European Commission President survives no-confidence vote

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen survived a no-confidence vote in her on Thursday.

A majority of members of the European Parliament, who voted on a motion submitted by the far-right, backed the Commission president. If she had lost the vote, von der Leyen and the rest of her Commission would have had to stand down, throwing the EU into chaos.

Romanian right-wing lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea had filed a motion of censure against von der Leyen over her secret texts from 2021 with Albert Bourla, the chief executive of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, during discussions on getting vaccines to Europe at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

360 MEPs voted against the motion, with 175 in favor and 18 abstaining. Out of 720 MEPs, 553 showed up to cast a ballot. The motion would have needed 360 votes to pass.

European Parliament Vice President Katarina Barley, who hails from the Socialists and Democrats, said this will be von der Leyen’s “last chance”.

The majority of political groups had already signalled they will vote against the motion of no confidence, but analysts have said it highlights the growing anger on von der Leyen in Brussels.

If the no-confidence motion were to pass, it would lead to the resignation of the entire Commission and trigger the complex process of appointing 27 new European commissioners.