The numbers are there, the Parliament will vote no confidence in von der Leyen on 10 July

Brussels – Ursula von der Leyen, the vote of no confidence has arrived. The initiative promoted by Conservative MEP Georghe Piperea (ECR) received the support of 79 MEPs, reaching and surpassing the minimum number of 72 signatories required for the motion of censure, which the European Parliament may submit in the exercise of its power of scrutiny over the EU executive, to proceed. The legal services of the European Parliament confirmed the existence and validity of the requirements. The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, informed the groups at the conference of presidents this afternoon that a motion of censure had been tabled in accordance with the rules. 

Next week’s plenary session will therefore be marked by the vote against the EU executive and its president. On Monday, 7 July, the resolution is scheduled to be debated in the plenary, with the vote scheduled for Thursday, 10 July. In any case, the outcome should be a foregone conclusion, in the sense of rejecting censorship. The initiative originates from the representative of a group, the ECR, which is officially not part of the Popular-Socialist-Liberal alliance established before the European elections, and is supported mainly by members of the extreme right. 

The European People’s Party will vigorously defend the EU Commission and ‘its’ president von der Leyen; the Socialists, through their president Iratxe Garcia Perez, said that they will not support the initiative of the extreme right and that, in case, they will be the ones to challenge the current EU executive. The co-chairman of the Left, Martin Schierdewan, is cryptic: “We want a change of policy, but we will discuss how to proceed.”