The Vice President of the Group of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, Esteban González PonsToday, he has guaranteed the support of his political group to Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission, but has criticized European governments for the forms used to designate her during this week's Brussels Summit.
In the debate held today in the European Parliament on the Summit that decided the distribution of the main posts of the European institutions, González Pons criticized European governments for "the forms, the vetoes and the lack of respect for the powers of the rest of the institutions "used during that election.
"Europe, apart from appearing democratic, must be so," he said before criticizing the European Council – where all EU governments are represented – "has no right to ignore all the candidates who have voted for citizens", reference to the main candidate procedure (known as "Spitzenkandidat") to the European elections, in which von Der Leyen did not participate.
The governments, said González Pons, addressing the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, "have vetoed the candidate (Manfred Weber) who was voted by more than 40 million Europeans" in the last European elections, and, in addition, "have formed an EU dome that dispenses with Eastern Europe. "
He has also criticized that governments "have imposed on the candidate for president of the Commission the structure of their government, including the vice-presidencies, without consulting it, and before the vote of the European Parliament, which clearly goes against the Treaty of The EU".
The governments, González Pons continued, "have tried to tell the European Parliament who has to elect a president and how the groups should be divided by the presidency", and "they have even split up the president of the European Central Bank as if it were one more political position ".
The European governments "have behaved with bad political education and have given the Eurosceptics reason. Governing Europe from the capitals is also nationalism ", summarized González Pons.
Support to Von Der Leyen
However, González Pons has assured that the PPE Group will support Von Der Leyen when his appointment is voted in the European Parliament in two weeks, and that he will do so out of responsibility, because he belongs to the PPE Group, which was the winner of the elections. European Union, and because he is "a person trained and prepared to fight in defense of the interests of Europe".
Von Der Leyen has the PPE Group, González Pons added, to negotiate his political program with the European Parliament.
He also reiterated the support of the popular Europeans and the European Parliament for the procedure of leading candidates, because "we believe that Europeans have the right to know who is governing them, we believed it yesterday, we believe it today, and I assure you that tomorrow and within we will continue believing it for 5 years ".
"The legitimate interests of the governments represented in the European Council should not be imposed by force of the member states on the will of the citizens represented in the European Parliament," he added.
Manfred Weber has also expressed the admiration and respect of the EPP Group for its president and candidate for the European Commission, because "it represents the spirit of democracy".