🇪🇺Von der Leyen Survives EU No-Confidence Vote Amid Growing Political Dissent
Backed by centrists and socialists, the Commission President remains in power, but fractures in her pro-European coalition raise questions about her future.
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Ursula von der Leyen has survived a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament, brushing off an effort by the hard right to bring down her Commission as expected. However, the political warning shots were clear: her mandate may still stand, yet her support is shakier than ever.
The motion, launched by the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, failed with only 175 MEPs backing it while 360 voted against and 18 abstained. With 553 MEPs present out of 720, the threshold for success wasn’t met.
But it was never really about winning. It was a political temperature check and a check regarding Ursula von der Leyen’s support.
And the results should worry Von der Leyen.
Dave and Julien talk European sovereignty, Trump's trade war, votes of confidence, and police raiding the far-right
Dave Keating (Gulf Stream Blues) and I sat down for a fun discussion regarding the ongoing trade conflict / negotiations between the US and the EU, why Von der Leyen is not the leader we need right now, whether she will survive her confidence vote, and why the police raided the offices of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National
For a Commission president once seen as a bridge between factions and a hope for a major drive towards a more unified, geopolitical European Union, the vote laid bare how fragile that coalition has become.
After everything that had happened, Von der Leyen was lucky that the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the majority of liberals from Renew Europe, and most of the Socialists stood by her.
And yet, cracks are becoming increasingly apparent, with many MEPs stayed away from the vote entirely, and many of Von der Leyen’s allies abstained.
The discontent is no longer confined to the fringes, and mainstream groups used the debate to vent frustration with the Commission’s recent political behaviour. Some have accused it of bypassing parliament, while others criticised its retreat from the Green Deal and environmental protections.
There is a growing sense that the president is shifting further to the right, losing touch with the political balance that first secured her the job in 2019, thanks in part to Centrist French President Emmanuel Macron, and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Both Renew Europe and the socialists had threatened to abstain, uneasy about the direction of travel of the Commission President and the EPP, who have regularly sought alternative arrangements with the far-right.
However, in the end, Von der Leyen’s allies backed her, arguing that playing games with institutional stability would only help the far right and that choosing the road of responsibility at a time of crisis.
With a caveat, of course: the Socialists fell into line after extracting a promise: the Commission would preserve the European Social Fund in next week’s long-term EU budget proposal: the Multiannual Financial Framework.
It was a transactional moment, not a vote of confidence.
Regardless, the motion has failed, and while Von der Leyen remains in office for the time being, the political scaffolding holding her up is no longer as solid as it was. The coalition that carried her into power is splintering, and the far right is watching closely.
There’s even a potential second motion of no-confidence on the horizon, thanks to Jordan Bardella’s Patriots for Europe Group hinting that they may wait and see what the political situation looks like in the autumn.
All we know for certain, however, is that today’s vote hit Von der Leyen where it matters most: the perception that she still commands the trust of the pro-European majority in Parliament, and that she’s in control of the political agenda.
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My god. What a complex entity to lead. She’s done well given the challenges. Who could / would be an eventual qualified replacement?? I can’t think of any. Maybe Macron post presidency.. he would work well on the EU / international stage.