VdL Could Work With 'Anti-Federalist' ECR Group In Second Term

At the official launch of her campaign for a second term in office, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has not ruled out working with parties in the self-described anti-federalistEuropean Conservatives and Reformist (ECR) group after the June European Parliament election if their support is required. VdL was keen to emphasise that she would be willing to work with any group that is "pro-European, pro-Nato and pro-Ukraine", but not "extremists".

• Even working with some of the parties in the ECR group would be seen as engaging in a shift to the right. The Commission has historically relied on the 'grand coaliton' of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and liberal Renew Europe to enact policies.
• At present, the s ECR is dominated by MEPs from Italian PM Giorgia Meloni's Brother's of Italy and Poland's main opposition Law and Justice. It sits as the sixth-largest group in the EP. Polls currently show that the ECR could emerge from the election as the fourth-largest group behind the EPP, S&D, and the far-right Identity and Democracy.
• After the EP elections Hungarian PM Viktor Orban's Fidesz party could join, with the party having sat as non-inscrits since leaving the EPP in March 2021. However, the prospect of Fidesz joining has seen some ECR members such as the Civic Democratic Party of Czech PM Petr Fiala, the Flemish nationalist New Flemish Alliance, or the populist Sweden Democrats threaten to leave the group.