Dark clouds at the European Parliament’s finest hour
Dear friends,
Yesterday afternoon, the first hearings of the new EU Commissioners-designate began. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has put together 26 candidates (10 women and 16 men) in recent weeks, one from each member country. But before the new Commission can take office, we in the European Parliament still have a say in the matter. Over the next 10 days, we will meet in the various parliamentary committees and examine the candidates’ suitability. Everything will be transparent and live online here.
The Parliament is very powerful in this. Because if we do not consider someone to be suitable even after the second round, the member states have to send someone new. Parliament has used this right time and again. A great moment for parliamentarianism, you might think.
But after this European election, it is different
Because although the Commission President only got our votes in Parliament because she had promised that her EPP group would not form majorities with the strengthened right and far-right, the EPP, with its leader Manfred Weber, tore down this firewall two weeks ago. (Here is my newsletter on what happened.) It also fits that von der Leyen wants to give the Italian Raffaele Fitto of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia (Giorgia Meloni’s party) the important post of a Vice-President without need.
Unfortunately, we have to fear that it will continue in the hearings and that the EPP will use the votes of the right and the far-right to push through their people.
What also worries me: our colleagues from the Socialists and Democrats seem to be swayed by the far-right pressure and play along with this game to push through their own candidates. If the Socialists and Democrats were to confirm far-right commissioners without a fight, it would be fatal for Europe. We democrats must stand together.
That is why it is particularly important to me: to protect democracy!
We must also stand together because the campaign to reverse the hard-won successes on climate, the environment, but especially on civil rights, is becoming increasingly fierce.
In this context, I am particularly concerned about the three hearings that affect my core issues:
- Henna Virkkunen from Finland, Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
I will be looking at two topics in particular with Henna Virkkunen. Firstly, the consistent enforcement of the rules for digital platforms. With the Digital Services Act, we achieved a milestone in the last legislative period, but enforcement is still lacking. As long as algorithms continue to work by sending disinformation to more people than facts, democracy will be at risk. We are seeing this in the US in particular, for example in the ‘stop the steal’ campaign by the Trump people. One third of all Americans now believe the lie that Joe Biden was not legitimately elected in 2020. We can and must do better in Europe!
A second important aspect, besides rule enforcement and algorithm improvement, is our own technology for Europe. If we continue to be almost completely dependent on tech companies in the US and China for social media, cloud services and artificial intelligence, even the best implementation of the DSA will only help to a limited extent. We need our own European technology to become independent. For me, energy consumption in this transition is also particularly important. How will Virkkunen ensure that the Green Deal is continued and that electricity demand from AI does not go through the roof, leading to it being met by nuclear power or the continued use of coal-fired power plants? I will ask her!
- Ekaterina Spasova Gecheva-Zaharieva from Bulgaria, Commissioner for Start-Ups, Research and Innovation
Ekaterina Spasova Gecheva-Zaharieva’s portfolio can also play a crucial role in how we get to this independent European technology. The European start-up scene has tremendous potential that we urgently need to lift. At the same time, the major European research programme Horizon must continue to promote strong basic research and effective climate protection.
- Hadja Lahbib from Belgium, Commissioner for Prevention and Crisis Management, Gender Equality
Hadja Lahbib has the power to better protect women across Europe from violence, offline and online. Every three days, a woman is murdered by her partner or ex-partner. On the internet, women are being driven out of the public debate with insults and threats. The DSA and the new legislation on combating violence against women and domestic violence offer starting points for women to have equal rights to safety and a say. How does she plan to achieve concrete improvements here?
These are my priorities in the hearings. Of course, I also follow all other topics and will keep you updated.
One last request: get involved!
At the beginning of the email, I explained to you why pro-democratic majorities in the European Parliament are no longer certain. In this situation, pressure from citizens is particularly needed. And that’s where you come in.
If you can, watch the hearings live or in the evening recording (all here: https://elections.europa.eu/european-commission/en/programme/ ) and write your thoughts briefly, concisely and politely to the members of the committee. What was good, what was missing, whether we should vote in favour. You can find all the relevant e-mails quickly here. It makes the most sense to write to EPP, S&D and Renew MEPs.
This may sound trivial, but from my own experience I can tell you that it makes a big difference. Citizens write to us MEPs relatively rarely. If a particularly large number of emails come in, it increases the pressure to react!
Thank you for your support and best regards from Europe,
Alexandra Geese
–
For further reading, a great overview by the NGO ‘The Good Lobby’ with graphics that are worth looking at:
https://www.thegoodlobby.eu/get-set-for-the-commissioners-designate-hearings/