With the right in flux, increasing fragmentation of the political landscape in member states, and the need for von der Leyen to secure a governing majority in the European Parliament, group formation has never looked so messy.
The three EU Parliament groups of the centrist majority diverge on some key policy issues for the next mandate, according to draft action plans seen by Euractiv, the basis for their talks with Ursula von der Leyen as she seeks support to win a second mandate as Commission president.
More than two-thirds of EU spending should help boosting the bloc’s economic competitiveness, the centre-right EPP group wants to propose to the next European Commission, according to a draft “5 point plan” to be adopted during its study days in Cascais, Portugal, starting on Tuesday (2 July).
Ahead of the meeting of EU heads of states and governments on Thursday and Friday (27-28 June), car manufacturers, energy companies and environmental NGOs have issued an “urgent” warning against revoking the EU’s 2035 de facto ban to sell new petrol and diesel cars.
After the victory of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Elections, the party will decide how to implement one of its core election promises – to secure a future for cars with an internal combustion engine – at the group’s “study days” from 2-5 July in Cascais, Portugal.
The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) group is set to officially welcome 11 new members at a meeting on Tuesday (18 June), but the party leadership is also eyeing a closer alliance with Belgium's N-VA, currently sitting with the hard right.
The potential team-up of the French conservative Les Républicains (LR) with the far-right party of Marine le Pen is also making waves in Germany, with the conservative CDU/CSU threatening to kick them out from their common EU-party, the EPP.
The top national delegations will reshape the Parliament's balance of powers while feeding new priorities into the legislative work, and with voting set to start on Thursday (6 June), Europe Elects' final projections for Euractiv lay out what could lie ahead.
A more right-wing European Parliament could mean fewer regulatory initiatives in the area of tech, a weakened push for market integration, but more support for defence tech, according to party manifestos and an interview with an expert.
Competitiveness, defence, combatting foreign interference, and, ironically, protecting nature are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s key talking points of her campaign visits to Split, Rome, and Copenhagen, shedding light on her next college’s priorities if she gets reelected.
European Commission Ursula von der Leyen did not attend Forza Italia’s EU election campaign kick-off on Monday (13 May) while visiting Rome as key figures in the party disagree over backing her.
Croatia’s centre-right coalition agreement with the far-right has raised concerns from the Socialist and Greens, something the country's EU Commissioner Dubravka Šuica has downplayed, staying close to the line of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
EU Socialists are trying to pressure the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) into signing a declaration ruling out any collaboration with the far-right after the centre-right’s ambiguity on possible coalitions after June’s EU elections and existing alliances with the far-right at the national level.
The European Socialists, Greens, and Liberals have all shut the door to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s reelection if she decides to cooperate with the hard-right ECR party after June’s EU elections.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will not be using TikTok in her campaign for June's EU elections, "in view of security concerns," her campaign chief spokesperson said, despite her aim to reach citizens with an innovative and personal touch.
The centre-right European People’s Party’s attempt to block the adoption of an agreement to create an ethics body overseeing all of the EU institutions failed on Monday (22 April), despite concerns about the initiative becoming a “dangerous precedent.”
Centre-right MEPs could obstruct the extension of new EU rules on industrial emissions to more pig and poultry farms during a final vote at the European Parliament next Tuesday (12 March).
Leaving the EU remains the far right’s ultimate goal, even if they stay quiet about it ahead of election time, former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Euractiv in an interview on Tuesday (20 February), warning that the far right has not learned the lessons of Brexit.
The Reconquête! party of French far-right leader Eric Zemmour has joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament in a bid to strengthen the right-wing camp after the EU elections in June.
With the European election rapidly approaching, the far-right Identity & Democracy (ID) group has opened their arms for Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party to join the group, its Vice-President Gunnar Beck told Euractiv in an interview.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pressing the department responsible for rubber-stamping the deadlocked third tranche of the post-COVID recovery fund to Italy, whose leadership will be pivotal to her re-election, EURACTIV has learned from several sources.
The biggest group in the European Parliament, the centre-right European People's Party, has recently adopted a more aggressive approach towards key legislative proposals, upsetting some of its lawmakers and putting the balance of the EU's legislative machine at risk.
The EU’s flagship Nature Restoration Law has suffered another blow as the largest group in the European Parliament, the European People's Party, walked out of negotiations ahead of a crucial vote in the environment committee on 15 June.
A network of influential Greek political consultants working for the European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber and boasting impeccable links to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has emerged ahead of next week’s Greek elections.
