Smooth sailing for von der Leyen, Eu Parliament largely rejects two no-confidence motions

Brussels – Ursula von der Leyen can sleep soundly. The large and variable majority that she has managed to compose in the Eu Parliament – from the Ecr conservatives to the Greens – continues to have her back.The cross-over attempt by the extreme right and the radical left to
sfiduciare. the president of the European Commission is a flop: the Strasbourg Chamber rejected the motion tabled by the Patriots group with 378 votes against, 179 in favour and 37 abstentions, that of The Left group with 383 no, 133 yes and 78 abstentions. 

An announced flop, so much so that von der Leyen is not even in Strasbourg to follow his own destiny. He is in Brussels directing the work of the Global Gateway Forum, and from there he learns the result of the polls. His calls for unity and his State of the Union speech, where he doled out promises and made concessions to the Socialists, Liberals and Greens, have recomposed the majority. Which, on balance, is quite large precisely because it is mobile, because depending on opportunity it includes the Conservatives and Reformists on one side and the Greens on the other. The result, compared to the first motion of censure against his executive rejected in July, does not change: in that case the House rejected it with 360 votes against, 175 in favour and 18 abstentions.

 The PfE sovereignists demanded von der Leyen’s head because of his failed trade policy, in particular the trade framework signed with Donald Trump and the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. The Left, in its motion, in addition to the ‘vassalage’ to the United States and ‘the worst agreement ever signed by the EU (the one with Mercosur, ndr)’, emphasised the EU’s ‘complicity in the genocide in Gaza‘ and ‘backwardness in social and ecological matters’. The Patriots’ motion was supported by the other ultra-right group, Europe of Sovereign Nations (Esn), and some 40 Ecr MEPs. The small ultra-right group Esn also supported that left-wing motion, as did 22 members of Ecr and 12 members of the Greens. However, the two groups that tabled the motions did not support each other: the Patriots did not vote for the Left and vice versa. 

The Left Group pointed the finger at the progressive wing with which it shares the hemicycle: ‘We regret that most members of the Socialist and Green Groups did not support our motion of censure, despite the fact that the European Commission is currently dismantling or delaying the adoption of key human rights and climate laws,’ said the group’s co-chair, Manon Aubry. 

Among the Italians, Fratelli d’Italia chose to abstain on the motion of the Friends of the Patriots, while rejecting the one from the Left.The Forza Italia delegation rejected both texts, as did that of the Democratic Party. The League supported their group’s motion, abstaining on the one presented by The Left. The Avs delegation supported The Left’s motion, as opposed to the rest of the Greens group who rejected it. The 5 Star Movement supported both.

The delegation of the Pentastellati, in a note, commented: ‘Ursula Von der Leyen is already widely mistrusted outside the palace, in the workplace, in businesses, in the squares, and soon she will be in Parliament as well. It is only a matter of time, sooner or later the knots will come to the boil‘.