By Andreas Lundberg 
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen successfully fended off a no-confidence vote in the European Parliament on Thursday, defeating a motion spearheaded by far-right lawmakers. The vote, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, saw only 175 members in favor, with 360 voting against and 18 abstaining.
The motion, led by Romanian nationalist Gheorghe Piperea, accused von der Leyen and her team of undermining public trust in the EU through alleged unlawful actions. Piperea specifically criticized the Commission’s lack of transparency, pointing to von der Leyen’s refusal to disclose text messages with Pfizer’s CEO during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also slammed the EU’s “obsessive bureaucracy” and high costs associated with policies like climate change initiatives, calling decision-making “opaque and discretionary.”
In a spirited defense, von der Leyen rejected the criticisms, highlighting her leadership during the pandemic and emphasizing equitable vaccine access across EU member states. The debate took place as the Commission navigates delicate negotiations with the administration of US President Donald Trump to avert steep tariffs on EU goods.
While the censure motion was unlikely to succeed, it posed a political challenge for von der Leyen, marking the first such vote against a Commission president since 2014, when Jean-Claude Juncker also survived a similar challenge. The episode underscores ongoing tensions with far-right factions in the European Parliament, even as von der Leyen continues to steer the EU through complex global and domestic issues.
Dale Chaucer