EU commission chief von der Leyen faces no-confidence vote this week

The president of the European Union’s enforcement branch, Ursula von der Leyen, faces a no-confidence ballot this week linked successful portion to substance messages she exchanged with a pharmaceutical brag during the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU lawmakers volition statement Ms. von der Leyen’s aboriginal astatine the European Parliament successful Strasbourg, France, connected Monday (July 7, 2025) successful the European Commission president’s presence, and ballot connected a censure question connected Thursday (July 10, 2025). The committee proposes EU laws and supervises whether those that participate unit are respected.

No-confidence votes are uncommon successful the European Parliament, and Ms. von der Leyen is expected to triumph comfortably, but the censure question is different motion of discontent with the erstwhile German defence curate and her backers.

Supported by a tiny radical of hard-right members of parliament, the question contains a premix of allegations against Ms. von der Leyen including substance messaging with the brag of vaccine shaper Pfizer, misuse of EU funds and interference successful elections successful Germany and Romania.

“This is simply a database of backbenchers, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s friends. They’re anti-Ukrainian and anti-EU,” Daniel Koster, a spokesperson for the European People’s Party — the largest governmental radical successful the assembly — said connected Friday (July 4, 2025).

The committee main is simply a subordinate of the EPP, which Mr. Koster said “will unanimously ballot against this”.

Other groups are utilizing the statement to criticise Ms. von der Leyen; they judge she is trying to bypass the parliament to enactment much quickly. The 2nd biggest governmental group, the Socialists and Democrats, said the censure question is simply a effect “of the EPP’s irresponsibility and the treble games”.

The menace of a parliamentary censure question successful 1999 forced the European Commission — led astatine the clip by Jacques Santer from Luxembourg — to resign implicit fraud, mismanagement and nepotism allegations.