The European Commission president has encountered significant political pressure following a ruling that compelled it to explain its refusal to share text messages from a controversial Pfizer vaccine deal. A group of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) has secured the necessary support to initiate a no-confidence vote against Ursula von der Leyen, citing her failure to cooperate with an investigation into the multi-billion-dollar agreement. The EU Court of Justice’s decision underscored the Commission’s obligation to provide justifiable reasons for its denial, despite its assertion that the messages were not in its possession. This development highlights ongoing tensions around transparency and democratic accountability within the EU’s governance structures.
Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea told the Financial Times that he will file a motion to stage a no confidence vote on Thursday after his group secured the required 72 signatures. Von der Leyen’s “legally unsound” refusal to share the text messages demonstrated “a continued pattern of institutional overreach, democratic disregard, and erosion of public trust in the Union’s governance,” he argued. The MEP has called on “the European Commission to resign due to repeated failures to ensure transparency, persistent disregard for democratic oversight and the rule of law within the Union.”
It is important to note that for the vote of no confidence to succeed, more than two-thirds of MEPs need to be in attendance at the European Parliament in Brussels. Last year, 407 out of 720 lawmakers backed von der Leyen for her second five-year term as president. Piperea acknowledged that the chances of voting out von der Leyen are slim, despite support for the initiative from some members of her own European People’s Party. The no confidence vote offers “a crucial opportunity for constructive and substantiated criticism towards President von der Leyen,” he said. “It obliges the commission to address concerns and provide justifications.”