Ursula von der Leyen's European Commission has been saved. The price will be high.

• Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea's motion of no confidence in the European Commission failed in Thursday's vote. A majority of MEPs supported Ursula von der Leyen and her Commission, but not without a price.
• According to European media findings, von der Leyen - in exchange for saving her position - agreed to political concessions, allocation of funds in the future EU budget, and abandoning the controversial principle that funds for the regions would be received by national governments.
• Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Zalewski is pleased that the Commission in its current composition has survived and explains why this is good for Poland.

On Thursday, July 10, at noon, the European Parliament voted on the motion of no confidence in the European Commission submitted by Romanian ultranationalist and MEP Gheorghe Piperea.

Together with 76 other MEPs – mainly from conservative parties, but also from the far left – he demanded the dismissal of President Ursula von der Leyen and her entire Commission .

360 MEPs voted against the motion, 175 were in favour and 18 abstained.

The official reason for von der Leyen's dismissal was the vaccine scandal concerning joint procurement for EU member states, which the president negotiated with Pfizer during her first term as president of the Commission, and her increasingly authoritarian approach to power in the European Commission.

The European Commission isn't working well. It survived because it's the lesser evil.

However, there are more reasons for reluctance towards the head of the European Commission, also within the political camp of the European Parliament, which has supported her so far.

In the Monday debate (7 July), which preceded the Thursday vote, representatives of eight Parliament groups, although they differed in their assessment of the motion to dismiss von der Leyen and emphasized that it would weaken the European Union's negotiating position in conflicts with the USA or Russia, did not spare the current Commission harsh words of criticism.

The Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe and the Greens/EFA announced that they would not vote for a motion of no confidence, but also assessed that von der Leyen was negotiating with right-wing parties behind their backs, ignoring important political documents (including the EU's climate goals) and running the Commission in an extremely centralized and non-transparent manner.

S&D leader Iratxe García Pérez squarely blamed von der Leyen for withdrawing the Green Deal and for allying with conservatives to withdraw the Commission's controversial directive on green claims, which aims to counter greenwashing.

What did President von der Leyen promise the leaders of the two largest parties in the European Parliament?

As reported by Euronews, although the Commission survived the vote, the vote itself weakened it significantly.

The Socialists and Democrats were to support the head of the European Commission, but in exchange for promises regarding political concessions and the allocation of funds in the 7-year European Union budget for 2028-34.

These factions were also said to have demanded – according to Euronews – stricter environmental protection regulations , increased social spending and a more restrictive approach to migration policy.

In turn, according to Politico, President von der Leyen was to promise greater powers to EU regions , and payments to the regions - which currently constitute one third of the EU's multiannual budget - would continue to go to local authorities rather than national governments in the new budget.

This promise was intended to quell the growing tension among some member states and their criticism of the Commission's actions.

The Commission has drawn conclusions from the KPO, PiS is heating up the atmosphere, and the Deputy Minister of Defense is talking about our interests

As a reminder, the pool of funds earmarked for the 7-year budget exceeds €1 trillion . On July 16, Polish Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin is scheduled to present his proposal to the European Commission.

In a joint document entitled "Cohesion Policy in the future Multiannual Financial Framework", 14 out of 27 countries expressed their strong opposition to the planned changes in the distribution of these funds.

Ursula von der Leyen wanted to significantly change the current priorities of the European Union and redirect some of the funds from agriculture and regions (together as much as 2/3 of the entire budget) to armaments and innovation.

In an interview for Wnet radio, economist and former Vice-President of the European Parliament Jacek Saryusz-Wolski called the new EU budget " one big KPO" (referring to the National Reconstruction Plan – editor's note).

He was referring to the fact that under the new budgeting rules, European regions in the EU would receive EU funds solely through their national governments , which in turn would receive payments if the Commission deemed them to be meeting the targets and reforms imposed on them. This would amount to a "money for reforms" principle.

In turn, Waldemar Buda, MEP of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party and previously Minister of Development and Technology in the PiS government, said a few days ago on Republika.tv that Commissioner von der Leyen intends to completely abolish per-hectare subsidies for farmers in the new EU budget, and will import food to the EU from Ukraine and Argentina.

Buda also wrote on his Facebook page that the European Commission already has new climate goals, namely a 90% reduction in CO2 by 2040. "Europe's collective suicide before the eyes of the entire world!" Buda said.

However, former MEP and current advisor to Commissioner Serafin, Jan Olbrycht, in an interview with WNP, denies the reports of both Saryusz-Wolski and Buda.

He points out that the Commission has drawn conclusions from the Next Generation EU Fund, which provides Poland with funds for economic recovery under the National Recovery Plan, and that the future EU budget will not cause the same turbulence that Poland experienced with the National Recovery Plan, among others. "Decisions on this matter have already been made in Brussels," says Olbrycht.

He also adds that although changes are actually planned regarding agricultural and regional policy, there is no way that agricultural subsidies will disappear completely , as this would violate the EU's horizontal policies.

In turn, Paweł Zalewski, Deputy Minister of National Defence and MP of Poland 2050, and previously MEP, in an interview with the CIS, did not hide his satisfaction with the result of the vote on the dismissal of the European Commission in its current composition.

According to Zalewski, this composition of the Commission offers Poland many benefits.

This is good news for Poland. The European Union should be stable, and so should its important body, the European Commission. It is crucial to our geopolitical interests and also serves as a guarantor for the funds Poland receives under the KPO (National Operational Programme) and, in the future, the SAFE mechanism , which will enable EU member states to fulfill their NATO commitments," reminds Deputy Minister Zalewski.

He also added that no changes related to the budget for 2027-34 have yet been decided.

- The budget will only be negotiated – reminds the politician of Poland 2050.