09-07-2024
The European Parliament is on the brink of a significant shift in power dynamics. For the first time, five committees could fall under the control of far-right groups, raising concerns and questions about the future direction of the EU. The newborn far-right Patriots for Europe group, the third-largest in the Parliament, claimed control over the Transport and Culture and Education committees. The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), which held the Chair of the Budget Committee in the previous term, are eyeing the Budget, Agriculture and Petitions committees.
Final Approval Pending
According to the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure – specifically Rules 15(2) and 219(3), the provisional allocation of Chairs and Vice-Chairs should ensure a “fair representation of political views, as well as gender and geographical balance.” For this reason, these positions are provisionally allocated following the d’Hondt method.
The provisional deal will have to be confirmed by political leaders this Thursday, and the final say as to who will chair any given committee will be taken by vote during each committee’s constitutive meeting. For instance, in 2019, following the d’Hondt method, ECR was provisionally allocated EMPL and BUDG (ultimately only keeping the latter), whereas ID was excluded from chairing AGRI and JURI.
It remains to be seen whether a cordon sanitaire (or what remains of it) will be applied to prevent the far-right from holding any chairs or other influential positions in the next legislature.
Historical Context and Future Implications
Decisions over who will chair the different committees and to what extent will the cordon sanitaire be applied are inextricably linked to the confirmation of von der Leyen by MEPs. Several groups to the left of the EPP have repeatedly expressed their opposition to any agreement with the far right.
Even if the mainstream parties do successfully exclude the far right from ultimately obtaining Committee chairs, the relative strength of the parties to the right of the EPP will be too large to ignore throughout the legislature. In this sense, the barring of far-right MEPs from Committee chairs may be the “swan song” of the cordon sanitaire.
In light of the changing political landscape, The Good Lobby is working on “Engage or not to engage with the far right?” A How-to-Guide to an ethical dilemma, with the intention of helping civil society better understand how to deal with the new dynamics within the European Parliament. Make sure to subscribe to The Good Lobby’s Member’s Area to receive updates on our work.
