Ursula von der Leyen struck a defiant note on Monday as she defended her presidency against a motion of censure tabled by the radical right of the European Parliament, vowing to “never let extremists rewrite history”.
“We should be under no illusion about the threats our democracy faces. We have entered into an age of struggle between democracy and illiberalism. We see the alarming threat from extremist parties who want to polarise our societies with disinformation,” the president of the European Commission said in Strasbourg.
“There is no proof that they have any answers, but there is ample proof that many are supported by our enemies and by their puppet masters in Russia or elsewhere,” she went on, pointing to the benches where the far right sits. “And you only have to look at some of the signatories of this motion to understand what I mean.”
Her intervention was marked by constant booing and heckling, prompting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to “please stop interrupting”.
Von der Leyen appeared unfazed by the disruption as she promised to continue working towards “compromise” and “unity”.
The debate comes amid growing signs of discontent and frustration among the centrist coalition that supported von der Leyen’s re-election for a second term. Socialists and liberals, who distanced themselves from the motion, have decried von der Leyen’s big push to simplify regulation at the expense of the Green Deal.
Von der Leyen seemed to acknowledge the fracture lines in her speech.
“I recognise that there are members who may not have signed this motion but who do have legitimate concerns about some of the issues it raises,” she said.
“That is fair enough. It is part of our democracy, and I will always be ready to debate any issue that this house wants, with facts and with arguments.”
An improbable strategy
The motion of censure was tabled by Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea and co-signed by 77 lawmakers, mainly from far- and hard-right ranks.
“This is the beginning of the end,” Piperea said in his opening speech, attacking von der Leyen’s decision-making as “opaque” and “discretionary”.
The motion rests on three main accusations, the first of which relates to text messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the COVID-19 vaccine negotiations. Her team’s contentious refusal to release the messages was met with a scathing rebuke by the European Court of Justice.
“The Commission led by President Ursula von der Leyen no longer commands the confidence of Parliament to uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and good governance essential to a democratic Union,” the text says.
The other allegations involve the “misapplication” of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in national elections, which is not backed by evidence, and the “abusive use” of Article 122 of the EU treaties to bypass the Parliament in the new €150-billion loan programme for defence. The plan, known as SAFE, only required the blessing of member states.
Von der Leyen bluntly refuted the accusations as “false claims” and defended the management of the pandemic as a true form of European solidarity.
“There is a choice here. We can follow Mr Piperea down his world of conspiracies and alleged sinister plots by what he calls ‘Brussels’, or we can clearly call this out for what it is: another crude attempt to drive a wedge between our institutions, between the pro-European, pro-democratic forces of this house,” she said.
“We can never let that happen. We will never let this happen.”
The vote on von der Leyen’s future is tentatively set for Thursday at noon.
MEPs who signed the motion are still free to withdraw their support. If the one-tenth threshold is no longer met, the process would be halted.
The voting session will be run by roll call, meaning votes will be public. At least two-thirds of the votes cast, representing a majority of all MEPs, would need to back the motion of censure for it to be adopted and for von der Leyen to be toppled.
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