Socialists consider abstention in von der Leyen no-confidence vote; urge the ‘Commission to change direction’

Brussels – “If the motion of censure is not supported, there are two options remain: either abstention or a vote against, and we will assess our stance“. The day after the debate that marked an unprecedented situation of weakness in the EPP and the EU that the Populars lead, the president of the Socialists in the European Parliament (S&D), Iratxe Garcia Pérez touches on a fundamental point: trust in no confidence. The socialists have had enough: they do not want to bring down the EU executive for at least two reasons. One is the need to have a fully operational EU at a time of great uncertainty and instability. The other is not wanting to vote with the right. And it is on these two points that the group emphasizes its stance: ‘We will not vote against the Commission, but not because we are 100 percent convinced.”

What the Socialists are unhappy about is the work of the EU executive, its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the main European party, the EPP. “The Commission must change direction,” Pérez punctuates, and “this is up to the EPP president, Manfred Weber, and von der Leyen.” The direction is a clear political platform that sees the EPP linked to Socialists, Liberals, and Greens, closer to the right, to put an end to the “double dealing” of the Populars, which has become indigestible and no longer bearable.

 https://www.eunews.it/2025/07/03/non-solo-von-der-leyen-ogni-censura-alla-commissione-ue-dal-1990-a-oggi/ 

The Socialists want to send a clear signal, and are even prepared to abstain. They have not yet decided in this direction; they will determine their stance at tomorrow’s meeting (9 July). However, it cannot be ruled out that in the end, the group will not vote as a unified bloc. The German SPD delegation is threatening to abstain, in what appears to be a spillover into Germany, where the SPD is part of the government coalition with the CDU and CSU, of friction between the Socialists and Popularists.

“The EPP is isolated,” the S&D president insists. “The EPP is under attack from the right, and Liberals and Greens have also asked to decide which side they are on,” she noted. “I hope that Weber got the message and is not just looking at the final numbers of the vote” of Thursday (10 July).