Von der Leyen’s European Commission faces no-confidence vote
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European Parliament to vote on no-confidence motion against von der Leyen on July 10 2 July 2025
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will face a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament next Thursday, July 10. Far-right MEPs are trying to initiate a vote, but the chances of success are low due to the need for majority support. A source in the parliament confirmed to Euractiv that the proposal meets all the requirements of Rule 131 of the parliament’s rules of procedure.
Details
It is noted that the initiative for a no-confidence vote against the head of the European Commission by MEP Gheorghe Piperi from the Romanian far-right AUR party gathered almost 80 signatures and overcame procedural obstacles.
A source in the parliament confirmed to Euractiv that President Roberta Metsola informed the Conference of Presidents, the body that sets the parliament’s agenda, that the proposal meets all the requirements of Rule 131 of the parliament’s rules of procedure. – the post says.
The discussion of the no-confidence vote against von der Leyen is scheduled for Monday, July 7, and the vote will take place three days later – during the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg.
Recall
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces a no-confidence vote due to “Pfizergate” and other accusations. Far-right MEPs are trying to initiate a vote, but the chances of success are low due to the need for majority support.
Dispute over the content of important information: court orders head of the European Commission to show correspondence with Pfizer about vaccine procurement
Von der Leyen’s European Commission faces no-confidence vote – DW – 07/02/2025
European Parliament to vote on motion of censure against European Commission. Motion is largely symbolic, as most parties oppose the motion. If motion were to pass, the Commission would be required to resign as a whole. Right-wing Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea launched the motion against the Commission. He accused the Commission of “interference” in Romania’s presidential election, in which nationalist George Simion lost to pro-European Nicusor Dan.
The European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen will face a European Parliament no-confidence vote next week.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola informed parliamentary group leaders of the development Wednesday evening.
European lawmakers will debate the motion on Monday, with a vote scheduled for three days later.
Although the vote is largely symbolic, as most parties oppose the motion, it underscores growing frustration in Brussels following a series of contentious decisions. If the motion were to pass, the Commission would be required to resign as a whole, including its president and all 26 EU commissioners.
COVID vaccines at center of controversy
Right-wing Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea launched the motion of censure, criticizing von der Leyen for a lack of transparency regarding text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to The New York Times, personal contact between von der Leyen and Bourla was key to securing the EU’s multibillion-euro vaccine deal during the crisis.
The European Union’s General Court recently annulled a European Commission decision that had denied a New York Times journalist access to those messages.
Piperea also accused the Commission of “interference” in Romania’s presidential election, in which nationalist George Simion lost to pro-European Nicusor Dan.
However, the European Conservatives and Reformists group, which Piperea is a member of, has distanced itself from the motion.
“It’s not an initiative of our group,” an ECR spokesperson said.
For the motion to pass, it would require an absolute majority, at least 361 of the 720 votes.
While the current Commission is also led by von der Leyen, but following European elections in 2024, many of the commissioners are not those who served during the coronavirus pandemic.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
Denmark’s pro-climate, anti-migrant PM
Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s centre-left prime minister for the past six years, has learned to love the EU the hard way. Once a typical Danish Eurosceptic, she has reversed her penny-pinching stance on the EU budget and has taken to calling herself a “staunch European’ Her migration policy that has more in common with the far right. Despite her three-party coalition polling far below its former strength, there is little indication that Freder iksen’s tenure is nearing its end. A Russian sub off France. The rift within the ECR, as its two powerhouses, Poland and Italy, are at odds over its Law & Justice, and Justice & Law & Law, at its odds over the issue of the EU Court of Justice. And, of course, there’s the annual fragrance summit in Singapore – 15-16 October 2025, with regulatory and scientific experts at the crossroads of Asia. It will be powered by The International Fragrance Association.
In today’s edition:
Meet Mette Frederiksen
Von der Leyen’s no-confidence vote
Growing pressure from Renew, S&D
A Russian sub off France
No cohesion on cohesion funds
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Meet Mette Frederiksen
Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s centre-left prime minister for the past six years, has learned to love the EU the hard way.
Once a typical Danish Eurosceptic, she has reversed her penny-pinching stance on the EU budget and has taken to calling herself a “staunch European”.
What prompted this change? “It’s driven primarily by insecurity and I think by the realisation that we are alone and we cannot count on the Americans anymore,” said Marlene Wind, professor of European politics at Copenhagen University.
Frederiksen is on guard against Donald Trump’s threats to invade Greenland and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and hybrid warfare in northern Europe.
As Denmark launches its six-month EU presidency, and welcomes Ursula von der Leyen’s commissioners to Aarhus today, it’s clear that Frederiksen wants to make her mark on Brussels, a place she has long viewed with suspicion and quite a lot of boredom. Until recently, Denmark was one of the few countries that didn’t even have a government spokesperson in Brussels.
The “changing world” mentioned in her presidency motto, has pushed her back towards Europe. The timing is propitious. Frederiksen and von der Leyen are already converging on supporting Ukraine, upping defence spending, boosting climate action – something Frederiksen has long championed – and slashing immigration.
Frederiksen’s hardline approach to migration – now all but consensus in Denmark – is nothing new: she made it a priority on day one of taking over her party in 2015 when the far right peaked at 21% support, my Danish colleague Magnus Lund Nielsen tells me. Now, in a change that encapsulates her EU-turn, she’s throwing all her weight behind hardline European solutions to migration issues.
Her stance has won her plaudits from the right but put her at odds with the rest of the EU Socialists, especially Spain’s Pedro Sánchez who makes a demographic and economic case for more migrants.
Frederiksen has flirted with controversial plans to send migrants to Rwanda and squashed asylum numbers. Her migration policy that has more in common with the far right. She claims that migrants will undermine the rights of Danish workers. By doing so she’s splintered the support for the far-right Danish People’s Party (who sit with the Patriots in Brussels).
The seemingly odd combination of high climate ambition and migration crackdowns – two areas where Frederiksen played the long game – is reminiscent of at least first-term von der Leyen, who also took power in 2019.
Wind, the Danish academic, likened them both to “chameleons”, “moving when the population moves” – and for now that move is to the right.
Despite her three-party coalition polling far below its former strength, there is little indication that Frederiksen’s tenure is nearing its end.
She’s become a bit more European – but Europe has become a bit more Danish too.
Von der Leyen faces no-confidence vote
Ursula von der Leyen will face a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament next week, after a motion from ECR Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea gathered enough support.
It is highly unlikely to succeed but with her traditional socialist and liberal allies still fuming over her rightward shift, it underscores the level of animosity facing the Commission president.
The move will be debated Monday, and voted on Thursday in Strasbourg, Roberta Metsola told MEPs yesterday evening.
Originally backed by 74 MEPs, the motion has 31 signatories from the ECR group, despite the bloc having a commissioner in von der Leyen’s college, Italy’s Raffaele Fitto of Brothers of Italy. The move lays bare the rift within ECR, as its two powerhouses, Meloni’s party and Poland’s Law & Justice, are at odds over bringing the Commission down. The Italians have distanced themselves from the push, whereas all the Poles have signed it.
For the Socialists, the math is simple: signing or backing the motion would be political suicide. “Clearly, we need to discuss it within the group, but our line is clear: we don’t vote with the far right,” said S&D leader Iratxe García, speaking to reporters last night.
The motion of censure will pass only if it wins a two-thirds majority of votes cast, representing over half of all MEPs.
Frustration builds in the centre
Renew chief Valérie Hayer held a one-hour meeting with Ursula von der Leyen at the Berlaymont on Wednesday, Euractiv has learned. The meeting follows von der Leyen’s sit-down last week with S&D leader García, amid growing frustration over the EPP’s drift to the right and the Commission’s threat to withdraw a bill meant to prevent greenwashing.
Back in November, Renew, S&D, and the EPP signed a loose agreement on political priorities – but it didn’t stop the centre right from making other allies.
Around the bloc
GERMANY | Germany’s coalition parties are haggling over reducing energy taxes for consumers – one of the key promises of the coalition treaty. But following the presentation of their first budget, Chancellor Merz and Finance Minister Klingbeil backpedalled, citing a lack of funding options. A highly-anticipated coalition meeting on Wednesday did not produce a solution.
FRANCE | According to Ouest France, a Russian Kilo-class submarine surfaced on 28 May near a French trawler that was fishing off the coast of the Côtes-d’Armor department. The Atlantic Maritime Prefecture, based in Brest, stated that the vessel had been “monitored for some time” and was “in transit”. The Russian vessel was “escorted” by a French Navy frigate.
ITALY | Italy is renewing efforts to map and develop its mineral resources with its first major public geological research investment since the early 1990s, prioritising materials the European Commission defines as critical and strategic for the EU’s economy and security. Read more.
POLAND | Polish parliamentary Speaker Szymon Hołownia will swear in President-elect Karol Nawrocki on 6 August after the Supreme Court validated his election win on Tuesday, even though legal challenges and allegations of vote irregularities remain. Read more.
CZECHIA | Czech politicians from the centre-right EPP have joined conservatives in firmly rejecting the European Commission’s proposal to cut 1990-level CO2 emissions by 90% by 2040. Read more..
Also on Euractiv
Resistance rallies against EU’s €392 billion regional funding overhaul Fourteen EU countries want “a stand-alone Cohesion Policy” to be preserved in the EU’s next budget, a document seen by Euractiv says. In a non-paper seen by Euractiv, a bloc of mostly eastern and southern EU states, urged the European Commission not to merge cohesion funds into a centralised megafund under the next EU budget.The move comes just ahead of the Commission’s first proposal for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, due 16 July, with a second package coming after the summer. The group, including the likes of Italy, Poland, and Spain, joins growing resistance to any shake-up of the €392 billion pot meant to support poorer regions, echoing concerns raised in a letter by 149 regional governments last month.
Patience is wearing thin in Europe’s most powerful political family, the EPP, over its president’s attempts to remote control national leaders at EU summits. Read more.
Negotiations over the EU’s proposed European Defence Industrial Programme between Parliament and the Council – due to start today – will hinge primarily on just how much money can flow to non-European defence companies. Read more.
In 2024, the EU spent an estimated €21.9 billion on Russian fossil fuels imports – just 1% less than the previous year. To put that into perspective: the amount exceeds the €18.7 billion in financial aid the EU provided to Ukraine in the same year. We break down the facts on the bloc’s addiction to Russian energy here.
Agenda
Visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Aarhus, Denmark, for the start of the rotating EU presidency; joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen .
. Plenary session of the Committee of the Regions in Brussels
Contributors: Magnus Lund Nielsen, Kjeld Neubert, Nick Alipour, Laurent Geslin, Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Barbara Bodalska, Aneta Zachová.
Editors: Vince Chadwick and Sofia Mandilara.
EU Commission President Von der Leyen faces no-confidence vote next week
MEPs will meet in Strasbourg, France on Monday to debate the motion for censure. A confidence vote will take place later on Thursday, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told parliamentary group leaders. For the vote to be successful, at least 361 MEPs will be required to vote no-confidence in the Commission. Every European Commissioner, including President von der Leyen, would have to resign if the vote is successful.
MEPs will meet in Strasbourg, France on Monday to debate the motion for censure and a confidence vote will take place later on Thursday,
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told parliamentary group leaders last night, who will debate whether to put the motion on the draft agenda ahead of next week’s plenary session.
The motion, launched by the right-wing MEP Gheorghe Pipera of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) parliamentary grouping, is mostly symbolic.
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While European parties are set to oppose the motion, it highlights a growing tension between politicians in the EU. ECR distanced itself from Pipera’s motion yesterday, claiming that it was not proposed by the group.
Every European Commissioner, including Ireland’s Michael McGrath and President von der Leyen, would have to resign if the vote is successful. However, the majority of most groupings are set to support the Commission.
Pipea brought forward the motion following a recently annulled European Commission decision that denied a journalist access to text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has been alleged that texts between the pair were key to securing vaccines during the pandemic. The European Union’s General Court sided with The New York Time’s case in May, annulling the Commission’s decision to deny access to the messages.
Irish MEPs in July last year largely opposed a second von der Leyen term over her stance on Israel’s war in Gaza, among other issues. For the vote to be successful, at least 361 MEPs will be required to vote no-confidence in the Commission.
With reporting by AFP
Von der Leyen to face Parliament confidence vote next Thursday
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the scheduling to political group leaders on Wednesday evening. The debate has been scheduled for Monday, during which von der Leyen will appear. If the no-confidence motion were to pass, it would lead to the resignation of the entire Commission and trigger the complex process of appointing 27 new European commissioners.
If the no-confidence motion were to pass, it would lead to the resignation of the entire Commission and trigger the complex process of appointing 27 new European commissioners.
Political turmoil
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the scheduling to political group leaders on Wednesday evening.
The debate has been scheduled for Monday, during which von der Leyen will appear. That would be followed by a discussion in which political group leaders will express their views.
Romanian right-wing lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea filed the motion of censure after gathering enough signatures last week to express outrage over her secret texts from 2021 with Albert Bourla, the chief executive of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. They related to discussions on getting vaccines to Europe at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
While some members of von der Leyen’s European People’s Party and the right-wing ECR have withdrawn their support for the motion after pressure from their own ranks, it still garnered the 72 signatures needed for it to happen.
Despite recent political turmoil, with the Socialists and liberals accusing von der Leyen of aligning with the far right to water down green reforms, the EU’s centrist majority, which supported her presidency, has little appetite to support the move.