The LR MEPs who would be elected in June will oppose a second term for Ursula von der Leyen at the head of the European Commission, even if she will most likely be the candidate of their political family, the EPP, indicated Tuesday February 20 François-Xavier Bellamy.
“We will not support her in the election that comes with the Republicans, because we consider that the results are not up to what Europe expects today
,” declared the head of the LR list on France Inter.
To discover
PODCAST - Listen to the Le Figaro Politique club with Yves Thréard
The European elections in June will lead to a renewal of the heads of the main EU institutions, including that of the Commission, which must reflect the political balance resulting from the vote.
Ursula von der Leyen, who declared her candidacy on Monday, should be designated at the beginning of March as the candidate of the European People's Party (EPP), of which LR is a member.
The EPP has the most heads of state and government in the EU and is expected to come out on top in the elections, according to polls.
“Emmanuel Macron’s candidate”
But, with 8 outgoing MEPs compared to 29 in the German CDU, the Republicans carry little weight within the EPP.
And this weight should hardly be reinforced at the end of the election, if we are to believe the polls which currently credit them with around 8%.
The LR had already not supported Ursula von der Leyen in 2019, recalled François-Xavier Bellamy who criticizes her for having been
“Emmanuel Macron's candidate”
and for having displayed too much proximity during her mandate with the French president.
The President of the Commission, for example, made a notable appearance at the last summer universities of the Macronist Renaissance party.
Above all, the LRs criticize a policy that is far too ecological in their eyes, known as the
“Green Pact”
and the target of farmers’ anger.
Under pressure from the EPP, Ursula von der Leyen also renounced at the end of her mandate certain objectives on reducing the use of pesticides or restoring nature.