Melonian discontent over conservative allies' vote of no confidence in Ursula

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Brussels . The Ursula majority is heading for an X-ray in the chamber. A motion of no confidence presented by the Romanian conservative Gheorghe Piperea will bring the European Commission to a count in the chamber next Thursday. But what was supposed to be a problem for von der Leyen is turning into a pre-holiday gift for the president of the EU Commission. The vote will in fact give the German, before the summer break, a list of good and bad, thus calling the bluff of the socialists who in recent days threatened a crisis, and breaking the game of ambiguity for those, like Fratelli d'Italia, who have never admitted to sitting in his European majority. The motion of no confidence comes from the right but also whets the appetite of the left. According to the text filed by Piperea, in fact, Ursula von der Leyen should resign for her actions in the context of the Pfizergate scandal, for having used the new EU digital law to influence the vote in individual countries and for having approved the Rearm EU with the urgent procedure .

The 77 signatories come mainly from the non-members, from Esn (the European group of the AfD) and from Ecr, the European family of conservatives in which Fratelli d'Italia sits. The group chaired by Nicola Procaccini is in fact in difficulty in front of the vote on Thursday, given that among the signatories of the motion there are numerous Polish MEPs of PiS and Romanians of Aur, the parties to which the Melonians rolled out the red carpet a few weeks ago both in Rome and Brussels to help them in their respective electoral campaigns. The embarrassment comes from a significant technical detail: the motion of no confidence does not target only von der Leyen but the entire Commission, namely also its vice-president Raffaele Fitto, making it absolutely indigestible for the Melonian delegation. Parliamentary sources in fact reveal close contacts between the FdI leaders and their allies in the East to try to defuse the problem, but without success. The square is: "every man for himself and God for all" . Late yesterday evening, in fact, Ecr sources let it be known that the motion is to be treated as "an individual initiative and not of the group". Bad feelings are destined to fly to Naples together with the conservative deputies, for the Ecr study days starting a few hours after the vote on the motion.

Meanwhile, the EPP is watching and chuckling: “Meloni’s final exams have arrived, is she with us or with the populists?”, a leader gloats . In fact, since the beginning of the legislature, the EPP has been calling for “a divide” that runs through the ECR, dividing “the populists” with whom the EPP does not intend to collaborate, from the “conservatives” with whom it should instead build a stable alliance, a divide on which Thursday’s tables could offer precise navigation directions. The three groups of the traditional pro-European coalition, meanwhile, are staying out of the matter. The Socialists and Liberals, in fact, are quickly defusing the problem by announcing that “they will not vote for a motion that comes from the right”. Someone in the PD is muttering “that Ursula could have been at least scared for a couple of days” – they are the after-effects of the emotions of Schlein’s visit last week – but the Democratic delegation should follow the group in an orderly fashion.

Embarrassment also among the members of the Northern League: the reasons behind the motion in fact fully coincide with the criticisms leveled daily by Salvini and his party to the Commission, "if it were up to me I would vote for it even now", says a MEP of the Northern League "but we need to see what the group decides". Voting the no confidence in Fitto would however be for Salvini a gauntlet to his government, a front that the Northern League secretary perhaps does not want to open.

Ready to capitalize, instead, from the 5 Star Movement. The 5 Star MEPs are waiting for the left group to take an official position for now, but even if The Left – Avs included – were to opt for abstention, the M5S could choose to score the point instead . It is difficult for the 5 Star Movement to get around the fact that among the motivations behind the motion appear two of their warhorses such as opposition to the rearmament plan and the Pfizergate scandal. And to make the dish even more inviting for Conte's men there is also the probability of coming out of it as the only opposition in Italy to Ursula von der Leyen, exactly the message that the M5S leader wants to send to his voters.

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