The head of the European Union’s executive branch .
Neither had a realistic chance of securing the two-thirds majority required to eject President , but still they served as the latest reminder of the increasingly fractured and its growing populist factions on either political flank.
Just over half of parliamentarians backed von der Leyen
Von der Leyen received support from just over half the members of the 720-seat European Parliament in both of Thursday’s votes, with 378 members expressing support in the first vote and 383 in the second.
“I deeply appreciate the strong support received today,” von der Leyen wrote online after the votes. “The Commission will keep working closely with the European Parliament to tackle Europe’s challenges. And together deliver results for all European citizens.
On the other side, 179 lawmakers backed the censure motion against von der Leyen brought by the hard-right faction in the parliament, Patriots for Europe (PfE), while 133 endorsed the challenge brought by the alliance known as The Left.
Even if the chamber’s far-right and far-left members had teamed up and pooled their votes, not something they’re liable to find very easy, they still would have fallen well short of the two-thirds support that a censure motion would need to unseat the European Commission president.
Thursday’s results were a slight improvement on a similar challenge to von der Leyen in July of this year, when 360 members expressed support for her.
More problematically in practice for von der Leyen, the comparatively narrow majorities voting in her favor show how difficult it is becoming for her European Commission to command a majority in the European Parliament, which it needs in order to pass proposed legislation.
Edited by Sean Sinico
The post EU: Ursula von der Leyen survives latest no-confidence votes appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
