This week, we welcome Younous Omarjee, French vice-president of the European Parliament, member of the Left group (LFI). He comments on the hearings of future European commissioners as well as the consequences for the EU of the election of Donald Trump.
Following the hearings of future European commissioners in Brussels, several nominations could be rejected by MEPs against a backdrop of political conflicts between the different parties: “This is a moment that must be considered very seriously and we obviously regret the way in which this has unfolded from the beginning, it considerably weakens the European Parliament», Explains the vice-president of Parliament. He regrets the political considerations “which come into play and which interfere with these hearings. There is still uncertainty (about their outcome) because the major political groups cannot agree. It’s a political crisis», Regrets Younous Omarjee.
At the heart of the controversy, theItalian Raffaele Fitto, nominated by Giorgia Meloni and from his radical right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia: “It would have been surprising if Giorgia Meloni appointed a leftist to the European Commission”recognizes Younous Omarjee. “Raffaele Fitto was pushed to his limits on the question of his mastery of the issues relating to cohesion policy, but also on a certain number of political dimensions. Each commissioner must actually uphold EU values and fundamental rights. It is obvious that our group is not going to accept this candidate“, he explains. The Vice-President of the European Parliament questions the intentions of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen : “There is a new possibility of a majority in the European Parliament which moves to the right», he regrets. “There is a very high risk that we are entering a moment of deconstruction of all the advances made in the fight against global warming, the defense of fundamental rights and the defense of women’s rights.“.
Regarding the hearing of Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné, candidate for the post of European Commissioner for Industrial Strategy, “it happened in the acceptable forms“. His hearing focused in particular on the question of signing the Mercosur agreements while French Prime Minister Michel Barnier said he would not accept it. The Vice-President of the Parliament criticizes the omnipotence of the European Commission which would directly negotiate these agreements, without consulting either the Member States or the European Parliament. “The Prime Minister’s assertions that France will refuse Mercosur must truly be followed up. France must organize within the European Council a minority blocking this agreement. This is the only way to push back the European Commission which has chosen to kill part of European agriculture.e,” estimates Younous Omarjee.
The election of Donald Trump to the American presidency, for the rebellious MEP, “ this is the time for the Union to exist as a power. There is a strategic ambiguity in Donald Trump and a very great unpredictability in the way in which he will conduct his international policy. He recalls the responsibility of Europeans to continue to support theUkraine facing the Russia. The vice-president nevertheless concedes differences of opinion within the Twenty-Seven on the subject of Ukraine’s accession to the EU. “We are not at all prepared,” he adds about this possible accession.
At the trial of the parliamentary assistants of the National Front, accused of embezzlement of European Parliament funds, the Prosecutor’s Office is demanding a sentence of ineligibility for all the defendants, including Marine Le Pen. Younous Omarjee believes that there is no political trial. “There was the observation by the European Parliament of the violation of the regulations of the European Parliament which are binding on all political groups», concludes the vice-president of the European Parliament, an institution which has filed a civil suit.