The confirmation of the new EU Commission is a lesson in the balance of power in the European Parliament. In the end, all 26 commissioners – alongside President Ursula von der Leyen – were confirmed with a two-thirds majority. This was made possible by four factions: Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, Liberals and National Conservatives. That wasn’t a given: the EKR parliamentary group only had one representative, Raffaele Fitto, to get through and still voted for all the other candidates, even if they were politically far removed from it. Giorgia Meloni, whose MPs dominate the parliamentary group, pulled the strings. It was clear evidence that the Italian Prime Minister wants to be part of the pro-European majority, instead of being on the sidelines like Viktor Orbán and weakening Europe.
