Von der Leyen to face vote of no confidence
Ursula von der Leyen must face a vote of no confidence in the European Parliament on Thursday. She is being accused by Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea of the right-wing ECR faction and 76 co-signatories of a lack of transparency and of mismanagement in her handling of Covid policy. They cite in particular her failure to comply with a court ruling that she release a chain of text messages with the boss of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer ahead of a multi-billion-euro vaccine deal.
Criticism of the iron grip is growing
A fall is unlikely, but discontent is widespread, notes Spotmedia:
“If more MEPs [on top of the 77 who signed the motion] were to turn against the President of the European Commission, this could weaken her position vis-à-vis the European Parliament, even if the motion of no confidence is ultimately rejected. During [Monday's] debate, the Social Democrats accused von der Leyen of courting the far right. ... Valérie Hayer, head of the Renew faction, criticised the Commission for excessive centralisation. Both sides made it clear that their factions would not back a motion of no confidence. But they took advantage of the opportunity to criticise the iron grip with which von der Leyen governs.”
Opportunity to take a stand or two
Telex cogitates on the messages that the groups will send:
“In this situation it is interesting that the majority of MEPs who backed the proposal [in the debate on Monday] belong to the ECR, which is closest to the EPP among the political groups to the latter's right. ... The question is where ECR members will stand in the vote and whether this will have repercussions for occasional cooperations with the EPP. ... It would also be worth keeping an eye on whether a message is sent to von der Leyen from the ranks on the left or whether they stick to not cooperating with the Eurosceptics and the anti-EU far right after all.”
Forceful, but without foresight
According to Der Tagesspiegel, the verdict is mixed on Ursula von der Leyen's term in office:
“She is extremely power-conscious and successful in her pursuit of control. But she doesn't like to be controlled, and operates with a lack of transparency. Each major crisis has enabled her to shift more power to Brussels. Her most important lever: spending cash and taking on debt, making the EU the central player and diminishing the influence of the member states. ... She's a forceful manager, but follows the shifting zeitgeist rather than any strategic plan. And any hoped-for emotional momentum for European unity has yet to materialise under her leadership.”