Motion of no confidence floats conspiracy theories instead of taking on real issues.
The Left strongly opposes the von der Leyen Commission; for undermining workers’ rights and climate action, for supporting detrimental trade deals like Mercosur, and for the President’s complicit support for genocide in Gaza. However, the Motion of Censure put forward this week is a far-right farce that pretends to fight the very Commission they are a part of. In a poorly written motion, it puts forward conspiracy theories about elections in Romania and Germany and serves only to advance the political ambitions of far-right MEPs. The Left also notes the hypocrisy of putting forward a motion based on transparency issues by MEPs who recently voted against an ethics body that would have dealt with these issues.
The Commission’s inaction on breaches of Rule of Law, while they appease US President Trump and refuse to tax tech oligarchs is another reason that this Commission will always support profit over people.
The Left group is the only group fighting the von der Leyen Commission on all grounds: austerity, worker’s rights, regression on climate, migration, trade agreements like Mercosur, and the genocide in Gaza. For this reason, the Left proposed last December to other progressive groups to censure the Commission yet they still remain supportive of it and blindly accept new majorities from the right and far-right.
Co-President of The Left Manon Aubry (La France Insoumise, France) said: “This motion of censure is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the far right to regain credibility with its voters, while the ECR participates in this Commission with Rafaele Fitto. There are a thousand reasons to censure Ms von der Leyen, who advocates a return to austerity, is complicit in the genocide in Gaza, is pushing through free trade agreements, including the deal with Mercosur, and is destroying the Green Deal. But unsurprisingly, none of these reasons are mentioned in this sham motion of censure. Our group will continue to mobilise to block the Commission’s ultra-liberal and warmongering agenda and defend an ecological and social alternative for the people and the planet.”
Co-President of The Left Martin Schirdewan (Die Linke, Germany) said: “There is absolutely no question that we will vote for any Commission that funnels funds into the militarization of the EU, has dismantled human rights at the EU’s external borders, has eroded social welfare systems, and exclusively pursues policies in the interest of corporations. At the same time, we refuse to be instrumentalized by right-wing extremists. Many of our parties and members of the group have internal rules never to support motions put forward by the far right. That is why the vast majority of my group will not participate in the vote. No vote for Ursula von der Leyen and no vote for right-wing agitation.”
The Left calls to build a new force in the European Parliament that defends workers, protects the climate, and respects the dignity of human life. Ursula von der Leyen cannot stay in power as long as she allows the far-right to appropriate European democracy.
