European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to face a no confidence vote in the European Parliament next week.
The vote will take place on Thursday, after MPs meet in Strasbourg, France, on Monday, to debate the motion for censure. The motion has been brought forward by MEP Gheorge Pipera of the centre-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) parliamentary grouping.
The Romanian MEP has support from over 70 MEPs for the proposal, which has been charged by the “Pfizergate” fallout and criticism of the European Commission’s governance. However, in order for the motion to pass, an absolute majority of at least 361 of the 720 votes would be required. The motion is thought to be largely symbolic.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola told parliamentary group leaders about the development on Wednesday evening.
In May, an EU court ruled that the European Commission was wrong to refuse to release EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s messages with Pfizer chief Albert Bourla.
EU boss von der Leyen faced scrutiny over claims that she kept secret and deleted text messages with Bourla over Covid vaccine purchases. In 2023, the European Commission was sued by the New York Times over its refusal to release text messages between von der Leyen and the Pfizer boss. Von der Leyen and Bourla had exchanged a number of personal messages, which the commission suggested may have been deleted during the Covid pandemic.
In 2022, the European Commission said it could not and did not have to find the text messages Mrs von der Leyen exchanged with Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chief executive, during the pandemic – after the existence of the messages was laid bare in a New York Times Investigation.
Reporters had asked to see the secret messages between von der Leyen and Bourla, which were sent just before a multibillion euro Covid vaccine deal between Pfizer and the EU was reached. The deal, finalised in May 2021, which involved the EU committing to purchase up to 1.8 billion doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, was the biggest by far of all the deals signed by Brussels.
The agreement established the European Union as Pfizer’s biggest single client, with the contract permitting the European Union to resell or donate the vaccines to partners.
The messages cast a shadow over von der Leyen’s presidency of the Commission, as well as raising questions about the Commission’s commitment to transparency. Piperea has been at the forefront of criticism over what he has described as von der Leyen’s lac of transparency regarding the Covid-19 vaccine messages, exchanged between Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and von der Leyen during the Covid crisis.
Piperea has also accused the Commission of “interference” in Romania’s presidential election, which saw nationalist George Simion lose out to pro-European Nicusor Dan. However, in a statement provided to DW and other media, the European Conservatives and Reformists group, of which Piperea is a member, appeared to distance itself from the motion.
“It’s not an initiative of our group,” an ECR spokesperson said.
Amid controversy, Commission President von der Leyen this week proposed an amendment to the EU Climate Law, setting a 2040 EU climate target of 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, compared to 1990 levels, as requested by the Commission Political Guidelines for 2024-2029. Some commentators have perceived the move as part of an effort to preserve her political achievement, amid a new alternative right-wing majority after last year’s European election results.
“Today we show that we stand firmly by our commitment to decarbonise the European economy by 2050,” Von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
Reacting, the ECR blasted the Commission for harbouring what it deemed “climate ambition without realism” saying that its 2040 climate plan will put Europe’s economy at risk.
“This is not a serious climate strategy. It is wishful thinking detached from economic and social realities,” said Alexandr Vondra, ECR Coordinator in the Environment Committee, reacting to the European Commission’s proposal to cut emissions by 90 per cent by 2040.
The new target, published on Wednesday, risks “placing unbearable strain on Europe’s productive capacity and undermining the EU’s global competitiveness,” the ECR said, accusing the Commission of “putting the cart before the horse – announcing numbers before knowing how to achieve them.”
The proposal allows Member States to meet part of the target through international carbon credits from 2036 onwards – a measure allowed under the Paris Agreement, but one that the ECR says shifts the burden abroad.
Vondra continued: “Extending the Emissions Trading System to buildings and transport – which is already opposed by 17 Member States – adds complexity to a fragile framework that has not yet delivered on its 2030 goals. A 90 per cent objective could push European industry to the brink.”
“Big corporations will buy their way out by investing in projects overseas – while small states and SMEs will carry the real burden. This is a kind of climate colonialism,” Vondra said, slamming the Commission’s approach to outsourcing EU emissions goals.
The European Commission has proposed integrating permanent carbon removals into the EU climate framework. However, the ECR group has called for “a more pragmatic and evidence-based approach to future climate legislation – one that balances ambition with economic sustainability, energy security and social cohesion.”
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