• A debate was held in the European Parliament entitled "Conservatist cooperation and the far right threat to competitiveness in the EU".
• During the discussion, a typical of the European Commission, a typical of the Council of the European Union and Members of the European Parliament took the floor, presenting the views of the various groups in the EP.
• During the debate, an example of the "extreme right" was identified, among others, by the European Parliament's Group of European Conservatives and Reformists and the Law and Justice organization that co-creates this faction.
• Similarly, the actions of the erstwhile Polish government in the context of the dispute over the regulation of law were besides presented.
A threat to competitiveness?
During the last week's plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, a debate took place on the issue of cooperation between conservative parties and the utmost right and the impact of this phenomenon on competitiveness in the European Union (collaboration between conservations and far right as a Threat for competitiveness in the EU). The discussion was attended by Vice-President of the European Commission – French politician Stéphane Séjourné (RE/RE) and European Union Minister Adam Sz Trapka (Modern/RE). The debate itself was carried out in a Article 169 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, according to which each political group can propose a discussion on current issues of relevance to European Union policy.
Minister Adam Sz Trapka, who spoke on behalf of the Council of the European Union, pointed out the importance of the subject of competitiveness, while noting that the European Union is presently operating in hard times, including economical transformation, climate change or geopolitical challenges.
"We must make certain that Europe remains competitive. These are not only aspirations, but necessity... During our Presidency, we will focus on key factors of competitiveness in all sectors. I am convinced that despite the differences in circumstantial solutions, these objectives will find support, broad support, in this chamber," said Adam Szpiek.
"We are taking all possible action to increase the competitiveness of the European economy", Stéphane Séjourné, Vice-President of the European Commission on prosperity and industrial strategy, continued. In the further part of his statement, he pointed to the phenomenon of "an incredible unprecedented polarization in political life", which, in his opinion, reflects the arrangement of forces worldwide.
"The European Union is, first, a political project. We sought peace, democracy, prosperity for all. In addition, we built this building on common values: the regulation of law, multilateralism, the marketplace economy. And this task is based on a culture of compromise. Nobody wants to strangle anyone," said the Commissioner.
Daniel Caspary (CDU/EPP) speaking on behalf of the European People's organization drew attention to the joint voting of the European organization mainstream with groups that were considered extreme, pointing to France in this context.
“Last November, I was in the French National Assembly erstwhile French social democrats and greens together with Le Pen and Melonchon voted and thus led to political chaos in France. And erstwhile I look at you and your party, I would say this: delight halt teaching us, due to the fact that we will not be as cooperative as you are, we will not tolerate, we will not enter the coalition, and we will not elect any of them as Prime Minister of your country," said the German MP, directing these words to his French speaker.
Javier López Fernández (PSC – PSOE/ S&D) taking the level on behalf of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats stressed the impact of the Conservatives' agreement with the "extreme right" on the competitiveness of the European Union. This alliance threatens (in its opinion) investments in areas specified as innovation, the common marketplace or green transformation.
"The focus on fossil fuels is on the past, and in these systems we are threatening Europe's industrial policy. These agreements will lead to a failure in the future and endanger social well-being in Europe. Now the future is in your hands," said the Spanish MP in the European Parliament.
Europe’s real problems
António Tânger Corraa (Chega/PfE), presenting the position of the Patriots Group for Europe, began his speech by stating that the full debate was a joke. In his opinion,
“The utmost right is simply a real invention. We are simply supporting citizens, supporting Europeans and wanting Europe to be a large continent again" - the Portuguese MEP concluded his short speech, earlier emphasising the importance of freedom and economical freedom.
Carlo Fidanza (FdI/ECR) noted that the full discussion was in fact a consequence of the desperation of the left, which is dissatisfied with European political choices. Italian politicians, speaking on behalf of the European Conservatives and Reformists, explicitly stressed that
“All that is to the right of the left, the left sees as the far right. They are thus trying to torpedo their opposition, soaping the eyes of the citizens of Europe," the deputy continued.
Billy Kelleher (Fianna Fáil/RE) first stressed the importance of the single market, stating that it is “our strength” and calling for a recovery of competitiveness and pointing to the threat from the far left and the far right. "These ideas from the far left and the far right simply change the common market", Irish politicians pointed out.
"Therefore, I invitation those who sometimes flirt with the utmost right to look at the centre, at reasonable solutions, and to guarantee that this centre of the political scene governs and ensures the well-being of the citizens of the European Union," he pointed out.
Who does the left not want to work with?
Daniel Freund (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen/ EGP) started his speech by indicating the groups of the "high right" in the European Parliament.
"We have 3 far-right factions: EKR with PiS, with Polish regulation of law, and we have corrupt friends of Orban and we have AfD from Germany. With no of these democratic, pro-European, good economical policy is possible."
Further, the German MP stressed that pro-European groups should search support "in the mediate of the European political scene", not among the "high-right" parties.
Jadwiga Wiśniewska (PiS/ECR) pointed out that the subject of the debate should be left-wing cooperation – a liberal majority as a threat to Europe's competitiveness.
"If you are not ashamed, throw work for the consequences of Green Deal on the right side of the political scene. We were the ones who warned against the consequences of the Green Deal. It was the EPP that called herself the Green Deal party, compared the Green Deal to the Copernican coup. You didn't care that companies from Europe decision outside the European Union due to the fact that they are incapable to rise the cost of climate policy," said the Polish deputy, further pointing to further threats specified as the MERSCUR agreement or the Migration Pact.
The discussion ended with a speech by Commissioner Séjourné, who mostly stressed the request to defend European competitiveness in cooperation with all democratic forces and a short speech by Minister Szapka, who besides pointed out the importance of competitiveness.
– In order to realize the meaning and the real intent of the debate held in the European Parliament, the political context must first be presented. In most associate States of the European Union, there has so far been any kind of sanitary cordon around parties called extremes and mainly extremes. This means not cooperating with parties considered anti-systemic. Recently, however, this cordon seems to be weakening, as an example may be the support by the leader of the French centre-right Republicans of the alliance with the National Unity in the June elections to the National Assembly or the joint CDU and AFD vote in the German Bundestag in early February, on migration policy, although the final proposal did not come to fruit. It is clear, therefore, that the "sanitary cordon", until late 1 of the main policy principles in the national parliaments of a large part of the associate States, is slow falling. This is primarily due to the failure of influence by mainstream parties, which are systematically losing support for utmost groups, which is due, inter alia, to the failure of migration policy, the advanced cost of energy transition or the failure of a sense of widely understood security. Therefore, today's debate in the European Parliament should be understood as an effort to influence parts of the European mainstream on those parties ruling the European Union which are slow beginning up to conservative and national groups. It is besides notable that the vast majority of the debate was devoted to the alleged threat from the "high right", while the utmost left was far little frequent. – commented Patrick Ignaszczak of the Ordo Iuris global Law Center.
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
