Dutch MEPs still unsure about European Commissioners despite voting in favor

Dutch MEPs from GroenLinks-PvdA, Volt, and BBB struggled with their decision on whether they will support the new European Commission. They had various reasons to vote in favor, the vote showed. But they did not do so convincingly.

GroenLinks-PvdA still has “significant reservations” when it comes to the Hungarian Commissioner for Health and Animal Wellbeing, Olivér Várhelyi, and Raffaele Fitto from Italy, who is a commissioner for Cohesion Policies, said GroenLinks-PvdA MEP Bas Eickhout.

Fitto “does not care about the rule of law and has an anti-European agenda," said Eickhout, who is also the leader of the Green Party. As far as GroenLinks-PvdA is concerned, a person like this should not be part of the European Commission.

The two MEPs from Volt also struggle to accept Várhelyi and Fitto. Várhelyi has not only been put forward again by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but he also called MEPs idiots in his first term as European Commissioner.

Fitto, who is radically right-wing, will be in charge of cohesion policies from December 1, which controls a third of the EU budget. Cohesion policies are used to help with the progression disadvantaged regions in the EU.

BBB had strong internal struggles when it came to Terese Ribera from Spain, who will be the commissioner for Competitiveness, said MEP Jessika van Leeuwen. "Ribera is still under heavy fire in Spain because of possible administrative responsibility for the disastrous floods in Valencia and surrounding areas."

The eight GroenLinks-PvdA MEPs all voted in favor in the end because “a strong Europe is crucial in these times,” said Eickhout. "With this vote, we choose a Europe that follows a stable pro-European course instead of a conservative Europe."

Volt’s reason for voting in favor is that Europe needs leadership. The party is also happy about the commitment made by the Commission to proceed with the Green Deal in which the EU member states have set nature and climate goals.

The color of the new European Commission and "several positive commitments" from the European Commissioners for Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Environment, "all from (center) right-wing backgrounds" were the deciding factors for BBB, the party said. BBB is part of the centre-right EPP.