Fianna Fáil candidates for the European Parliament have said they will not vote for Ursula von der Leyen to have another term as president of the European Commission – despite the Government’s intention to support her.
MEP Billy Kelleher said last week he would not vote for Dr von der Leyen if she is proposed for confirmation to the European Parliament. His colleague Barry Andrews also said today that he would not support her. In addition, candidates Barry Cowen, Lisa Chambers and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú said they would not vote for her. Niall Blaney said it was “not on my radar”.
Green MEP candidates are also opposed to a second term for Dr von der Leyen, while Fine Gael has said it will support her.
Earlier this year The Irish Times reported the Government intends to back her for a second term. However, a spokeswoman for Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said no decision had been made about backing Dr von der Leyen yet. “Government will assess its position after the upcoming European elections,” she said.
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After the elections, the leaders of the 27 EU countries will meet to nominate the next president of the commission, with Dr von der Leyen still the main front-runner. The German politician would then need to be backed by a majority of the 720 MEPs to secure a second term, in a vote that would take place in mid July at the earliest.
All Fine Gael candidates would support Dr von der Leyen in the vote if elected to the European Parliament, a spokeswoman confirmed.
In response to queries from The Irish Times, Mr Andrews said he “cannot in good conscience support Ursula von der Leyen for a second term”.
Mr Andrews said her support for Israel in the days after the October 7th Hamas attacks – which was widely viewed as unconditional – was “extremely misjudged”. The Fianna Fáil MEP said he was also “completely against” the commission president’s willingness to work with the “far right”.
Five years ago Dr von der Leyen scraped over the line in the parliament by just nine votes. The governing majority in the European Parliament of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), which includes Fine Gael, centrist group Renew (which includes Fianna Fáil), and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), is expected to be slimmer after the coming elections. Polls across the EU predict a swing towards populist right-wing parties, with the far right expected to make significant gains.
Dr von der Leyen has signalled she would be willing to rely on the support of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), a party with neo-fascist roots, to secure another term. The pivot to court votes from the hard right has caused significant unease among parties who sit in the Renew and S&D groups.
Sinn Féin, who it is speculated may be considering trying to jump from the Left grouping to sit with the S&D group, would not support Dr von der Leyen, according to MEP Chris MacManus.
Dr von der Leyen has faced fierce criticism here for her unqualified support for Israel in the wake of the October 7th massacres that began the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Opposition parties have also been critical of the EU failure to review the trade agreement between Israel and the EU.
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