Europe Von der Leyen's Commission survives further votes of no confidence
Ursula von der Leyen's EU Commission has survived two further votes of no confidence in the European Parliament. In Strasbourg, 179 MEPs voted in favor of the motion from the right-wing PfE group, with 378 votes against, and 133 voted in favor of the motion from the left-wing camp, with 383 votes against. 37 abstained in the vote on the PfE motion, 78 on the left-wing motion.
09.10.2025, 12:33
SDA
A successful vote of no confidence would have required two thirds of the votes cast - excluding abstentions - but at least 360. 594 of the current 719 MEPs took part in the votes on each of the two motions. If the EU Parliament had adopted one of the motions, the EU Commission would have been forced to resign. In an initial vote of no confidence in July, 175 MEPs voted against von der Leyen, while 360 backed her.
Right and left criticize the customs deal with the USA
The PfE motion, which was signed by all 84 MPs in the parliamentary group, criticized von der Leyen's economic, climate and migration policy and accused her of a lack of transparency and censorship. The PfE Group includes politicians from Viktor Orban's Fidesz party and the Rassemblement National (RN) party of France's right-wing populist Marine Le Pen and her political foster son Jordan Bardella - who could become the next French president or prime minister in new elections. The RN MEPs had already helped initiate the first vote of no confidence against von der Leyen and her team in July.
Almost all left-wing MEPs signed the motion, as well as a few Greens, one Social Democrat MEP and several non-attached MEPs, including the five German MEPs from the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance. They thus just reached the threshold of one tenth of all MEPs to be able to submit a motion of censure. The group accuses von der Leyen in particular of not doing enough to combat the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. It also criticizes - as does the PfE - the EU's customs deal with US President Donald Trump.
Von der Leyen referred to threats to Europe
During the debate on the motions in Parliament on Monday, von der Leyen appeared more peaceful than during the debate in July. She called on the parliamentarians to unite and emphasized that a division would serve the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin. There was no such fierce exchange of blows as there had been in July, particularly between the leaders of the Conservatives and Social Democrats.
The group leaders of the conservative EPP, social democratic S&D, liberal Renew and Greens had not signaled their support for the motions of censure in plenary. EPP leader Manfred Weber (CSU) clearly backed von der Leyen. He accused Bardella of conducting a campaign for the French election campaign with the motion of censure.
Because the parliamentary groups in the EU Parliament do not vote as unanimously as in the Bundestag, for example, the Left Group had aimed for support from MEPs from the center-left spectrum for its motion, according to its co-chair Martin Schirdewan. "Our result shows: The pressure on Ursula von der Leyen and her Commission is growing and the Left will continue to increase this pressure within the European Parliament and on the streets of Europe," Schirdewan announced on the vote of no confidence. In response to the accusation that stability was needed in the EU in view of the geopolitical situation, he said: "We do not need the stability of failure."
Further motions of no confidence conceivable
The motions of no confidence show that the political fringes in particular are increasingly putting von der Leyen through the wringer. Schirdewan is also certain that there will be further motions of censure against the EU Commission. The head of the European SPD, René Repasi, also sees this possibility. "Von der Leyen now has a duty to deliver", he said. It is foreseeable that criticism in parliament could become much louder again. According to the "Politico" portal, Repasi said that there could be a corresponding motion by the S&D in the future if von der Leyen does not deliver results.
"A motion of censure is nevertheless not a plaything for mood politics - it is the sharpest and final means of control in Parliament," Repasi clarified when asked by the German Press Agency. If the Social Democrats turn their backs on von der Leyen, she risks losing the opportunity to form majorities with the center of parliament. During the vote, von der Leyen was not in Parliament but was attending the EU Commission's Global Gateway Forum in Brussels.
Motions of censure against the Commission are actually extremely rare. The only time an EU Commission has resigned was in 1999, when a Commission led by Jacques Santer from Luxembourg resigned as a precautionary measure following a report on fraud, mismanagement and nepotism.
