The Head of the European People’s Party (EPP), which gained 10 seats in the European election, Manfred Weber says his party is ready to negotiate with other parties to build a working majority.
He said on Tuesday that the EU elections has set the bloc in a “centre-right” direction, in the European Parliament after meeting leaders and representatives of other political groups in Brussels.
Centrist parties won a majority of seats in the four-day election, but a rightward shift may make it tougher to pass new legislation to respond to security challenges, climate change or industrial competition from China and the U.S.
Weber said he was happy about the success of the ruling Civic Coalition in Poland, an EPP member, which came first in the election there, and a new opposition party in Hungary that exceeded expectations against Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz (Hungarian Civic Alliance).
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call snap parliamentary elections following a massive loss for his Renaissance party to the far-right Rassemblement National in the EU poll was also on the minds of leaders.
The chair of the European Greens in the parliament, Terry Reintke, said it was a “risky move” that increased pressure on European lawmakers to build a stable pro-European majority but Belgian MEP Gerolf Annemans, who represented the far-right Identity and Democracy group, said Macron’s decision had been splendid.