The Left Party defends itself against the accusation that in the European Parliament’s vote on Mercosur agreement together with the Greens, they have broken through the firewall to the extreme right. “In contrast to the conservatives, who have long since torn down the firewall in the EU Parliament and submit motions and vote together with the right, there is no cooperation for the left with the right,” said the chairman of the left-wing parliamentary group in the EU Parliament, Martin Schirdewan, to the taz.
Last Wednesday had the EU Parliament with a narrow majority of 334 votes against, 324 votes against, with 11 abstentions, voted in favor of submitting the EU free trade agreement with countries of the South American Mercosur confederation to the ECJ. This is likely to at least significantly delay the ratification process of the agreement with the four Mercosur states Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. However, it could still be applied provisionally beforehand if the EU Commission makes a corresponding decision.
In addition to substantive criticism of the delay in ratification, there is loud indignation, particularly from the ranks of the CDU, CSU and SPD, that the Greens and the Left accepted votes from the far-right camp in order to win a majority. The SPD MEP René Repasi spoke of “aiding and abetting the breach of the fire wall”. “A pretty unholy alliance” had emerged, complained EPP parliamentary group leader Manfred Weber from the CSU.
However, the left-wing EU MP Özlem Demirel does not want to accept this. “The left has never and will never work with the right,” she told the taz. “We campaigned for a democratic majority,” said Demirel. A motion for the rule of law is “the opposite of right-wing politics.”
Reichinnek appears thoughtful
Her group colleague Schirdewan also emphasized that it was “right to examine the agreement for legal violations and violations of applicable standards, just as consumer protection associations, unions, farmers’ associations and environmental organizations have called for across Europe.” The motion was “submitted exclusively by members of democratic parliamentary groups.” The actions of the left in the EU Parliament were not wrong. According to a party spokesman, Left chairmen Jan van Aken and Ines Schwerdtner saw it the same way as the EU Left, but they did not want to be quoted on the matter.
Heidi Reichinnek, the left-wing parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, appeared more thoughtful. On the one hand, she also thinks it is “completely right” if such a far-reaching agreement is examined for its compatibility with the European Treaties. She also stated that the motion had been “proposed by MPs from all democratic groups in the European Parliament and was ultimately supported in its entirety by numerous conservative, social democratic, liberal and green MPs as well as by some state delegations”.
On the other hand, Reichinnek noted that she knew how difficult it was “to fight for democratic majorities when the right is becoming ever stronger without completely gagging yourself.” Nevertheless, “that is precisely why it is even more important to leave no doubt that we are the red stop line.” This also means “ensuring that there are no random majorities with rights,” said Reichinnek. “That’s what people expect from us and I expect it too.” From their point of view, “all democrats would have had a responsibility to find a common solution instead of just letting everything go and then provoking such a situation.”
The one now approved application was introduced by 144 representatives from 21 states. They criticize the splitting of the agreement into two parts: a partnership agreement, which as a comprehensive political part must also be ratified in the EU member states, and a trade part, which only requires the approval of the EU Parliament. This is a bypass of national parliaments, the resolution says.
The applicants mainly included parliamentarians from the Left and the Greens, including their representatives from Germany. Several members of the Christian Democratic EPP, the liberal Renew Europe and the social democratic S&D were also there. From Germany, in addition to Left and Green MPs, Christine Singer from the Free Voters, Manuela Ripa from the ÖDP and SPD MP Maria Noichl signed the application.
However, Noichl voted against the motion she had submitted in Wednesday’s vote. Three Green co-signatories also backed out: Daniel Freund and Sergey Lagodinsky also voted against it, and Michael Bloss did not take part in the vote. Like the 3 left- However, 8 German Green MPs voted in favor. This also applies to 13 of the 15 AfD MPs as well as the 5 BSW and the 2 party MPs Martin Sonneborn and Sibylle Berg.
Only the left voted as one
Overall, the EU Parliament was divided across political camps in the vote. Only the left-wing parliamentary group voted as one. Otherwise, the orientation of many MPs was more national. The parliamentarians from France and Poland voted unanimously for the resolution. However, in contrast to the majority of the right-wing ECR group, the MPs from Italy’s post-fascist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia voted against it.
The fact that the narrow majority was ultimately enough for the judges in Luxembourg to review the Mercosur agreement was primarily due to the lack of unity between the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe groups. Here too, a relevant number rejected the majority opinion of their parliamentary groups – and voted for the motion.
The former EU and current CDU member of the Bundestag Armin Laschet complained on the Internet platform And in the direction of the EPP parliamentary group leader Weber, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee teased: “Convincing your own group colleagues is more effective than pithy talk show sayings.”
The leftist Özlem Demirel was satisfied with the outcome. “The left has always rejected neoliberal free trade agreements because they undermine social and environmental standards and attack workers’ rights,” she said. This continues to apply to the Mercosur agreement. “The real core remains: Mercosur endangers organic agriculture, social rights, democratic principles and the Paris climate goals.” Progressive forces across Europe therefore rejected this agreement.