Ursula von der Leyen faces rare vote of censure in European Parliament

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is preparing to face a rare vote of censure in the European Parliament on July 10, reflecting growing dissatisfaction over the EU’s perceived rightward shift and internal political divisions.

While von der Leyen is expected to comfortably survive the vote, the proceedings have exposed simmering discontent among centrist, centre-left, and green MEPs who had supported her less than a year ago, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The motion of censure was tabled by far-right, vaccine-sceptic Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea and centres on von der Leyen’s refusal to release text messages exchanged with Pfizer’s CEO during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The European Court of Justice condemned her stonewalling as “maladministration,” while an independent watchdog criticised it as well. The motion also criticises the EU’s COVID recovery funds, the legal basis of a €150 billion defence fund, and alleges unsubstantiated election interference in Germany and Romania.

Piperea secured support from 76 like-minded nationalist and extremist MEPs, enough to meet the 10% threshold required to bring the motion to the agenda.

In a forceful speech to the European Parliament on July 7, von der Leyen denounced the motion as based on “false claims about election meddling” and efforts to “rewrite history” concerning “how Europe successfully overcame a global pandemic together.” She framed the motion as part of “an age of struggle between democracy and illiberalism,” referring to extremist parties “fuelled by conspiracies, from anti-vaxxers to Putin apologists.” She added, “And you only have to look at some of the signatories of this motion to understand what I mean.”

Behind the scenes, however, concerns persist that many mainstream MEPs may abstain or not show up, potentially undermining von der Leyen’s authority despite her expected survival. Political scientist Sophia Russack of the Centre for European Policy Studies said, “While she will survive, that is clear, it is an interesting case because it is not at all about Pfizer. It is a proxy war.” Abstentions, she explained, would signal disagreement with von der Leyen’s political approach.

Von der Leyen was re-elected to a second term last year with backing from mainstream forces—the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D), centrists, and Greens. However, these groups suffered losses to right-wing nationalists, who gained their strongest-ever foothold in the 2024 elections.

Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP, vowed, “We will unanimously vote against this on Thursday.” Meanwhile, the Socialists and Democrats oppose the motion but have not ruled out abstentions. S&D leader Iratxe García Pérez called the motion a “reactionary assault” on European politics and criticised the EPP’s “totally misguided strategy,” citing instances where the centre-right aligned with the far right to block ethics reforms, delay environmental legislation, and campaign against Green NGOs.

The centrist Renew group is also expected to see some abstentions. Irish MEP Barry Andrews announced he would abstain, accusing the Commission of failing to defend Gaza’s population amid Israeli aggression.

By Vugar Khalilov