Ursula von der Leyen "saves" the European Parliament (but not us): the no-confidence vote is merely postponed.

Introduction: A symbolic motion, a revealing vote

On July 10, 2025, the European Parliament rejected a motion of censure against the Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, introduced by Gheorghe Piperea, MEP of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group. Although the outcome was a foregone conclusion due to the stringent thresholds required (361 votes and two-thirds of the votes cast), the vote represented an important test of the strength of consensus around a Commission increasingly contested for its authoritarian, opaque, and unbalanced approach.

The trigger? The so-called Pfizergate , or lack of transparency in negotiations with Pfizer during the pandemic, a symbol of a top-down management of power, distant from citizens and resistant to democratic control.

The result: numbers that speak for themselves

• Voters : 553 out of 720 MEPs (low turnout)

• In favor of the motion : 175

• Against : 360

• Abstentions : 18➡️ The motion did not reach either an absolute majority or the required two-thirds.

But the most significant political fact is another: Ursula von der Leyen had obtained 401 votes for re-election in 2024 , today she received only 360 to reject a motion. A clear sign of eroding consensus.

Fractures in European groups: beneath the surface, the unease

• EPP : united in defending its leader. Manfred Weber dismissed the motion as an "initiative by pro-Putin extremists."

• S&D : Officially opposed, but signs of internal discontent; some MEPs abstained or boycotted the vote.

• Renew Europe : voted against, but with public criticism of the president's centralized leadership.

• Greens/EFA : did not support the motion, but several members did not attend to express their discomfort.

• ECR : split. The Poles (PiS) and Romanians voted in favor. Brothers of Italy, despite being in the group, chose a tactical abstention.

• Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations : in favor, but critical of EU centralism and the Commission's militarism.

• The European Left is divided. Five Star Movement is in favor, while La France Insoumise is opposed to voting "with the right."

The Italian vote: opaque alliances and tactical ambiguities

Among the 76 Italian MEPs, the choices fully reflect the contradictions of domestic politics:

• Brothers of Italy (FdI) : 24 seats, did not participate . The reason? Not to harm Raffaele Fitto, vice president of the Commission, a representative of the party. A neutrality that smacks of ambiguity.

• Forza Italia (8 seats): vote against , in full loyalty to the EPP.

• Democratic Party (14 seats): vote against , but with internal divisions; Tarquinio and others would have preferred to abstain.

• League (8 seats): vote in favour , consistent with the Eurosceptic and anti-von der Leyen line.

• M5S (8 seats): vote in favour , motivated by the rejection of the opaque management of vaccination contracts.

• Greens and Italian Left (4 seats): strategic absence , to avoid legitimizing a motion promoted by the right but maintaining the criticisms.

• Others : Dorfmann (PPE) and Gozi (Renew) voted against.

The political fact: a creaking majority

The von der Leyen Commission emerges formally safe, but politically weakened. The "against" votes do not equate to full support: many were an expression of superficial loyalty or strategic calculation. Abstentions and absences are not just numbers: they are cracks that run through Parliament, revealing a latent and growing dissent.

Public statements leave no doubt. Even among official supporters, calls for a "change of approach" are increasingly frequent. The Commission's top-down model—which during the pandemic managed contracts with Big Pharma with complete opacity, and which today promotes massive rearmament without debate and imposes an ideological agenda on environmental and cultural issues—is under scrutiny.

A management that empties democracy

The real issue isn't Pfizergate , but the political direction imposed by Ursula von der Leyen: authoritarian, ideological, impervious to dissent. The president has transformed the Commission's role into a command center that bypasses member states and marginalizes Parliament. The July 10 vote is not a safe conduct, but a warning. Those who today have chosen tactical neutrality, like the Brothers of Italy, will soon have to deal with an electorate increasingly unwilling to tolerate compromises with those who have arrogated to themselves the right to decide everything, for everyone.

The failure of the vote of no confidence is not a victory for European democracy, but rather a confirmation of its crisis: the EU remains trapped in a leadership that survives on fear of the alternative, rather than the real consensus it generates. And this, in the long run, is the true danger for Europe.

No Talking – Ideas for a Vision Beyond Appearances