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Live updates on the vote of confidence in the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen: the vote by the EU Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg confirmed the president’s new team.

720 MEPs were called to vote, requiring them to approve by a simple majority, through a roll-call vote, the entire group of commissioners selected by von der Leyen. This vote effectively kicks off the mandate of the new Commission, although formal nomination by the European Council will still be required. Ursula von der Leyen received a slim majority: only 370 votes in favor, fewer than the 401 votes she received in July for her nomination.

Fratelli d’Italia voted in favor, while many of the Greens were against, while among the Socialists (mostly in favor), some abstained and a few voted against following the controversy surrounding Raffaele Fitto’s nomination and accusations of a right-wing shift within the Commission.

The vote for the new Commission broken down by political group

The vote on von der Leyen’s second Commission split the Socialist, Green, and Conservative groups in Strasbourg. Within the ECR, 33 MEPs voted in favor of the new commission, including the entire Brothers of Italy delegation, while 39 MEPs voted against—particularly the Polish PiS delegation—with four abstentions.

The Greens were also split, with 27 MEPs in favor, 19 against, including four Italians, and six abstentions. From the S&D group, von der Leyen received only 90 votes out of 133 present, including those from the Democratic Party (PD), with the exception of independents Strada and Tarquinio; 25 MEPs voted against, including the French, Belgian, and some German SPD MEPs. 18 Socialist MEPs abstained. The EPP, on the other hand, lost 25 MEPs—21 Spaniards and four Slovenians—who voted against the Commission due to friction with Spanish Vice President Ribera and Slovenian Commissioner Kos. Two Romanian members of the EPP abstained.

The liberal Renew Europe group lost six MEPs, Belgian and Irish, who abstained out of 73 present. The 43 MEPs of the Left of the EU, including the Italian Left and the Five Star Movement, were unanimously against the vote; the 84 MEPs of the Patriots for Europe group, including the League, voted no, as did the 23 MEPs of the ESN group.

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