The Brief – What about LGBTIQ+ rights, Ursula?

After the second EU election debate, everyone talked about Ursula von der Leyen leaving the door wide open to Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right Fratelli d’Italia. But does the Commission president also tolerate the party’s questionable stance on LGBTIQ+? Her answer was decidedly … evasive.

By now, it is well-known that the European People’s Party (EPP) considers Meloni to be pro-European, pro-rule-of-law, and pro-Ukraine – the holy trinity of conditions that EPP European Parliament chief Manfred Weber and European Commission President and EPP Spitzenkandidaten, Ursula von der Leyen, have set for future EPP allies.

It was therefore no surprise when von der Leyen reaffirmed in Thursday’s EU election debate that Meloni’s party meets the ‘Weber test’, even though subsequent sensationalist media coverage suggested otherwise.

What followed after that was more telling but received less attention.

“Ms Meloni’s policies on LGBTIQ+, for example, doesn’t bother you?” asked the debate host, Annelies Beck.

“I have a completely different approach,” von der Leyen responded firmly.

Beck pressed her: “Okay, but that’s not a red line?”

And von der Leyen answered: “I am not speaking of groups, I am speaking of parliamentarians that will go to different groups.”

“We will see that it’s not clear how the different groups will be composed, and how they will settle, therefore you have to choose principles, and be clear on those principles.”

Any reader struggling to make sense of this answer, which provided everything but a clear principle, would be excused.

A favourable interpretation of this statement is that von der Leyen considers Fratelli d’Italia’s Members of the European Parliament to be respectful of LGBTIQ+ rights – in contrast to their current hard-right ECR party family – which makes them valid partners.

A less favourable one is that she was dodging the question because LGBTIQ+ rights are not at all a red line for the EPP, in its quest to clench the Commission presidency.

In that scenario civil rights could take the back seat, as von der Leyen will need as many votes she can get, in what is likely to be a tight investiture vote in the European Parliament, if EU leaders agree to nominate her for the job.

If that is the case, the Commission president would rightly face some questions on her integrity, given that she has – somewhat atypical for a conservative – positioned herself as an outspoken advocate for sexual minorities in the past.

As a minister in Germany, she was an early advocate for same-sex adoption rights and marriage, defying her then-boss, Angela Merkel.

Her work as defence minister – pushing for tolerance for sexual diversity in Germany’s notoriously conservative army – even led a LGBT publication to jokingly award her a ‘homo medal’.

This stance did not change when she took on the Commission presidency: Most recently, sexual-minority rights received a nod in her 2023 State of the Union speech.

Asked about the matter on an earlier occasion, von der Leyen said: “I will push for mutual recognition of family relations in the European Union. Because if you are a parent in one country, you are a parent in every country.”

If she wants to stay true to this, it will put her in direct conflict with Meloni, whose government has instructed municipalities to stop registering same-sex couples as joint parents.

Surrogacy is also banned in Italy, and the government wants to prevent Italians from using this practice abroad.

While declaring that she is not homophobic, Meloni has repeatedly instrumentalised the topic, saying in 2019, “I do not believe in a state that places the legitimate desire of a homosexual to adopt a child above the right of that child to have a father and a mother.”

Anyone thinking that von der Leyen’s stance is isolated, and the EPP has a different view, should think again: The party is now firmly committed to sexual-minority rights, vowing in its manifesto to “fight against all forms of discrimination (…) as well as protecting LGBTQ+ rights.”

Snubbing such principles would cast serious doubts on the EPP’s integrity, but it would not be the first time.

A notable case is Spain’s conservative Partido Popular, a member of the EPP, which has coalesced with far-right Vox in regional governments, leading to several cases of controversial anti-LGBT policies.

A week ago, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria – all EPP-led countries – refused to sign a letter calling to enhance protection of LGBTQI+ community and combatting discrimination. Alongside Meloni.

Food for thought…

The Roundup

The new European Commission president must not collaborate with far-right forces, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Friday (24 May), amid signs that the current Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen is eyeing closer collaboration with hard-right parties if she wins a second mandate.

Austria’s Greens have been contending with attacks against their lead candidate Lena Schilling, based on leaked chats and statements from former friends and allies, which the party says are orchestrated by left-wing rivals.

Despite the presentation of a new compromise text from the Belgian EU Council presidency, national experts could not find an agreement to unblock one of the agrifood’s unfinished dossier of the legislature.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines, four Russian sources told Reuters, saying he is prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond

EU-specific support for oilseed production and a joint public-private effort in research are the key elements to increase the supply of EU-made proteins for animal feed, the bloc’s executive recommended in a study published today.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, after a day of talks in New Caledonia, that he would delay a voting reform that had triggered deadly riots on the French-ruled Pacific island, and try to seek a new political agreement

For more policy news, don’t miss this week’s editions of the Tech Brief and the Economy Brief.

Look out for…

• Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni participates in G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Stresa, Italy, on Thursday-Saturday.
• Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.
• Agriculture and Fisheries Council on Monday.
• Commissioner Kadri Simson delivers keynote speech at ‘Investing in Ukraine’s Future’ conference in Tallinn on Monday.

Views are the author’s

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Rajnish Singh]