Von der Leyen risks no confidence vote
A group of lawmakers in the European Parliament claim they have secured enough support to initiate a no confidence vote against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the Pfizergate scandal, the Financial Times has reported.
In May, the EU's Court of Justice ruled that the European Commission wrongly denied the New York Times access to secret text messages between von der Leyen and the CEO of pharma giant Pfizer, Albert Bourla, exchanged during negotiations of a multi-billion dollar Covid-19 vaccine deal.
The court rejected the commission's explanation that it did not have the messages in its possession anymore, saying it should provide 'credible explanations' why the texts were not retained and how they were deleted. The EC reacted to the decision by promising to come up with a more detailed reasoning for the denial, but never committed to releasing the texts to the public.
Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea told the FT 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.'
In order 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.'
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