Czech MEP urges ECR to pull together to increase leverage in key votes

2 months ago 28

To play a kingmaker role in key votes and have a say in debates in the European Parliament, members of the conservative ECR group, now the third-largest EU group in the European Parliament, must be constructive and compact, Ondřej Krutílek, the newly elected Czech MEP whose party is in the same EU group, told Euractiv Czechia in an interview.

Last week, the EU’s conservative group grew to 83 members, making it the third-largest political group in the European Parliament.

According to the newly elected MEP from the Czech ODS party (ECR), this should be reflected in the future work of the EU Parliament as well as in the ongoing debates on the EU’s top jobs.

“If the ECR is sufficiently compact – which we have yet to find out through political practice, whether all the members of the ECR will pull together or not – then we have a chance to play the role of the kingmaker in a series of votes over the five-year term,” Krutílek told Euractiv Czechia.

Krutílek recalled that in 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was backed by a narrow majority when she was nominated to lead the European Commission for the next five years.

While the current majority alliance of EPP, S&D and Renew will probably remain unchanged, the ECR will be in a “favourable position”.

“We will have to act compact and united and constructive, compared to the IDs [members of far-right Identity and Democracy] who just hate everything and therefore are not even part of the debate,” he added in reference to the other far-right group led by Lega’s Matteo Salvini and Rassemblement National’s Marine Le Pen.

Krutílek, who previously worked as an assistant to Czech MEP Alexandr Vondra, stressed that the growth of the ECR should also be more visible during the upcoming European Council summit on 27-28 June, when the decision on the EU’s top jobs is expected to be taken.

EU leaders already discussed top jobs during an informal dinner on 17 June but without any results.

However, the four top jobs – president of the European Council, European Commission, EU diplomacy chief and the European Parliament president – are expected to be distributed among EPP, S&D and Renew representatives, leaving out ECR.

“Bear in mind that at the time of the informal dinner, we, as the ECR, had not yet formed a group in the numbers we have now,” Krutílek said, suggesting that ECR leaders – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala – could play a bigger role in upcoming debates.

“Negotiations are still not over, and the fact that the ECR has become the third strongest faction may help,” Krutílek said.

(Aneta Zachová, Ondřej Plevák | Euractiv.cz)