The positions of Chair and Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s committees were allocated on Tuesday, and there were no surprises. As expected, Patriots for Europe (PfE), co-founded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and rapidly becoming the third largest political group in the EP, did not secure a single position due to the cordon sanitaire applied by mainstream political groups.

Such disregard for the will of the electorate is, unfortunately, commonplace in the EP. Following the elections in June, the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew pledged to use a cordon sanitaire to exclude right-wing political groups from leading positions in the Parliament. Similarly, a backroom deal led to the re-nomination of Ursula von der Leyen to the European Commission, which was subsequently voted by the EP.

In line with the EP tradition of proportional rules, PfE had claimed chairmanships of the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and Culture and Education (CULT) committees, as well as vice-presidencies in the Agriculture (AGRI), Development (DEVE), Environment (ENVI), Legal Affairs (JURI), Civil and Home Affairs (LIBE), and Budget Control (CONT) committees.

Last week, during the first plenary session of the new parliament, the mainstream coalition prevented PfE from winning the two vice-presidencies to which it was entitled. This practice continued this week at the committee level.

For the TRAN presidency, the Patriots nominated Roman Haider from the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ)—one of the founding parties of the PfE—, who lost to Greek EPP candidate Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi. Haider accepted the result without congratulating the new chair.

‘You’re denying us democratic rights that you’re claiming for yourselves,’

he said after the vote, according to Euronews.

The same occurred at the constitutive meetings of the Culture and Education Committee, as well as the ENVI Committee. In the latter, the Patriots’ candidate from the Spanish Vox party, Jorge Buxadé, lost his bid for vice-president to the EPP candidate from Tisza, Péter Magyar’s party, which is currently the largest opposition party in Hungary. Buxadé expressed his disdain, stating he was honoured not to be elected by a Parliament that does not respect freedom of opinion.

Interestingly, Péter Magyar promised his voters before the elections that he would not take up his MEP mandate, as he does not consider MEP work to be a real job. Despite this, Magyar has quickly settled into the EPP, particularly in terms of ignoring the will of the voters, and has been one of the Vice-Chairs of the Constitutional Affairs Committee since Tuesday.

PfE’s candidate was also blocked from the position of Vice-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, according to a post on X by Kinga Gál, First Vice-Chairman of the political group. ‘Shame on the @EPPGroup for blocking the @PatriotsEP from the 4th Vice-Chair position in AFET that it is entitled to according to EP rules. This is against the rule of law. They are disrespecting EP rules, democracy, and even their own gender rules. Outrageous!’ the Fidesz MEP wrote.

Shame on the @EPPGroup for blocking the @PatriotsEP from the 4th Vice-Chair position in AFET it is entitled to according to EP rules. This is against the rule of law. They are disrespecting EP rules, democracy and even their own gender rules. Outrageous!

— Kinga Gál (@kingagalMEP) July 23, 2024

She also stated on Tuesday that the Patriots group will challenge the decision at the Conference of Presidents—the body that gathers heads of political groups—and explore ‘all available legal remedies,’ including

potentially bringing a case to the EU’s top court in Luxembourg.

Gál suggested that ‘one good alliance with the [European Conservatives and Reformists]’ would be enough to bring about ‘changes at the mid-term,’ POLITICO reported.

Despite the machinations of the EPP, S&D, and Renew, the ECR, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has managed to secure a few key seats. The EP’s fourth largest political group will chair the budgets, agriculture, and petitions committees, as well as holding 10 vice-presidencies across other committees. Additionally, the ECR has secured two Parliament vice-presidencies.

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