Ursula von der Leyen wins no-confidence votes as opposition struggles for support

STRASBOURG — Ursula von der Leyen survived two no-confidence votes, winning greater backing than many of her supporters and critics expected.

A large majority of members of the European Parliament, who voted Thursday on two motions — one by The Left and one by the far-right Patriots for Europe — backed the center-right European Commission president. Few people seriously predicted she would lose but the size of the victory signals a bolstering of her position.

On the far-right motion, there were 179 votes in favor, 378 against and 37 abstentions. On the far-left motion, 133 votes were cast in favor, 383 against and 78 abstentions. The outcome signaled that von der Leyen’s centrist opponents ― those who initially backed her presidency ― rallied round her again when it came to the crunch.

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If she had lost either vote, von der Leyen and the rest of her Commission would have had to stand down, throwing the EU into chaos at a critical time. The bloc is facing one of the most uncertain periods in its history, with populist, Euroskeptic politicians seizing power or being very close to doing so in several of its member countries and Russia waging war in Ukraine and threatening Europe’s eastern borders.

“I deeply appreciate the strong support received today,” Von der Leyen wrote on X minutes after the votes.

The last of these?

It was a disastrous outcome for the anti–von der Leyen camp. The far-right’s motion of no confidence gathered just four more votes than a similar exercise in July.

The Left’s own motion fared even worse than the far right’s. A Left group official told POLITICO ahead of the vote that reaching 200 would have been considered a good result.

In what is seen as a sign of continued confidence in von der Leyen’s leadership, the socialists maintained their backing for her.

This outcome could mark the end of a short-lived era of repeated no-confidence motions. The majority that reappointed von der Leyen in July 2024 supported her for the third time in a row, making future attempts little more than symbolic.

While Spanish far-right MEP Jorge Buxadé told POLITICO that “there are so many reasons” to launch no-confidence motions against von der Leyen “that we could put one every two months,” he said his Patriots group had already proven its point.

The Left’s spokesperson Thomas Shannon said last week the group would not file more motions in the foreseeable future either.

“The idea was to put our opinion on record in a motion of censure like this one, but we have no intention of making any more motions,” Jaume Asens, one of the Green MEPs who signed the motion against von der Leyen, told POLITICO.

The socialists and liberals are waiting to see if the demands they made in exchange for support bear fruit.

The Commission president now “has to deliver,” Prominent German Social Democrat René Repasi told Brussels Playbook in Strasbourg. “There might be in the future an S&D motion if we do not see that.”

Asked when that moment might come, the MEP replied: “I’d say if in half a year’s time we see that nothing of the promises related to S&D priorities was implemented, that might be the moment when critical voices rise again.”