After the midday vote in Strasbourg on Thursday, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen The recent censure motion in the European Parliament shows that it is being strengthened, not weakened. And crucially for German politicians, her centrist coalition remains solid.
Total of 378 people and 383 members supported her committee in response to two separate censure motions filed by far-right and far-left groups.
This show of hands not only shows more support than the previous no-confidence vote in July, but also exceeds the 370 votes that approved his caucus at the start of this session in November 2024.
The results suggest that the so-called centrist majority has rallied behind the von der Leyen Commission II, along with most members of the Green Party/EFA and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, in the face of accusations over trade policy, power grabs and lack of transparency.
The person who decided on this policy was Bas Eickhout, co-chair of the Green Party/EFA.
“Given the current world situation, expelling the European Commission is not a wise move,” Eickhout told Euronews.
“We have problems, we have arguments, we are not satisfied with this simplification agenda… but that is not a reason to expel the entire European Commission,” the Dutch lawmaker explained.
3 motions of censure in 3 months
In reality, for a variety of reasons, MPs have not given Ms Ursula leave for quite some time, but Ms von der Leyen has behaved differently since MPs challenged her committee in July.
Since then, German lawmakers have acted on the Israel-Hamas war, appealed to centrists in the annual State of the Union address, and are currently discussing the Commission’s work plan for 2026 with the European Parliament, experts note.
“It felt like a lot of MPs at the center thought, okay, wait, let’s give her a chance to speak,” Sofia Roussac, a researcher at the Brussels-based think tank CEPS, told Euronews.
“If she’s showing that she’s at least moving in the right direction, it wouldn’t be strategic to punish her at this point.”
In the past few months alone, the European Commission President has faced three censure motions. legal action He faced criticism from all quarters for sidelining lawmakers over a 150 billion euro defense financing plan, as well as over Mercosur and the EU-US trade deal.
Most of the opposition comes from the left and the far-right group Patriots for Europe, and neither shows any signs of backing down.
Manon Aubry, the leader of the left-wing group, told Euronews that her motion received just 133 votes in favor, far short of the threshold needed to overthrow the commission.
The Patriotic Party of Europe (PfE), which secured the support of 179 MPs with its censure motion, also appears to have no intention of giving up.
“This is a process and[the motion]was a way to put pressure on Ms von der Leyen and show her weakness. We will continue with this strategy until she understands that she cannot continue,” Portuguese lawmaker António Tanger Correa (PfE) told Euronews, predicting that “there will be another vote of confidence”.
CEPS’s Lasak pointed out that far-right groups did not expect the European Commission to actually resign.
“They knew they were an unreachable majority, but what the far right is most concerned about is undermining institutions and undermining their legitimacy,” Lasak argued.
Will more battles follow?
However, Germany’s Christian Democrats have reached a stage where they are facing criticism from within their own ranks.
The next big battle in parliament is expected to revolve around the European Commission’s proposals. EU long-term budget from 2028 to 2034 — A €2 trillion plan known in Brussels jargon as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
In a highly controversial move, the EU executive in July proposed merging agricultural and regional funds into a single pot to be managed by national governments.
since then, member states criticize Members of the European Parliament have been openly opposed to the decision due to the scale and design of this ambitious proposal.
“The discussions within the (EPP) group are very heated at the moment,” Italian lawmaker Salvador de Meo (EPP) said in an interview with Euronews in Strasbourg.
The EPP is concerned that merging the EU’s two most important budgetary funds into one pot could lead to misuse of funds, underfunding the companies and citizens who depend on them, and a diminished role for the regions.
“It would be a mistake to roll back the (Common Agricultural Policy), which has enabled millions of farmers to modernize their businesses and play a leading role in the fight against climate change, and has been a real tool of European integration,” De Meo said.
“It’s a step backwards,” the Italian lawmaker added.
The group leaders of the European Parliament’s budget and agriculture committees, together with Christoph Hansen and Piotr Serafin, European agriculture budget commissioners from the same political family, are currently discussing potential solutions and will decide on next steps in the coming days.
According to two EPP sources contacted by Euronews, several scenarios are being considered, including a complete withdrawal of the Commission’s proposal, amendments introduced by MEPs to restructure the current plan, or a commitment by the Commission to amend some aspects at a later stage.
Ms von der Leyen may have survived two censure motions, but her battles with parliament are far from over, from negotiations over the next long-term budget and climate change targets to shrinking majorities and heated debates over Europe’s defense ambitions.
