The European Parliament has rejected a vote of no confidence in European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
On July 11, the European Parliament rejected a motion of no confidence in European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, initiated by far-right MEPs.
El Pais writes about this.
Only 175 MEPs voted for her resignation, 18 abstained, and 360 voted against – this was not enough to overcome the necessary threshold of two-thirds of the votes (at least 361).
The vote was the result of an initiative by Romanian far-right MP Gheorghe Pipera from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. However, even the faction itself was not united on the resignation: some MPs distanced themselves from this attempt. The resolution was supported mainly by representatives of the far-right forces.
Ursula von der Leyen showed confidence in the outcome, even going to Rome for a conference on Ukraine on the eve of the vote. In the run-up to the vote, she managed to secure the support of the Social Democrats and the Liberals by promising, among other things, to preserve the social fund in the new long-term EU budget.
Although the resignation did not take place, the vote itself was a political signal for von der Leyen. She has been increasingly criticized for her tactical alliances with right-wing forces in the European Parliament, particularly in the context of negotiations with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In Brussels, there are concerns that the European People's Party, of which von der Leyen is a member, may increasingly rely on support from Eurosceptic factions, moving away from the pro-European majority.
Next week, von der Leyen's team will present a new version of the EU's multiannual financial plan, which will take into account the political concessions made yesterday.
Let us recall that the European Parliament initiated a vote of no confidence in the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, against the backdrop of the scandal with her correspondence with Pfizer and suspicions of political abuse of power.
