The Left group in the European Parliament’s no-confidence motion against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be supported by the Patriots for Europe.
“From the logic of wanting a new Commission, many of us will vote for The Left motion as well,” Anders Vistisen, Danish MEP with the Patriots group, said today.
“At this stage, our priority remains our motion,” Patriots First Vice President Kinga Gál told Brussels Signal the same day. “Since the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen , which we did not support, we have been clear: Europeans deserve better.”
Von der Leyen will now face two censure votes in Strasbourg on October 9, after both the Patriots and The Left tabled separate challenges to her leadership.
Although the two groups have refused officially to back each other’s motions and The Left confirmed they would not support the “far-right initiative“, the Patriots said their members are still expected to support The Left’s bid once their own has been decided, as theirs “will likely be voted first on Thursday”, Vistisen said.
Some national delegations, such as Spain’s Vox, which has a “hard time supporting Communist measures at home”, may struggle to endorse a far-left initiative but most Patriots lawmakers are expected to fall in line on the principle that they want a different EC, according to Vistisen.
Inside the group, there had been discussions over whether to vote for both motions and it was decided there would be no whip.
The group, as well as The Left, both pushed for two separate debates ahead of the votes but in the end EP leaders decided there would be a single joint debate, on October 6.
“We will assess further votes in light of the debate next week,” said Gál.
Both groups have framed their challenges as a reckoning over the EC’s record.
Gál said von der Leyen had “failed Europe and its people”, accusing her of forcing through a “disastrous” Migration Pact and pushing a Green Deal and trade deals with the US and Mercosur that “harm farmers, and competitiveness”.
Both groups deplore the outcomes of the recent trade deals and accuse von der Leyen of weakening the European Union due to a lack of transparency and accountability in the numerous alleged corruption scandals and warmongering.
The Left, meanwhile, has highlighted von der Leyen’s stance on Gaza and the watering down of climate rules as key reasons for their censure effort.
To remove von der Leyen, two-thirds of MEPs who cast a ballot must support the censure. The EP has 719 members, meaning her opponents would need a large number of centrist lawmakers to switch sides.
Together, the Patriots, The Left and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group – which had already issued a motion of censure in July that did not go through – count 158 MEPs, far from the threshold. This is the maximum possible, assuming that all mentioned right-wing MEPS support The Left’s motion, which very likely will not happen, partly due to national delegations’ reasons mentioned by Vistisen.
With the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group – which had already issued a motion of censure in July that did not go through – this number goes up to 237.
The ballot brought by ECR had already shown the limits of opposition. Then, 553 MEPs cast a vote, with 175 against von der Leyen and only two from the her own group breaking ranks. That left her secure but observers believe a larger number of lawmakers may now be ready to oppose her in the motion advanced by The Left.
The Left, though, has said from the start it will not back the Patriots’ motion, a position Vistisen described as inconsistent. He said if both groups wanted a different EC, there was “no logic” in refusing to support each other’s efforts.
The Greens, who did not show up to the July vote, have signalled slightly more openness this time. Their complaint centres on von der Leyen’s approach to trade deals with the US and Mercosur countries, which they argue runs counter to protecting the environment.
However, they said they will not try to get political wins from not supporting the motions, as they consider the controversial “omnibus simplification package”, in which MEPS are currently deciding how far to roll back a number of green legislations, a “separate issue“.
Liberals from the Renew Group, share this position, Vincent Stuer, spokesperson for the group, told Brussels Signal October 3.
On the no-confidence vote, he added that “there are many lukewarm admirers of von der Leyen, also within Renew, but last time only one supported the motion, and now too the group’s position is clear, this is not the way to strengthen Europe.”
Brussels Signal contacted MEPS from the Socialists & Democrats but had received no reply at the time of publication.
