Today, during the inaugural plenary session of the European Parliament’s new term in Strasbourg, MEPs elected the President of the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen will serve as head of the European Commission for the next five years. ECR Group Chair Joachim Brudziński participated in the discussion preceding the vote, which also included the German politician.
Joachim Brudziński stated that “we can try to sugarcoat reality, but everyone can see the state the Union is in.” He noted that Europe is plunging into a crisis, trust in EU institutions is declining, and citizens’ lives are getting worse and worse. “The cost of living is rising, and worse still, it will continue to rise because the left-liberal establishment prefers to remain in the soteriological delusion that it will save the planet through the climate policies it is pushing—policies that will, in reality, result in economic suicide,” — he emphasized. The ECR chairman pointed out that companies are fleeing Europe, desperate farmers are taking to the streets, and the EU economy is losing its competitive edge. “We are ceasing to be a major global player,” he added.
Addressing the candidate for Commission president, Brudziński stated that she had been “a very weak president, if not the worst.” He also recalled that five years ago, ECR MEPs supported her candidacy, even though “they were not enthusiastic about her.” As he explained, the motivation at the time was the lack of a viable alternative—and it was hard to consider the “ideologically fanatical Frans Timmermans” a viable one. The PiS MEP also recalled that the German politician had made various promises at the time, which turned out to be empty. “We won’t be fooled again today,” Brudziński emphasized, pointing out that the EC president’s management style was disastrous. “Making decisions within a small circle of German advisors, arrogance, hypocrisy, a lack of cooperation with commissioners, excessive ambition, and passionate efforts to craft her own image—that is her work style,” — he listed, also pointing to von der Leyen’s lack of honesty, for example, in the context of misleading Poles regarding funds from the National Recovery Plan. “Pacta sunt servanda—in the presence of the Polish prime minister and the Polish president, you promised to unblock the funds, and later you backed out of that promise. Transparency was not your strong suit either—we remember the mysterious disappearance of text messages exchanged with the head of Pfizer,” Brudziński recalled.
In addition, the PiS MEP pointed to the issue of Poland being treated with exceptional harshness. “The position of Commission President requires a basic decency known as impartiality. Meanwhile, you were blatantly biased,” the MEP noted, pointing to numerous instances of supporting the then-opposition in Poland and taking actions aimed at changing the government in Poland—such as blocking funds from the National Recovery Plan or invoking Article 7. Brudziński believes that “this was a scandalous, unacceptable interference in the affairs of another country. “And what the Commission has been doing recently in the face of the Tusk government’s brutal violations of the law shows that the issue of the so-called lack of the rule of law during the Law and Justice era was one big, blatant sham reaching the heights of hypocrisy,” – stated the MEP, pointing to the forcible takeover of public media, the use of force in courts and prosecutors’ offices, investigations conducted at the behest of the authorities, and ongoing preparations for political trials. As he noted, those who have been arrested—including women—“are being tortured to force them to give false testimony.” “By the way, where are all those feminists today who were shouting so loudly about women’s rights?” the PiS MEP wondered. “Despite this, you are closing the Article 7 procedure today, even though no law in Poland has been changed. The only thing that has changed is the prime minister—he has been replaced by your colleague, Donald Tusk,” he pointed out.
Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union states that the European Parliament “elects the President of the Commission.” In practice, in accordance with Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the candidate proposed by the European Council presents their policy platform to Parliament, followed by a debate. Parliament elects the President of the Commission by a majority vote (361 out of 720). The vote is secret. If the candidate does not obtain the required majority, the President asks the European Council to propose a new candidate. The Council has one month to make a selection following the same procedure.
