The ECR Group deeply regrets the decision of the Members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament to ignore agreements designed to uphold democratic principles of pluralism and fairness by electing Mrs Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová as its Chairwoman.

Committee chairmanships are supposed to be shared fairly amongst political groups according to the d’Hondt formula. The Chair of EMPL was allocated to the ECR Group at the start of this parliamentary term. Given the legal service had ruled that a vacancy had arisen when Mrs Nicholsonova left the ECR, by rights it was for the ECR to nominate her successor.

ECR Co-Chairman Raffaele Fitto stated:

“The majority Groups have today orchestrated a ‘smash and grab’ raid on a post democratically allocated to another Group.

“By refusing to honour the democratic principles that the European Parliament had pledged to uphold, a majority of political groups have today betrayed all those who look to it for democratic leadership and have undermined its moral standing in the world.”

ECR Co-Chairman Ryszard Legutko added:

“It seems the majority groups are now pushing for a ‘Hypocrisy Union’, professing to uphold democratic principles such as the Rule of Law when it suits them, and violating rules and mutual agreements when it doesn’t.

“The European Parliament likes to see itself as a moral force in international relations, defending principles of democracy and human rights. And yet, when it suits their own political purposes, it seems the commitment of the major groups in the European Parliament to these principles is just rhetoric.

“We would also like to remind you that in all democratic parliaments – as in Poland, for example – it is good practice to allocate committee chairs according to proportional representation. It is a great tragedy for the cause of freedom and democracy around the world that the role of the Parliament has been compromised in this way and its reputation sullied by such actions.”

The ECR Group had nominated Spanish VOX MEP Margarita de la Pisa.