EURACTIV Von der Leyen easily survives far-right-led censure vote Most centrist groups opposed the motion primarily because it came from the far right, even as they criticised von der Leyen’s EPP for its own shift in that direction. 10 July 2025

 EURACTIV

Von der Leyen easily survives far-right-led censure vote

Most centrist groups opposed the motion primarily because it came from the far right, even as they criticised von der Leyen’s EPP for its own shift in that direction.

10 July 2025

STRASBOURG, France – Ursula von der Leyen has easily survived a far-right-led motion of censure in the European Parliament, which threatened to bring down the entire European Commission. 

In the vote on Thursday, 360 MEPs voted against the motion, 175 in favour, and 18 abstained, meaning it fell well below the required threshold of two-thirds of voters and at least 361 MEPs voting yes.

The initiative, led by Gheorghe Piperea, a Romanian MEP from the far-right AUR party, part of the ECR group, was officially submitted last week with 74 initial signatures, mostly far-right MEPs.

The text criticised von der Leyen’s management of recovery funds, her decision to bypass MEPs on the EU’s new SAFE defence loan programme, and her involvement in the Pfizergate scandal.

In a debate on Monday, however, the focus shifted away from von der Leyen's leadership of the Commission and more onto the role that her political family, the European People's Party, is playing in the Parliament under the stewardship of Manfred Weber.

Centrist groups attacked Weber for veering to the right and opening up cooperation with parts of the far-right.

Ahead of the vote, the Socialists, the liberal Renew Europe group and the Greens all said they would vote firmly against the motion, mainly because it is an initiative coming from the far-right. Von der Leyen also got the backing of her EPP grouping, which rejected the text.

Von der Leyen herself was not present for the vote, as she is in Rome attending a conference on rebuilding Ukraine.

Observers have been keeping an eye on whether von der Leyen's Commission would garner more or less support than it did when MEPs elected it in November 2024.

"I would recommend the Commission president not to think that those numbers are then comforting because there are a lot of people not voting for this because it's a far-right motion of censure," warned Bas Eickhout, the co-president of the Greens group, who voted against the motion.

The motion drove a wedge through the ECR group, pitting its Polish Law & Justice members against the Italians from Giorgia Meloni's party.

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Updated:  13:32

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