Germany’s CDU favours left over right in post-EU election alliance

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s conservative CDU party prefers a deal with left-wing rather than right-wing forces to support her second mandate in an investiture vote, the party’s delegation leader Daniel Caspary said on Thursday, adding, however, that it depends on whether left-wing parties are reliable.

If chosen by EU leaders as their candidate for the Commission presidency after the elections, von der Leyen (CDU, EPP) will need the backing of a majority of MEPs from outside her own party.

“We are shooting for centrist politics made by the centre if we succeed in finding a stable majority together with the Socialists and the Renew group,” Caspary told reporters at a briefing ahead of the party’s annual conference.

Von der Leyen made headlines on Monday in the first debate between the leading candidates for the EU elections when she refused to rule out cooperation between her European People’s Party (EPP) family and parties to her right, such as Fratelli d’Italia (FdI, ECR) of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Caspary clarified that a loose alliance with left and centrist forces “would be the ideal case for Europe” but warned that left-wing parties would have to guarantee von der Leyen’s election.

“The Greens are welcome to join, but they have to deliver [votes] and not just make demands,” he said.

“I only note that when it came to elections, the agreements we made with the Socialists were generally not honoured,” he added, arguing that Socialist MEPs deviated in the 2019 vote that secured von der Leyen’s first mandate, as well as in the 2022 vote on the EU Parliament presidency.

According to the rules, candidates only get one try to pass the investiture vote. If they fail, EU leaders must propose an alternative candidate.

Caspary argued that potential pro-European partners, including the FdI, cannot be excluded in order to get von der Leyen through.

However, von der Leyen may face dissenters from within her own EU ranks.

For example, the French right-wing party Les Républicains, also an EPP member, said it would not support a second term for von der Leyen, with its lead EU candidate, François Xavier-Bellamy, describing her as the “candidate” of French President Emmanuel Macron of the liberal Renew Europe group.

Caspary also warned that there would be consequences if EPP delegations did not vote for von der Leyen.

“We also expect the Républicains to be aware that anyone who is with us in the EPP should do their bit to ensure that Ursula von der Leyen remains President of the Commission,” he said.

(Nick Alipour | Euractiv.de)

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