The Left group in the European Parliament has ruled out supporting a rival censure bid against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when two no-confidence votes are held in Strasbourg on October 9.
Speaking to Brussels Signal today, Manon Aubry, co-author of The Left’s motion, confirmed she would not back the initiative tabled by the Patriots for Europe. “We will obviously not vote for the far-right motion,” she said, stressing its “clearly anti-immigration” focus.
Both challenges were lodged on September 11, after von der Leyen’s annual State of the Union speech. They mark the second attempt this year to force her from office, with a failed bid in July.
The Socialist and Liberal groups had already closed ranks behind the EC chief, agreeing on a “truce” to block attempts to oust her.
The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) has also indicated it will defend her in the debates. Centrist parties have also underlined they will not use the censure votes as leverage in the ongoing Omnibus negotiations on European Union economic reform.
The Left had pushed for two separate debates on the rival motions but found “no support from other groups” in the Parliament’s Conference of Presidents. The Left MEP Aubry called that refusal “incomprehensible,” arguing the two texts were “antipodes” in their political grounds.
The Left’s strategy, she said, was to persuade as many Green and Socialist deputies as possible to join their own censure bid. The group is focusing its arguments on von der Leyen’s record on Gaza, her backing of contentious trade agreements, environmental rollbacks and a pattern of bypassing the Parliament.
“It is now or never to send a strong signal to the Commission and the EPP,” Aubry said, urging others on the Left to “wake up” and stop being “taken for granted”.
She also pointed to divisions within the Greens and Socialists, saying her group expects some defections in the vote, alongside support from non-attached members.
From the Greens, Danish MEP Kira Marie Peter-Hansen told Brussels Signal today that her group had not linked the censure votes with ongoing Omnibus negotiations.
“So far we have not made a link between Omnibus and the vote on von der Leyen,” she said, adding that the von der Leyen herself “prefers a pro-European majority” in Parliament and would likely signal this to her EPP colleagues.
The right-wing Patriots group, which submitted the other motion, confirmed they were open to supporting The Left’s initiative.
The last no-confidence motion, tabled on July 11, failed to reach the threshold of support to move to a vote. That text accused von der Leyen of weakening the Green Deal and failing to secure accountability on Gaza.
Next week’s debates are scheduled for October 6, with ballots on both motions set for October 9.
Carl Deconinck contributed to this reporting.
