Brussels: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces two votes of no confidence this week, three months after surviving her first-ever motion of censure. The Patriots for Europe (PfE) and The Left have tabled no-confidence votes against Leyen.
The debate in the European Parliament is scheduled to take place jointly on Monday at 5 pm CEST while the voting will be conducted separately on Thursday at noon CEST, Euro News reported.
It mentioned that while the two motions filed against Ursula von der Leyen are doomed to fail, they demonstrate a new challenge to von der Leyen’s stay in power and governance style, which has been facing increasing scrutiny since the beginning of her second mandate.
The two bids have one common thread which is criticism over the European Union-US trade deal and the disfavourable terms it has placed on European exporters. The agreement, which includes non-binding commitment to spend €750 billion on US-made energy and invest €600 billion in the American market, faces intense criticism from all sections of the political spectrum.
In a recent poll, 52 per cent of respondents have termed the deal a “humiliation” for Europe. Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledgement that the deal is “imperfect.” However, he stressed that it is “solid” enough to deal with the commercial turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump.
PfE and The Left, which have tabled the motion against Ursula von der Leyen, have expressed concerns about the damaging impact of EU-Mercosur free trade deal on European farmers. The EU-Mercosur free trade deal was concluded by Ursula von der Leyen in December last year and whose legal texts are now up for adoption. They also slammed von der Leyen’s lack of transparency.
The Patriots for Europe (PfE) and The Left, however, differ on other issues. The PfE has issues regarding the Commission’s handling of irregular migration and “misguided” green policies, while The Left slams EU’s “failure” to address the climate and social crisis, and Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Left spokesperson, Thomas Shannon, was quoted by the Euro News as saying, “The plan is to topple the Commission.” He said, “It is not the plan to actually create something where we’re constantly bringing this up over and over and over again. I think it’s just very clear that the time is up now.”
Ursula von der Leyen’s spokesperson said that the president would attend plenary debate on Monday and “have the occasion to listen to the issues and reply”, Euro News reported. She is expected to survive the votes of no confidence due to the support of the three centrist parties: the European People’s Party (EPP), the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the liberals of Renew Europe. Despite their differences, the centrists are of the view that parliament should not trivialise motions of censure amid multiple crisis at home and abroad.
Earlier in July, 360 votes were against Ursula von der Leyen’s dismissal, 175 in favour and 18 abstentions. However, the back-to-back motions indicates the political polarisation von der Leyen faces during her second mandate. During the debate in July, she slammed her critics, calling them “Russian puppets”. However, she offered to reset her ties with the parliament and resolve the differences in her centrist coalition.
(IANS)
