The EPP voted with the far-right – here's why it matters
28 October 2024
Political infighting over the use of EU funds for border barriers and deportation centres has hindered the voting of an EU budget resolution for 2025. Last Wednesday, the European Parliament failed to pass a budget non-legislative resolution, after the conservative European People's Party (EPP) aligned with the far-right groups in the parliament to ask for more funding for border barriers and deportation centres, breaching a previously reached compromise with left-wing and liberal parties.
The far-right groups (the newly formed Patriots for Europe and European Sovereign Nations) insisted on including amendments that increased funding for border security and deportation centres.
Central to the conflict is the size of the EU's budget for 2025. EU parliamentarians support a budget of €1,24 billion higher than the European Commission's proposal, proposing to boost health programmes, support young people and agriculture, and help people suffering from natural disasters.
The EU member states, on the other hand, want to reduce the budget by nearly €10 billion. The vote initiates three weeks of conciliation talks between Parliament and the Council, to reach a common deal for next year's budget.
 | Lorenzo Di Stasi It's not the first time in this legislature that the conservatives and far-right parties joined forces in a vote. The first time happened when the Parliament passed a resolution recognising Venezuela's exiled presidential candidate Edmundo González as the country's legitimate and democratically elected president. It again happened when the proposal of EPP to award the Sakharov Prize to González and María Corina Machado, the leader of the opposition in Venezuela, was supported by the extreme right. On the other hand, the demand launched by the German radical right party member, Alternative for Germany, Alexander Jungbluth, to use EU funds to finance walls and fences at the EU's external borders and return hubs is not new. In 2021, 12 member states called on the Commission to present legislative proposals that would allow the funding of physical barriers. However, the Commission always argued that border fences are not the most efficient way to improve border management, and it emphasised that EU law requires proportionate border control that respects fundamental rights. The Commission suggested that member states could use other, more effective tools, such as risk-based surveillance systems, cooperation, and information sharing. |
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