European Parliament ready for censure motions against von der Leyen, but votes fall short

Brussels – It is once again the moment of truth for the President of the European Commission. The two motions of censure presented against her are coming to the European Parliament for debate (October 6, 17:00) and a vote (October 9, 12:00), revisiting the issue after the July 10 session, regarding the future of the Community executive. This time, too, confidence should be confirmed, barring any last-minute twists and turns. The main political groups – Popular (EPP), Socialists (S&D), Liberals (RE) – announce that they will not support the motion, paving the way for a further strengthening of von der Leyen and her position. 

“We are aware that this motion is unlikely to be approved, but we want to go beyond the votes of July to give a message,” says Valentina Palmisano (M5S/The Left), among the promoters and supporters of the no-confidence vote presented by the radical left. Before the summer break, there were 175 votes against the Commission and its President (against 360 in favor and 18 abstentions), so the aim is to put pressure. For this reason, the Liberals are backing down: “There is a risk of debasing an important instrument that should be used in another way,” reasons RE spokesman Vincent Stuer. 

The motion from The Left will not receive support from the far-right ESN, which has announced it will abstain. The sovereignists, led by the AfD, will instead vote for the one presented by their allies, the Patriots (PfE), which includes Matteo Salvini’s League party. And Paolo Borchia gives an idea on how the Carroccio will vote: “Our group sees several critical issues in the mandate of this Commission.” The two different motions, therefore, appear to be an attempt to unseat von der Leyen, who seems poised to stay firmly in power. The real question may be how Fratelli d’Italia will vote, since the Italian delegation of the conservatives is not releasing its reservation and is taking time to reason about it. However, “when a motion of censure already has the possibility of not passing, it ends up strengthening the target,” reasons Ruggero Razza, aware that “the Commission will continue to work even after the motion of censure.” It is therefore likely that the vote will be split along delegation lines.

 In the Greens, too, some will opt out. While the majority of the group does not intend to try to give von der Leyen a shove, the Italians in the group will instead vote against von der Leyen. “Decline of the EU and its values: here are the reasons for the motion of censure” against the President of the European Commission, emphasizes Leoluca Orlando, who blames the von der Leyen team for “abandoning the Green Deal,” and the EU’s international position, “which seems to have delegated to Trump, when instead it has suffered the diktats of rearmament without a shared strategy.”