That debate was triggered after the EPP broke with its traditional centrist partners and relied on far-right backing to push through rollbacks of EU green rules, including cuts to corporate sustainability and deforestation legislation, a moment far-right lawmakers openly described as a breakthrough.
Far-right groups have since made clear they intend to cash in. Leaders from the Patriots and ECR groups said they are pressing for tougher migration policies, deregulation for industry and the reversal of the EU’s planned 2035 ban on combustion-engine cars, signaling that future votes would come at a political price.
Centrist lawmakers, meanwhile, say they feel boxed in. Socialists, liberals and Greens accuse the EPP of leaning right when convenient, while insisting the old governing coalition still exists on paper — a dynamic one senior lawmaker described as an “abusive marriage.”
Weber has rejected claims that the EPP is dismantling its refusal of cooperating with the far right. “The firewall stands. We know who our enemies are,” he said.
He insisted that any organized cooperation would have to meet strict conditions, naming three red lines: being “pro-Europe, pro-Ukraine and pro-rule of law.” Far-right parties failing those tests, he said, could not be partners.
Pressed on whether the EPP would actively seek far-right votes to overturn the phase-out of combustion-engine cars, Weber sought to redirect attention to the political center. His “invitation,” he said, was aimed at centrist forces, thanking Social Democrats for “very positive first signals.”