The new EU Commission, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, will begin its work on Sunday (December 1). The 27 commissioners received a majority of 370 votes in the European Parliament today. 282 voted against the Commission, and 36 abstained. I did not vote in favor of the new EU Commission today, and I would like to briefly explain why.

Not Part of the Majority – A Eurosceptic as Vice President

Democracy is about majorities. Our goal as Greens was to be part of von der Leyen’s majority in order to shape Europe during uncertain times. The Commission President recently reaffirmed that she considers us Greens part of her majority. However, her party and group president in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber (CSU), saw things differently. He brokered a deal with the Social Democrats and Liberals, which included appointing the Italian Raffaele Fitto from the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party as a Commission Vice President. I cannot, with my vote, support making a far-right politician one of von der Leyen’s deputies. I also chose to abstain because we Greens were explicitly excluded from the coalition agreement in Parliament.

Glimmers of Hope for Rule of Law and Climate Protection

Despite everything, there are some achievements that we Greens were able to secure in the negotiations. Ursula von der Leyen has committed to maintaining the Green Deal and resisting pressure from far-right factions to weaken it. Additionally, there were concessions from the EU Commission regarding the protection of the rule of law, suggesting that the EU will continue to defend its values seriously. For these reasons, I will not vote against the EU Commission but will abstain.

I understand that other members of our group have reached different conclusions based on the same arguments. I can comprehend their decisions and see how one could justify voting either for or against this Commission. Both positions had valid reasons.