The EU Liberals will not expel the Dutch VVD party – nor vote on its expulsion – despite the party’s decision to enter a four-way coalition with Geert Wilders’ far-right PVV party in the Netherlands.
Each MEP counts at a time when Renew Europe fight with him far-right group ECR for becoming the third force of the European Parliament for the next five-year term.
The liberals in the European Parliament had planned vote on the expulsion of the Dutch VVD party immediately after the electionson June 10, but after the strong loss of 21 seats Last week, they postponed the decision without setting a date.
Instead, the group will likely send a observation mission to the Netherlands to check whether the party is crossing any red lines in terms of liberal values and principles, although the official decision on next steps will be made in a council of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) which will be held this weekend in Vilnius (Lithuania).
The ALDE movement – one of the three political forces that make up the centrist group Renew Europe together with the French Renaissance and the European Democrats– would contradict a commitment of the president of the group, Valérie Hayerof the French delegation, which suffered significant losses against Marine Le Pen National Groupreceiving 13 MEPs (compared to 23).
During his campaign, Hayer signed a statement on behalf of Renew Europe in which the leaders of the groups Socialists and Democrats (S&D), the Greens and the Left agreed “never to cooperate or form a coalition with the extreme right and radical parties at any level.”
This commitment was not consulted internally in the party and was only assumed by the president of the group.
How did Renew Europe get to this point?
Last November, Dutch voters gave thevictory for Wilders’ far-right partywhich obtained the 23.5% of the votes in the general elections held in the Netherlands.
After months of fruitless negotiations in the Netherlands, the Dutch VVD, the party of the Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutteannounced that it had reached a four-way coalition agreement with the far-right PVV of Geert Wildersthe center-right New Social Contract party (NSC) and the populist Peasant-Citizen Movement (BBB).
Distancing the values of Renew Europe
After the announcement, Hayer told the French media that the VVD was had distanced itself from the group’s values and that Renew Europe They had to decide together what to do next.
However, in the Liberal Alliance An official motion was never presented. to expel the Dutch party – unlike petitions to debate the issue – and the party does not make “such drastic decisions” unless there is a crime or an official investigation, a source from the party told ‘Euronews’.
In the June electionsWilders’ party (PVV) won seven seats in the European Parliament.
The PVV has joined the far-right group Identity and Democracy (ID), which currently has 58 MEPs and has so far been excluded from key positions in Parliament due to a “cordon sanitaire”.
Negotiations on the final composition of the parliamentary groups are continuing, with a deadline of July 4, so the balance of power could still shift slightly.
