The major maneuvers have intensified in recent days in Strabourg, as the deadline for the departure of David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament, approaches. Tuesday, December 14, the subject animated many debates between MEPs. Because, forty-two years after having brought to the head of the institution Simone Veil, which had just legalized the voluntary termination of pregnancy in France, European parliamentarians are tempted to elect another woman, the Maltese Roberta Metsola, member of the European People’s Party (EPP, right) who has never hidden his opposition to abortion. In September, she even abstained, in a vote on a resolution calling on the Commission to criminalize violence against women.
A little step back is in order. In June 2019, the EPP, the S&D (Socialists & Democrats, left) and Renew (center) formed, in the wake of the European elections, a coalition to form a parliamentary majority and agreed to install David Sassoli at the head of the ‘Legislative Assembly. Mid-term, in January 2022, is it expected, a member of the EPP will succeed him. At the time, everyone imagines that it will be Manfred Weber, president of the EPP group and unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the Commission. The German (CSU) has since withdrawn.
Not prohibitive for the Greens
At the end of an internal election, the conservatives therefore chose to present Mr.me Metsola, 42, to succeed Mr. Sassoli. “She is an excellent candidate. A young woman who comes from a small country. It’s very symbolic ”, explains Weber. Elected since 2013, the Maltese enjoys a good reputation in the European Parliament. It also has the advantage – in theory – of being part of the most progressive fringe of the EPP. She has also, with regularity and charisma, defended the rights of LGBT + communities. Regarding the reception of migrants, the elected is not one of the most radical either. And, in December 2019, she called for the resignation of Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
In this context, Renew and the S&D, which are linked to the EPP by the June 2019 coalition agreement, did not step up when Mr.me Metsola was chosen by the EPP. Neither are the Greens, who consider the lady to be frequent. Of course, they know his positions on the freedom of women to dispose of their bodies, and even though they were the first to criticize Poland when it restricted the right to abortion, this does not seem prohibitive to them.
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