The European Commission president hinted Wednesday she would be open, after the European election in June, to working with some politicians in the European Conservatives and Reformists grouping
“The cut-off line is ‘do you stand for democracy?’, ‘do you defend our values?’, ‘are you very firm in the rule of law?’, ‘are you supporting Ukraine’ and ‘are you fighting against Putin’s attempt to weaken and divide Europe?’And these answers have to be very clear”
With the projected increase in seats from ECR and ID, this shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, however EPP getting closer to ECR isn’t exactly the best of looks.
To me, this sends a clear message that, as Renew falls off due to Macron’s impopularity, the EPP is trying to gain more right wing seats by disregarding integration further down the line and possibly adopting more populistic policies.
From current polls: a centrist government with the S&D and the Greens (close) or Renew. On the right, EPP+ECR+RE would also have no majority, so they would need ID as well, which she kinda ruled out with this statement. From what I’ve heard Renew is often at odds with the German FDP, which I take as a good sign.