Ahern will not get Euro parliament backing
The group calling the shots in the parliament are the European People’s Party (EPP), of which Fine Gael is a member. They are the largest group in the parliament, with at least 277 of the 732 seats and they have warned they will only ratify a Commission President from their political family.
Fianna Fáil, while in power in the Dáil, is hardly a blip on the EU’s political landscape, being part of a small right-wing group in the parliament which is expected to break up before the new MEPs take their seats in mid-July.
One of the first jobs of the new parliament when it meets in Strasbourg in mid-July will be to ratify the new Commission President, who will be proposed by the heads of government. If the nominee fails to get majority support, EU chiefs will have to look elsewhere.
A leading member of the EPP German MEP Elmar Brok said the party remain adamant that they will only accept a Commission President from the centre-right parties to which the electorate have given most votes in the weekend elections.
“We have repeated this for some time now and we mean it. Somebody like Bertie Ahern would have a difficult time being ratified and, if he was, he would find himself in difficulties because he has no political family to fall back on in the parliament. The air becomes very thin in those circumstances,” he said.
The EPP is the only group with members in all 25 EU states and in nine of them their members are in power. The centre-right group has already called a meeting for next week of the heads of the parties affiliated to them, including Fine Gael leader, Enda
Kenny, when they will discuss the Commission President nominee put forward by the EU heads of government at their summit on Thursday and Friday.
They will also discuss their plans for the next five terms of the parliament and what party they will form an alliance with to ensure they have overall control in the institution.
The second largest group in the parliament will be the Socialists, to which the Labour party belongs. They will have about 200 seats but they have yet to elect a new leader and it is expected that the EPP will have to talk with them about forming a coalition..
However, the EPP will also talk to the Liberals, though the make-up of this group may well change. This is the group of which Pat Cox, outgoing parliament President, was leader.
The group to which Fianna Fáil belonged, the Union of European Nations, may not survive into the new parliament as some of its right-wing members are expected to join some of the many eurosceptic MEPs elected over the past few days. The Irish government party will then be left in a similar position as they were in 1999, looking for a new political family to join.
Sinn Féin has had discussions with the far-left GUE group and hopes to join them in the parliament. However, the party say this has not yet been finalised.
There are reports that Sinn Féin fears being aligned to a group of what is seen as French communists may lose them supporters in the US, who contribute generously to their party funds.
