Scholz's departure leaves Sánchez as the EU's main surviving Socialist party.

BrusselsThe Social Democratic parties, along with the Christian Democrats, were the creators of the European Union we know today. For many decades, they have been at the heart of European power and community institutions, and have been instrumental in every decision made on the continent and in decision-making spaces in Brussels. the farewell of the German chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Spanish prime minister, will remain the only surviving socialist to lead one of the EU's largest economies.

Beyond Germany, France, or Italy, the outlook for the Social Democrats is not particularly encouraging either. The historic Party of European Socialists (PES) only governs with an absolute majority in Malta and leads the executive in Slovenia and Romania. Until recently, the executive led by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico could also join, but its authoritarian drift and rapprochement with Vladimir Putin's regime has caused a rift between the European Social Democrats and the Slovak populist force.

In the European Parliament, despite the PES remaining the second largest force, it has also lost influence. For the first time in the history of the European Parliament, the Socialists are not necessary for an initiative agreed upon with the Conservatives to be processed, and the European People's Party (EPP) now has a simple majority with the far-right parties, which in the European Parliament elections last June achieved their best results in European elections. In fact, the parliamentary agreements between the Popular Party and the far-right have already been dubbed "agreed upon." Venezuela Coalition, Because the first time the EPP broke the cordon sanitaire and approved a resolution with the parties of Giorgia Meloni, Viktor Orbán, Marine Le Pen and the AfD was to defend the Venezuelan opposition at the beginning of this legislature.

The situation is similar In the EU's most powerful institution, the European Commission. Never before has a European executive branch had so few progressive voices: the Socialist commissioners can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and the far right holds a vice-presidency for the first time. In fact, in the European Commission, the greatest counterweight to Ursula von der Leyen and the overall counterweight to a very right-wing executive also comes from the Moncloa Palace: former Spanish vice-president Teresa Ribera, who is the second most powerful woman in Brussels and heads portfolios with such significant EU influence as Competitiveness and Transparency. However, high-ranking EU sources admit that her influence, due to constantly swimming against the tide, is limited because she finds herself in an absolute minority and is forced to concede on many of the initiatives and policies promoted by von der Leyen's executive.

The consequences of the right-wing shift in the EU

The composition of the Council of the European Union—the institution that represents the member states—the European Commission, and the European Parliament are already beginning to be felt in the policies deployed by the EU, especially regarding migration. Brussels and the vast majority of European partners have enthusiastically embraced the Meloni plan to create migrant camps outside the EU to deport immigrants and generally accelerate the return of newcomers living in EU territory illegally, even in countries where journalistic investigations have shown that there are immigrants.

The same has happened with the fight against climate change. Although until a few years ago only the far right called for halting the EU's green agenda, more and more leaders and states are pushing to halt or dismantle it. In this regard, Von der Leyen, who had been one of the main drivers in her first term as head of the European Commission, is now proposing several regulatory changes to relax or postpone the entry into force of many environmental regulations, such as the reduction of emissions from combustion vehicles and, among others, the requirements.

Both in terms of immigration and the environment, Sánchez and Ribera have been left out on more than one occasion just rowing against the current in the European Council and the European Commission, respectively. The Spanish government has been one of the few leaders to refuse to support the Meloni plan to deport immigrants, as even the Danish Social Democratic executive is fully in favor of it. Spain is also the Member State that most insists on continuing to advance the green transition and not abandon it in favor of the big rear.