The motion of no confidence against Ursula von der Leyen was rejected: how Italian MEPs voted.

Article by Annalisa Cangemi – Journalist, Fanpage.it

The motion of no confidence in European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the Pfizergate scandal failed, as widely expected: there were only 175 votes in favor, 360 against, and 18 abstentions. The motion of censure, presented by Romanian MEP Gheroghe Piperea of the ECR (the group to which FdI belongs), supported by far-right colleagues, would have needed at least 360 yes votes and two-thirds of the votes cast to be approved.

The pretext for today's vote is linked to the vaccine issue, and in particular the president is accused of opaque management during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, she negotiated directly with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, exchanging text messages with him, regarding the supply of approximately 1.8 billion vaccine doses. Despite requests, those messages were never made public. The European Parliament thus "saved" the president.

The majority supporting the EU executive held firm: the Socialists, Liberals, Greens, and People's Party voted against the far-right motion of censure, despite remaining dissatisfied with the People's Party's rightward shift and its "two-oven policy," and despite demanding clarification on the Commission's political leadership from von der Leyen in September. The Italian government's majority forces were divided: while EPP MEPs (Forza Italia) voted against the motion, the Northern League voted in favor, and the Brothers of Italy MEPs (ECR group) did not participate in the vote. But how did the various Italian parties in the European Parliament vote?

Seven Italian MEPs did not participate in the vote.

A total of seven Democratic Party MEPs did not participate in the vote on the motion of censure against Ursula von der Leyen and her government. Among them, Cecilia Strada, Marco Tarquinio, and Alessandro Zan were absent for political reasons. According to Democratic Party sources, Giorgio Gori, Elisabetta Gualmini, and Matteo Ricci were absent due to other commitments. Brando Benifei, however, was absent due to a ballot paper malfunction.

Among the Italians, the Greens – in dissent from the group – and the two MEPs of the Left, Mimmo Lucano and Ilaria Salis, who followed the line of the majority of The Left, did not participate in the vote.

Why Fdi did not participate in the vote

Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, which initially opposed the motion, ultimately decided not to participate in the vote, partly to avoid breaking with the far right and also to avoid sending a signal of full support for President von der Leyen. Furthermore, if the motion had passed, the entire government would have had to resign, including the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Raffaele Fitto, a member of the Italian Democratic Party (FdI). Thus, FdI delegation leader Carlo Fidanza stated that the vote on the motion "is not our battle, and our delegations did not participate in the vote."

Ursula von der Leyen loses 10 votes since she took office.

A simple count of the numbers with which the Strasbourg plenary rejected the motion of no confidence reveals one fact: in just a few months, the so-called Ursula majority has lost 10 votes in the European Parliament, going from the 370 it received when the Commission took office at the end of last year to the current 360. In fact, exactly half of the 720 MEPs that make up the European Parliament.

The second Commission, led by the German People's Party leader, was elected on November 27 with 370 votes in favor, 282 against, and 36 abstentions. At the time, 688 MEPs voted. Today, however, 360 votes were in favor, 175 voted for her resignation, and 18 abstentions, resulting in a significantly reduced turnout: only 553 MEPs cast their votes.