European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is facing her fourth vote of no confidence in the European Parliament in six months—an unprecedented number in the history of the European Union. The vote will take place on Thursday, 22 January, just a day after von der Leyen and the European People’s Party (EPP) failed to push through the EU–Mercosur deal in the Parliament.
The current motion of censure was tabled by the right-wing Patriots for Europe (PfE) political group, co-founded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and led by French opposition leader Jordan Bardella. The motion argues that the EU–Mercosur deal—signed by von der Leyen on 17 January and backed by the EPP and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D)—undermines European sovereignty, food security, and farmers’ interests by reducing tariffs and opening the EU market to agricultural products from Latin America that do not necessarily meet EU environmental, sanitary, and animal-welfare standards.
This, the motion claims, would place European farmers at a disadvantage at a time when they are already facing the prospect of significant cuts in EU funding under the Commission’s 2028–2034 budget proposal. Moreover, it argues that Brussels attempted to circumvent national parliaments, the European Parliament, and farmers’ organizations, limiting democratic oversight by fast-tracking the deal.
On 21 January, however, the European Parliament voted to seek a legal opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on whether the EU–Mercosur agreement is compatible with the EU Treaties, in a move driven by Patriots for Europe. MEPs adopted the resolution by 334 votes in favour, 324 against, with 11 abstentions. The decision means the CJEU will examine the legal basis of both the EU–Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and the interim trade agreement (iTA), as well as their compliance with EU primary law.
Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör said the decision represented an ‘important interim victory for farmers ahead of tomorrow’s decisive vote’, referring to the motion of censure.
‘I call on all MEPs, and first and foremost the French MEPs, who are committed to protecting the agricultural sector, to join forces behind our motion of censure in order to put an end to the European Commission’s excesses,’ PfE President Jordan Bardella said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Despite their opposition to the Mercosur deal, progressive factions such as the Greens/EFA, Renew, and The Left are unlikely to vote in favour of the motion, as they continue to defend the mainstream establishment by downplaying it as ‘national political theatre’ and ‘hypocrisy’. As usual, the EPP, S&D, Renew, and the Greens are closing ranks to protect von der Leyen.
Nevertheless, it is telling that no other Commission president has ever come close to facing as many motions of censure as von der Leyen. In October, she survived two different votes of no confidence on the same day—one tabled by PfE, another by The Left. In July, von der Leyen faced similar scrutiny over transparency and accountability because of the so-called Pfizergate. None of the motions of censure passed. Von der Leyen won’t be present during the vote on Thursday.
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