EU’s von der Leyen survives 2 no confidence challenges
The EU chief weathered two no confidence votes in parliament amid discontent over policy and transparency
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen survived two confidence votes Thursday in the European Parliament, touting “strong support” from the assembly despite the tensions laid bare by the challenge.
The motions of censure against the European Commission president were brought by the hard left and far-right, which accuse her of a lack of transparency and reject her trade policies.
Neither motion secured the minimum 361 out of 720 votes. The challenge brought by the far-right Patriots won support from 179 lawmakers. The one mounted by the left got 133 votes.
But the challenges reflected mounting discontent with von der Leyen’s leadership and tested the cohesion of the coalition led by her conservative European People’s Party (EPP).
Von der Leyen held up the results as evidence of continuing faith in her team, given a wide majority of the assembly had rejected the confidence motions.
“I deeply appreciate the strong support received today,” the EU chief wrote on X, vowing her “commission will keep working closely with the European Parliament to tackle Europe’s challenges”.