In the debate on the final vote on the European Commission in Strasbourg, ECR Co-Chairman Nicola Procaccini said that the centre-left dominance in the EU had now been broken.

“Defending the national interest does not mean being Eurosceptic or anti-European”, said Procaccini.“Rather, it means loving the original and wonderful idea of a Europe of peoples, united in diversity.” On behalf of his group, Procaccini therefore declared that the ECR would respect these principles and announced a free vote.

Mr Procaccini’s full speech reads:

Thank you President, the ECR has a clear political identity. We are a group that fights for the preservation of the values that founded Europe. We are men and women firm in our convictions, but also measured in the way we express them. We maintain a certain British style, if you will allow me to say, despite the fact that, sadly, Britain left the European Union and with it the Tories who founded the ECR.

Indeed, we have watched with a certain detached amusement the psychodrama of the Left, in convulsions over a vice-presidency assigned to an Italian Conservative. My colleague, Mrs Aubry, said yesterday: ‘The left groups have given in across the board’. I believe instead, more simply, that the European citizens have expressed their views in the national and European elections, and that this must be taken into account, especially by the President of the Commission whom I must acknowledge for having resisted the pressure of the Left with dignity and courage.

Every time and everywhere you have voted, you have lost elections, and the composition of this chamber explains this more than a thousand thoughtful political analyses. Nevertheless, there is no centre-right majority, because there is no obligation for a majority. There never was even in the past five years: when, thanks to numbers quite different from today’s, the Socialists bullied the Populars, Timmermans bullied Von der Leyen. And all together they bullied the Europeans with fierce green radicalism. Fortunately, majorities here are formed on content and can vary with each vote.

We will remain true to ourselves. We supported the commissioners nominated by the national governments, not sparing them our criticism during the hearings, but respecting the prerogative of the member states to nominate their own commissioner. And we will give freedom of vote today because each of our delegations has the right to decide according to its national interest. This does not mean being Eurosceptic or anti-European. This means loving the original and wonderful idea of a Europe of the peoples, ‘united in diversity’.