European Commission President Wins No-Confidence Vote in EU Parliament

(MENAFN) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen narrowly avoided a political crisis on Thursday, surviving a no-confidence vote that, if successful, would have toppled the entire commission.

The European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, voted decisively against the motion. Of the members present, 360 rejected it, 175 supported it, and 18 abstained. The result fell far short of the two-thirds majority necessary for passage.

Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea, representing the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, initiated the motion. He criticized von der Leyen for not releasing text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during crucial negotiations over COVID-19 vaccine contracts in 2021.

Piperea argued the Commission breached its own transparency guidelines and defied a decision by the EU’s General Court, which had ordered the messages to be disclosed. He labeled the Commission’s handling of the matter an “abuse of power” and demanded accountability: “abuse of power” and called for full transparency.

In a speech to Parliament earlier in the week, von der Leyen dismissed the accusations, saying the move was “taken from the oldest playbook of extremists.” She also alleged that her opponents were promoting conspiracy theories supported by foreign interests—a veiled allusion to Russian influence.

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