Breaking with decades of political protocol, the move signed the death warrant of the so-called cordon sanitaire, the informal pact between Europe’s centrist forces — the EPP, the Socialists and Democrats, the liberals of Renew, and the Greens — to keep the far right out of decision-making.
It ushers in a different era for the Parliament, in which political pragmatism triumphs over principle, and the EPP works with whichever side of the aisle is necessary to get the job done.
For the far right, becoming a bona fide power player is a major success following months of increasing influence in different files.
“The overall interest has won, but it is also the fruit of our ever-increasing presence … here concretely in the hemicycle,” far-right Patriots chair Jordan Bardella, of France’s National Rally, told POLITICO after the vote. The Patriots’ lead negotiator on the file, Pascale Piera, called it a “historic day” as they “have broken the Ursula von der Leyen majority.”
But for the liberals, center left and Greens, it’s the nail in the coffin of trust between the four centrist groups.
“It’s a shitty sign for European majorities, it is a shitty sign for Europe, it is shitty for the fight against climate change and child labor protection … to me this is a very, very bad signal for the cooperation for the next four years,” co-chair of the Greens group Terry Reintke told POLITICO after the vote.