Politico I PARLIAMENT’S FRAGILE RIS DEAL - 13.03.2024

The EPP, ECR and ID groups are backing leading Renew lawmaker Stéphanie Yon-Courtin’s latest compromise effort, officials told MFS after a meeting Tuesday afternoon in Strasbourg — to the fury of left-leaning groups.  

SO WHAT? With the backing of four groups, Yon-Courtin’s deal should pass a vote in the ECON committee on March 20, paving the way for plenary approval next month without a vote.   

But it’s not as clean a victory as it looks. ID and ECR are expected to push Yon-Courtin to move further to the right on the controversial topics of kickbacks for retail financial advice and “value for money” of investment products. And the S+D and Greens are planning to table alternative compromise proposals on those two issues ahead of next week’s vote.   

Yon-Courtin interview: The rapporteur hit back at the S+D and the Greens in an interview with MFS Tuesday, saying they are “irresponsible” to “give up without coming with any concrete solutions” while she is trying to “build bridges.”   

She said the two groups “decided to refuse to negotiate” as a “political strategy” ahead of the EU election — a move she said is a “missed opportunity for them” as she was willing to move further on “value for money” proposals to secure their support.  

“We have a majority, of course — we need to focus on that,” the French lawmaker said.   

Now that her majority for a vote relies on support from the right, Yon-Courtin acknowledged that right-wing groups “might be tempted” to push for last-minute changes to the deal, but said the final text “cannot be less ambitious.”   

A Parliament official on the other side of the political spectrum told MFS they “spent months discussing details” but Yon-Courtin took a “take it or leave it” approach in Tuesday’s meeting. 

The official argues that it’s Yon-Courtin who wouldn’t negotiate on the most contentious issues.   The official criticized the “horrible” deal, saying it’s a sign of “the fascist-liberal alliance” they fear will come to the Parliament as a whole after the EU election in June.   

The agreed text is more conservative than the original Commission proposal or the Council’s current stance (more on that below). It would scrap any ban on the kickbacks after a series of U-turns from Yon-Courtin that saw right-leaning groups threaten to vote against her text before getting back on board.   

THE BOTTOM LINE: If the alliance holds, it’s next stop trilogues for the Parliament. After the election, bien sûr.