EU Parliament to vote again on no confidence in von der Leyen

The EU Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, must once again face a vote of no confidence in the European Parliament, dpa learnt.

Parliament President Roberta Metsola has informed the parliamentary group leaders of this, dpa has been told by sources close to the matter, CE Report quotes MIA.

The debate and vote will take place at next week's parliamentary session in Strasbourg. This is the fourth motion of no confidence against von der Leyen and her team in around six months.

The latest motion is being tabled by the right-wing Patriots for Europe group, which has criticized von der Leyen and her team primarily for the trade agreement with the South American Mercosur states of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Its members include EU lawmakers from French politician Marine Le Pen's National Rally and the party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The French government also faces a vote of no confidence linked to the Mercosur deal, also initiated by the National Rally.

For a motion of no confidence to be debated and put to a vote in the European Parliament, it must be supported by at least one tenth of the 719 lawmakers.

In a statement on the motion, the Patriots for Europe criticized what they see as the blatant disregard for the European Parliament, national parliaments and millions of European farmers in the conclusion of the Mercosur agreement.

"EU-Mercosur is a death sentence for our farmers and the end of our food sovereignty. Enough is enough," it said on X.

The agreement opens up markets to products that do not meet European standards, Patriots for Europe said, adding that the safeguard clauses proposed by the Commission do not offer any real protection,

Back in September, the group had already tabled a motion of no confidence against the European Commission and voiced similar criticism.

This vote of no confidence will not prevent the agreement from being signed. The signing is scheduled to take place this Saturday in Paraguay.

Von der Leyen and EU Council President António Costa are travelling to the South American country for the ceremony.

The previous Patriots for Europe motion failed decisively in an October vote when 378 lawmakers voted against it, with 179 in favor. A two-thirds majority of the votes cast would have been necessary for it to succeed.

However, for the first time, members of the center-right EPP — the party grouping to which von der Leyen belongs — voted against her and her commission.

Motions of no confidence can only be brought against the entire Commission.

In October, the Commission survived a separate motion of no confidence and an initial vote of no confidence in July also failed.