The Socialists have signaled it is imperative to secure the safe passage of their clutch of commissioners, above all Spain’s pick, Teresa Ribera, who will be in charge of climate and competition policy.
That makes it less likely that they will pick a fight with the center-right EPP, which has claimed the lion’s share of commissioners, and which is itself mindful that Ursula von der Leyen, who decided the team’s shape and responsibilities, also hails from its own ranks.
But history suggests that the entire roster of commissioner nominees won’t emerge unscathed on Nov. 12, even if it only involves reshuffling a commissioner’s responsibilities or job title, rather than a wholesale rejection. During the same process five years ago, the European Parliament turned down an unprecedented three commissioners, and at least one prospective commissioner has been rejected every time since 2004.
The political fireworks, if any happen, may erupt over Italy’s commissioner-designate Raffaele Fitto, who was nominated by hard-right Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, or Hungary’s Olivér Varhélyi, picked by Viktor Orbán for a second term in Brussels.
Even though Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists did not back von der Leyen this summer, her political family in the Parliament was awarded one of the most powerful posts in the EU executive’s power structure.
Fitto is bolstered by the fact that three of the four largest political groups in the Parliament are on the center right or far right of the political spectrum. For some, that makes his confirmation hearing a litmus test of how far the new Parliament has swung to the right. His appointment could signal an end to the informal coalition that elected von der Leyen, which included the Socialists and the Greens.
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