The heads of most political groups in the European Parliament expressed reluctant support for Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, during debate on motions to censure her yesterday.
Apart from the Left and Patriots for Europe, which had tabled the censure motions, the remaining groups all said they would either not support the motions to censure von der Leyen, or would not impose a voting line on their MEPs.
With the exception of von der Leyen’s own group, the European People’s Party (EPP), all other political groups expressed frustration with her record but said they had little appetite for an institutional crisis.
A censure motion was “a serious instrument” that should not be used as a campaign tool, said EPP leader Manfred Weber.
His group would back the Commission in its work, even if “we can have different opinions” regarding particular policies.
Weber also mocked the Left and the Patriots for Europe for being “united in [their] love of destruction,” saying they were using the censorship motions “as ridiculous propaganda tools for [their] own campaigns.”
Von der Leyen, when given speaking time on the motion which would cause her entire College of Commissioners to fall, urged unity at a time of “external danger and internal division”.
She said Europe should “focus on what really matters” — security, jobs and competitiveness — and repeated that “Europe needs unity.”
Renew Europe’s leader Valérie Hayer accused “extremists and populists” of exploiting the debate to spread division.
She said her group would not support either motion, but it expected the Commission to deliver more concrete results.
Hayer warned that “since the last motion in July, not much has changed.” She called on von der Leyen to “deliver acts and concrete results,” adding “the pro-European majority is not happy.”
The Socialist group’s head Iratxe García said the censorship motions were “not the way” to advance causes such as human rights.
She rebuked von der Leyen for “using those who deny climate change and women’s rights” to secure a majority for her policies. While her group also wanted a ceasefire in Gaza, she said “the difference is we keep trying to get concrete results — you stopped using negotiation as a tool.”
The Greens’ co-chair Terry Reintke warned that von der Leyen risked weakening the EU’s climate and social measures, and said her group would hold the Commission “to deliver what they said they’d do”.
She reproached von der Leyen for lack of action on “Israel, climate, social and housing crises, and the deteriorating rule of law”, but said a censure motion was “not the right instrument in the current geopolitical context.”
The European Conservatives and Reformists’ head Nicola Procaccini used his speech to criticise the Left’s motion for its focus and tone. Each ECR delegation would vote according to its own judgement, he said. He accused von der Leyen’s Commission of failing to respond to Europe’s “climate and social crisis”, arguing “the Green Deal itself is the source of social malaise”.
He stopped short, however, of supporting the censorship motions.
However, Martin Schirdewan of The Left said “after so many failures, some still want to give her another chance — we won’t,” summarising his group’s position that the Commission had lost credibility on Gaza, trade, and social justice.
Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella, president of the Patriots for Europe, said von der Leyen had “ceded to the Americans”, betrayed farmers, and allowed “11 new bureaucratic tests per day”. He declared that “Europe is a civilisation, not a machine of norms.” In particular, he urged French EPP members to “stop winking at farmers in Paris and refusing censure in Strasbourg”.
Members of the European Parliament will vote on the two censorship motions at midday on October 9.
