Ursula von der Leyen has passed the proof of the distrust. At the European Parliament only 175 deputies voted in favor of the motion of censorship against the president of the Commission, out of 553 voters. 360 expressed themselves against and 18 abstained. A success for the popular German, especially if we take into account that two third members of the Community Assembly would have been necessary to approve the distrust.
Among the Italians to support the text were only the 5 Star Movement and the League, while the delegation of Fratelli d’Italia did not really participate in the vote. The same choice by Ilaria Salis, who did not show up in the classroom with much of the group of the radical left The Left, of the green Benedetta Scuderi and most of the group of the Greens, and also of Cecilia Strada del Pd.
The censorship motion had been presented by the extreme right and skeptical Romanian deputy on Gheorghe Ppela vaccines, and was based on the refusal of Von der Leyen to make the text messages exchanged with the CEO of the Pfizer at the height of the Covid pandemic culmination. The text of Pypea had then obtained the support of 76 nationalists and right deputies, exceeding the 10 percent threshold needed to enter the agenda.
The controversies against the PPE
But many groups, including the socialist one, had thought at least to abstain, to send a political signal of criticism towards the community executive, complaining that the popular party of Von der Leyen is increasingly often ally in Strasbourg with the far right, to go against the will of the official majority, which should be composed of PPE, socialists and liberals, with the external support of the Greens.
Just yesterday, the popular ones again voted with the groups of the far right at the European Parliament on a proposal by the Commission in climatic matters: the objectives of reducing emissions for 2040. Thanks to this alliance, the theme will be entrusted to a speaker of the far -right group of the patriots, the one in which the Lega of Matteo Salvini sits, who are willing to use this role to undermine the objectives of Brussels. For this reason, the socialists had threatened to refrain on the motion of censorship, but after negotiations with Von der Leyen, they obtained the commitment to include the European social fund (FSE) in the EU’s multi -year budget proposal which will be presented next week, and therefore supported the executive.
The same liberals, who, while reiterating their criticisms of the popular for the alliances with the right, wanted to support the president again. “Von der Leyen must now keep his promise, restore trust with the parliamentary groups that elected it. A working majority cannot be taken for granted must be earned through dialogue, cooperation and respect”, had the president of the Renew group, Valérie Hayer.
Also Salis against
“My group and I, The Left, we have always opposed – and we will continue to oppose, blow by blow – to this commission”, but “to present this motion is the far right” which “consistently with my principles and my anti -fascist position, will never have my support, direct or indirect that it is”, wrote on X Salis by motivating his no to the distrust, but specifying to remain in the opposition.
League and 5 stars in favor
“Once again we were the only party of the Italian center -right to have the courage to oppose those who represent the failure of an increasingly ideological and far from reality Europe. Green Deal, rearmament, bureaucracy: with her in the field, the competitiveness of our economic system will continue to be massacred”, said Paolo Borchia, head of the League at the European Parliament.
The motion of censorship “is clearly a regulation of accounts inside the right”, but “in less than a year von der Leyen has shown that they are worse than our darkest omens: a disaster on rearmament, migrants, environment, cohesion funds and on the aid to the European industry”, said the 5 Star Movement in announcing its vote in favor. “For us it was distrust a year ago and it is distrust today. Leaving opposition to this commission in the hands of anti-European forces would be a historical suicide,” added the delegation in a note.
The motions of the past
The last motion of censorship against a commission president had been presented against Jean-Claude Juncker in 2014 for the Luxleaks scandal. Parliament has never approved a motion of censorship, but in 1999 this threat caused the resignation of the entire commission led by Jacques Santer, after a scandal of fraud and corruption.
