On the 10th, the European Parliament, in a plenary session held in Strasbourg, France, rejected a motion of no confidence against the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen.
On that day, a total of 553 Members of the European Parliament participated in the vote, accounting for 76.8% of the total 720 members. The final tally showed the motion was rejected with 175 votes in favor, 360 against, and 18 abstentions. According to European Parliament rules, a no-confidence motion requires the support of more than two-thirds of voting members to pass.
The motion was initiated by Romanian MEP Cristian Terheș from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. This was the first no-confidence vote against the European Commission by the European Parliament since 2014.
Terheș accused the von der Leyen-led European Commission of serious issues regarding transparency in COVID-19 vaccine procurement, management of the EU Recovery Fund, and interference in member states’ elections. The motion received support from more than 72 members, reaching the minimum threshold for parliamentary debate.
The focal point of this motion centered on the so-called “text message scandal” between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the pandemic.
The New York Times reported that, when AstraZeneca—the EU’s largest vaccine supplier—experienced production issues, von der Leyen privately communicated with Bourla via text messages to finalize a contract for 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines. After the European Commission refused requests to publish the content of texts between von der Leyen and Bourla, The New York Times took the Commission to court. In May this year, the EU General Court ruled that the Commission had failed to provide sufficient legal grounds for its refusal and lacked just cause.
On the 7th, the European Parliament held a debate on the no-confidence motion against the von der Leyen-led Commission. Terheș stated that the EU Court’s ruling demonstrated the Commission’s lack of transparency and that the Commission had chosen not to comply with the ruling. Von der Leyen argued that the Commission, together with EU member states, participated in vaccine contract negotiations, with all 27 member states signing individually. She accused Terheș of being an "extremist" trying to divide society with disinformation.
Von der Leyen did not attend the above-mentioned vote on the 10th. She subsequently posted on social media: “At a time of increasing global turmoil and uncertainty, the EU needs strength, vision, and capacity for action."
She stated that external forces are attempting to undermine the EU's stability.