The center-left’s Aventine and the far right poised to ‘devour’ the EPP

Eickhout was referring to the choice, now systematic, of the EPP to ally itself with the ECR (the group to which Fratelli d’Italia belongs) and the Patriots (a group to which the League belongs) groups, not disdaining votes even further to the right in the European Parliament, betraying a political agreement signed with the centre-left when confidence was given to the second European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen.

The Green leader is right. What is happening between Brussels and Strasbourg is, in fact, a new “Aventine” of the centre-left, similar to the one in 1924, when, after the Matteotti murder, they decided to no longer participate in parliamentary work. Given the total absence of democratic leaders in the decision-making heart of the state, from there began the rapid rise of the fascist movement to power, culminating in the complete takeover and the establishment of the dictatorship.

It is not the case now; we are not talking about the establishment of a new European dictatorship, but the process underway is similar: the center-left, particularly the socialists and liberals, are allowing the People’s Party to move with a free hand in the decision-making heart of the Union, supporting the incumbent Commission and allowing the Populars to have a pro-European “cover” when in fact the EPP is increasingly – actually, systemically – allying itself with forces that are not pro-European on policies that are decisive for the future of the Union. The longer this process goes on, the less pro-Europeanists will have weight, the more weight the right will gain, which, in the long run, will “devour” even the EPP, and pro-European and solidarity policies.

Voters have proven this in dozens of cases: they prefer the original to the copy, they prefer those who launch and support a policy rather than those who emulate and run after it in search of votes to stay in power.

The voters, however, also penalize those who are “absent,” those who allow it to happen, using only a few words of condemnation for “wrong choices” made by others, those who are unable to make other political forces face up to their responsibilities. Yesterday, to be honest, the leader of the Social Democrats, Iratxe García Pérez, used very harsh words towards the EPP, threatening the possibility of a breakup. It is not the first time, but she was more decisive than usual. It remains to be seen what follow-up her words will have. Also yesterday, the Populars rejected the emergency procedure requested by the Greens, Socialists, and Liberals to try to secure the target of cutting emissions by 90 percent in 15 years by the November COP30 in Brazil.

The European People’s Party may well choose to ally itself with the more extreme right: it is the party that had the best result in last year’s elections, and it has, unquestionably, a leadership, if only in numbers, in the Parliament and in the European Council, where it has over half of the heads of government.

The issue is that the center-left cannot give these alliances its political cover, remaining in the “majority” that elected von der Leyen based on a particular political project and that is now implementing another, without the EPP having to bother to say that it has broken with the pro-European parties and prefers the Eurosceptics.

What is necessary is to push the Populars to make a public decision, to make a formal and clear choice, even in the eyes of voters. Therefore, the center-left should abandon this “majority”, thereby forcing the European People’s Party to make a choice: either work with its historical allies or change alliance. In this case, the center-left will have to learn to be in the “opposition” and build its own vision for the Union to offer to its voters, so it doesn’t disappear before the extreme right devours the European People’s Party.