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EU Commission: Right-wing parties request vote of no confidence against von der Leyen - success unlikely

EU Commission: Right-wing parties request vote of no confidence against von der Leyen - success unlikely

Ursula von der Leyen 's EU Commission will face a vote on a motion of no confidence in the European Parliament next week. According to information from the German Press Agency, Parliament President Roberta Metsola informed the parliamentary group leaders of this.

Previously, it had been examined whether the motion of no confidence, initiated by a right-wing Romanian MP, would be supported by at least one-tenth of the 720 MEPs, as required by the rules. The two-page text accuses the Commission of, among other things, a lack of transparency and mismanagement with regard to its coronavirus policy.

The support of at least 72 MEPs for the motion means it must be debated and voted on during Parliament's session next week. If it is adopted, the European Commission would have to resign en masse.

Such a scenario, however, is considered unlikely, as it would require a two-thirds majority of the votes cast and, at the same time, a majority of the members of Parliament. This would be at least 361 votes, or even 480 if all MEPs are present and vote. In the election last November, Ursula von der Leyen's Commission received 370 of the 688 votes cast.

Stress test for the 66-year-old CDU politician

For the German CDU politician, who belongs to the European People's Party (EPP) family of parties, the right-wing initiative is a test of endurance, despite the slim prospects of success. The reason is that the 66-year-old's recent political initiatives have caused discontent even among members of parliament who were otherwise well-disposed towards her, such as planning a multi-billion-euro loan program for defense investments as an emergency measure without parliamentary involvement. This latter point is also criticized in the motion of no confidence.

Specifically, Romanian Gheorghe Piperea and the right-wing petitioners accuse the EU Commission of, for example, still refusing to disclose information about text messages exchanged during the coronavirus crisis between von der Leyen and the CEO of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer. In this case, the General Court of the European Union recently ruled that this has so far been done without sufficient legal justification.

In addition, there are criticisms that corona vaccines worth around four billion euros remained unused and that the Commission allegedly influenced elections in member states such as Romania and Germany through a distorted application of the Digital Services Act.

In an initial reaction, EPP leader Manfred Weber described the motion as a partisan ploy that would not even come close to finding a majority in Parliament. "Europe voted a year ago, and Ursula von der Leyen is leading the EU in turbulent times with a strong mandate," said the CSU politician. In times of economic uncertainty and global upheaval, it is completely irresponsible to pull off such "publicity stunts." The proposers, he said, are pursuing the goal of an unstable and weak Europe.

Last motion of no confidence: 2014

Motions of no confidence against the Commission are extremely rare. Right-wing populists last failed in their attempt to table a motion of no confidence against the then European Commission under Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014. In the vote at that time, only 101 MEPs supported the initiative from the anti-EU camp. 461 rejected it, and 88 abstained.

The background to the motion of no confidence was revelations about tax advantages for large international corporations in Luxembourg. Juncker had been head of government of the Grand Duchy for almost 19 years. Critics accused him of "aiding and abetting tax evasion" by companies.

The only thing that led to the resignation of an EU Commission was the threat of a successful motion of no confidence in 1999. At that time, the EU Commission under Jacques Santer made its posts available as a precautionary measure after a report on fraud, mismanagement and nepotism had been presented.

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