial force for building a pro-European alliance in the EU Parliament.” The newly elected chair made it clear again, “The only red line for us is the far right.” On the possibility of the Populars seeking votes in the ranks of the European Conservatives and Reformists to re-elect Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission, she warned, “There is no good or bad far right, there is only the far right that wants to destroy the European Union.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
