The Left Group in the European Parliament today submitted a motion for a vote of no confidence in the European Commission and its President Ursula von der Leyen, after the same motion was submitted by the Patriots for Europe group.
Far-left and far-right MEPs most criticize the EC President for trade agreements with the US and the South American bloc Mercosur, his lack of transparency and accountability, and his inaction on the Israeli war in Gaza.
The Left announced that it had collected the necessary 72 signatures, while the Patriots collected 85 signatures.
"The motion of no confidence submitted by a broad coalition of MEPs, led by the Left, calls for the resignation of the entire Commission on the grounds that President von der Leyen and her college of commissioners signed a series of harmful trade agreements without a democratic mandate, failed to act against Israel's systemic violations of international law in Gaza, and because of the President's blatant failures in terms of transparency and accountability," the Left said in a statement.
The proposal specifically points to the agreement between the EU and the US in which "the European Union agreed to every demand" of US President Donald Trump, as well as the signing of the agreement between the EU and Mercosur "without the support or mandate of European citizens."
The European Commission is also being criticized for its "inability to address the deepening social and climate crises."
Co-president of the Left, French MP Manon Aubry, stated that Von der Leyen had done great damage during the first year of her new mandate as head of the EC and that "she must go."
The group's co-chair, German MEP Martin Schirdevan (Die Linke, Germany), assessed that Von der Leyen had failed on every front and that it would be an understatement to say that she had overstepped her mandate.
The Left's announcement on the X platform states that this European Commission has betrayed workers and farmers, invested billions of euros in weapons and war, destroyed climate and social protection, and was complicit in genocide.
The statement from Patriots for Europe states that the Commission's trade policy has "seriously undermined" European economic strength and strategic autonomy, and that Von der Leyen has betrayed European citizens with harmful agreements, without a proper mandate and against the will of national parliaments.
Patriot president Jordan Bardella, who is also president of the French National Rally, said that millions of people rightly believe that this European Commission no longer defends Europe and is a failure in every area.
Bardella said the agreement with Mercosur represents a betrayal of European farmers, consumers and the environment, and that the agreement with the US is "a political failure and capitulation."
Patriot Vice President Kinga Gal, a member of the Hungarian Fidesz party, assessed that the European Commission under the leadership of Von der Leyen has failed to deal with the most pressing challenges facing Europe - peace, trade, competitiveness, migration.
"Instead of providing solutions, this Commission has become the problem itself. We need leadership that will finally represent the interests of the European people. It is time for Ursula der Leyen to go," Gall said in a statement published on IX.
After verification of signatures in the European Parliament, a debate and vote on the request will likely be scheduled for October.
A vote of no confidence, however, is unlikely, as it requires at least a two-thirds vote.
The Patriots for Europe group is the third strongest political group in the EP, with 84 out of 720 MEPs, while the Left has 46 MEPs.
Von der Leyen already survived a vote of no confidence in July, when only 175 MPs voted in favor of the proposal.
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