Von der Leyen emerged ‘strengthened’ from motions of censure — for now

After the precocious noon ballot successful Strasbourg connected Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emerged not weakened but strengthened from the latest motions of censure successful the European Parliament — and, crucially for the German politician, her centrist conjugation has held firm. 

A full of 378 and 383 MEPs backed her Commission against 2 abstracted motions of censure tabled by the far-right and far-left groups.

The amusement of hands represents not lone much enactment than successful the erstwhile no-confidence ballot successful July, but besides higher than the 370 votes that confirmed her assemblage of commissioners astatine the commencement of this legislature successful November 2024. 

The results suggest that the alleged centrist bulk — on with astir MEPs from the Greens/EFA and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) groups — rallied down the von der Leyen Commission II successful the look of accusations of commercialized policy, power-grabbing, and a deficiency of transparency. 

The code was acceptable by the Greens/EFA co-chair Bas Eickhout.

“If we are looking present astatine the concern successful the world, sending distant the European Commission is not a astute happening to do," Eickhout told Euronews.

"We person problems, we person discussions, we are not blessed with this simplification docket ... but that is not a crushed to nonstop disconnected the full European Commission”, the Dutch lawmaker explained.

Three motions of censure successful 3 months

The world is that, for galore antithetic reasons, MEPs person not fixed Ursula a interruption for rather immoderate time, but von der Leyen has acted otherwise since MEPs challenged her Commission backmost successful July.

Since then, the German lawmaker has acted connected the Israel-Hamas war, appealed to those successful the centre during her yearly State of the Union address, and is presently discussing the 2026 Commission’s enactment programme with the European Parliament, experts person noted.

“My feeling was that tons of MEPs from the centre thought to themselves, okay, let's hold and let's springiness her the accidental to locomotion the talk,” Sophia Russack, probe chap astatine the Brussels-based deliberation vessel CEPS, told Euronews.

“It wouldn't beryllium strategical for america present to punish her if she's benignant of astatine slightest indicating that she's going successful the close direction.”

Over the past months alone, the European Commission main has faced 3 motions of censure, legal action for sidelining MEPs implicit the €150 cardinal defence loans scheme, arsenic good arsenic disapproval from respective corners implicit the Mercosur and the EU-US commercialized agreements.  

Most of the absorption has travel from The Left and the far-right radical Patriots for Europe — and neither shows immoderate motion of backing down.

“We are not giving up,” MEP Manon Aubry, person of The Left group, told Euronews, contempt her question receiving lone 133 votes successful favour — acold abbreviated of the threshold needed to topple the Commission.

The Patriots for Europe (PfE), whose ain question of censure secured the backing of 179 MEPs, besides appears unwilling to propulsion successful the towel.

“This is simply a process, (the motion) was a mode to enactment unit connected von der Leyen and to amusement her anemic points. We volition proceed this strategy until she understands that she cannot continue”, Portuguese MEP António Tanger Corrêa (PfE) told Euronews, foreseeing “more votes of confidence to come”. 

CEPS' Russack noted that the far-right radical ne'er expected the European Commission to really measurement down.

“They knew that this is the bulk that they couldn't reach, but what the far-right is astir acrophobic astir is undermining the institutions and undermining their legitimacy,” Russack argued. 

More battles to come?

Yet, the German Christian Democrat has reached a constituent wherever she is facing disapproval from wrong her ain ranks.  

The adjacent large conflict successful Parliament is expected to centre connected the Commission’s connection for the EU’s semipermanent fund for 2028–2034 — a €2 trillion program known successful Brussels jargon arsenic the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

In a precise arguable move, the EU enforcement projected successful July merging cultivation and determination funds into a azygous cookware to beryllium managed by nationalist governments. 

Since then, member states have criticised the size and plan of the ambitious proposal, and MEPs person blatantly opposed this decision. 

“Right now, the statement wrong the (EPP) radical is precise heated,” Italian MEP Salvador de Meo (EPP), said during an interrogation with Euronews successful Strasbourg.  

The EPP fears that merging the EU’s 2 astir important fund funds into a azygous cookware could pb to misuse of money, underfunding for companies and citizens who trust connected them, and a diminished relation for the regions. 

“It is simply a mistake to backtrack connected (the Common Agricultural Policy) that has been a existent instrumentality for European integration, enabling millions of farmers to modernise their businesses and play a starring relation successful the combat against clime change,” de Meo said.  

“It would beryllium a measurement backwards,” the Italian MEP added.  

The radical leaders of the fund and agriculture committees in the European Parliament, unneurotic with the European Commissioners for Agriculture and Budget — Christophe Hansen and Piotr Serafin, some from the aforesaid governmental household — are presently discussing imaginable solutions and are expected to determine connected adjacent steps successful the coming days. 

According to 2 EPP officials consulted by Euronews, respective scenarios are connected the table: the implicit withdrawal of the Commission’s proposal, amendments introduced by MEPs to reshape the existent plan, oregon a committedness from the Commission to revise immoderate aspects astatine a aboriginal stage. 

Von der Leyen whitethorn person survived 2 motions of censure, but her battles with Parliament are acold from implicit — from negotiations connected the adjacent semipermanent fund and clime targets to shrinking majorities and heated debates implicit Europe’s defence ambitions.