Votes blocking far-right from key jobs are final, says EP

LUXEMBOURG — The European Parliament can’t review the secret ballot votes that blocked the far-right from key positions, its lawyers told a court in Luxembourg today.

In court, the Parliament’s lawyer, Niklas Görlitz, said: “The results of the vote are definitive. There’s no mechanism in our rules to redo the vote.”

The EU’s General Court was hearing a case brought by the Patriots for Europe group, which is challenging the long-standing firewall set up by Europe’s centrist forces — the European People’s Party, the Socialists and Democrats, the liberals of Renew, and the Greens — to keep the far right away from decision-making.

Specifically, the Patriots are contesting elections in which the chairs and vice-chairs of parliamentary committees were selected after the 2024 EU election. Those jobs were filled through voting in secret ballots. The group is also questioning the composition of the Parliament’s international delegations, saying its lawmakers were kept away from key roles.

Lawyers for the Patriots — home of France’s National Rally, Spain’s Vox and Hungary’s Fidesz, among others — said its MEPs being kept from top committee jobs was a “categorical exclusion” and it was “not acceptable” for the Parliament’s third-largest party to be locked out of these positions.

The Patriots have 85 lawmakers in the 720-strong chamber. Top jobs in Parliament come up for grabs again in January 2027, giving the Patriots another chance to try to get into powerful positions.

Hungarian lawmaker Kinga Gál, the Patriots’ first vice-president, has previously called the mainstream parties’ actions “outrageous” and “against the rule of law.”

The Patriots’ lawyer, Azelio Fulmini, referred to the EU institution’s own description of representation.

“This proportional distribution of leadership positions within Parliament prevents the dominance of political life by just one or two large political groups, ensuring that smaller political groups also have a say in setting the political agenda,” he read.

“I don’t know if there’s a clearer declaration than that,” he said, adding that he was reading directly “from the European Parliament’s website.”

Görlitz told the court that all groups can nominate candidates for key jobs, adding: “Not getting the votes … doesn’t justify your tribunal getting involved in our affairs.”

The Patriots’ lawyer accused the Parliament of going beyond the neutral administration of committee elections, arguing that officials helped implement a political agreement designed to keep the group out of leadership posts.

EPP chief Manfred Weber told POLITICO in May 2025 that giving the far-right access to executive posts was a red line. Over the past two years, his group has repeatedly passed legislation with far-right supports.

The presiding judge, the court’s new president Savvas Papasavvas, did not give a date for the court’s decision.