In the civil liberties committee, the nomination of Charlie Weimers of ECR member the Sweden Democrats as a vice-chair caused uproar. French Renew MEP Fabienne Keller requested a vote be held on whether to postpone the appointment for ECR to find a vice chair “who is prepared to defend and protect the fundamental values of the EU, particularly, non-discrimination.”
The Greens supported the motion “to make sure that ECR can find a more decent candidate that is not racist,” MEP Tineke Strik said.
Her motion failed and Weimers was elected.
“I aspire to be a decent chair,” the Swedish politician said after winning the vote, while smiling at Keller and Strik. Keller proceeded to request the vote be in secret ballot, just like most of positions allocated to ECR lawmakers in the other committees, allowed for the MEPs to vote freely and avoid public scrutiny.
Employment committee lawmakers didn’t vote for a fourth vice chair on Tuesday after the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), who were supposed to get the post, asked for a postponement. Dennis Radtke, the coordinator for the center-right European People’s Party, told his group that it was ready to support the ECR, according to a last-minute gathering Giovanna attended before being asked to leave the “private meeting.”
Gender balance issues
On Tuesday night, the leaders of the EPP, ECR, Europe of Sovereign Nations, Greens, and Renew allowed for the anullment of rules meant to ensure gender balance at the top of the committees in five cases: internal market, defense, constitutional affairs, foreign affairs, and agriculture, as reported first by POLITICO.