LAST UPDATE | 10 Jul

EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT Ursula von der Leyen has survived no- confidence vote in the European Parliament.

MEPs voted on the rare challenge pushed by a far-right faction against the European Commission president in Strasbourg, but the motion was defeated by 360 votes to 175 in what was a widely expected result.

Seven Irish MEPs supported von der Leyen and rejected the motion: Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Barry Cowen; and Fine Gael’s Seán Kelly, Maria Walsh, Regina Doherty and Nina Carberry. 

Four Irish MEPs – Sinn Féin Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion, Independent Ireland’s Ciarán Mullooly and Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan – supported the motion against von der Leyen.

Two other Irish MEPs, Labour’s Aodhán O’Ríordáin and Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews, abstained.

Ní Mhurchú told The Journal after the vote that she remains deeply concerned at how the president and her Commission are dealing with the issue of Gaza. She said Fianna Fáil MEPs have secured a face-to-face meeting with von der Leyen in Brussels to outline their views on the situation and to urge the president to change her stance on the need to suspend the EU-Israel Trade Association Agreement in line with international law and basic human rights obligations.

Addressing parliament this week, von der Leyen dismissed the no-confidence motion as a conspiracy theory-laden attempt to divide Europe, dismissing its supporters as “anti-vaxxers” and Russian President Vladimir “Putin apologists”.

She urged MEPs to renew confidence in her commission arguing it was critical for Europe to show unity in the face of an array of challenges, from US trade talks to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The no-confidence motion was initiated by Romanian far-right lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea.

He accused von der Leyen of a lack of transparency over text messages she sent to the head of the Pfizer pharmaceutical giant when negotiating Covid vaccines.

Pipera proposed the no-confidence motion over a recently annulled commission decision that denied a journalist access to text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

The European Union’s General Court sided with The New York Times’ case in May, rejecting the commission’s decision to deny access to the messages. It has been alleged that texts were key to securing vaccines during the pandemic. 

Mainstream backing

Centrist leader Valerie Hayer told parliament this week that von der Leyen’s commission was “too centralised and sclerotic” before warning that “nothing can be taken for granted”.

“Pfizergate” aside, Romania’s Piperea accuses the commission of interfering in his country’s recent presidential election, in which pro-European Nicusor Dan narrowly beat EU critic and nationalist George Simion.

That vote came after Romania’s constitutional court scrapped an initial ballot over allegations of Russian interference and massive social media promotion of the far-right frontrunner, who was barred from standing again.

The two largest groups in parliament, the centre-right EPP and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, also flatly rejected the challenge, which needs two-thirds of votes cast, representing a majority of all lawmakers to pass.

- Contains reporting from Stephen McDermott.