EU's von der Leyen survives no-confidence vote over Mercosur trade deal

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has fended off a no-confidence motion in the European Parliament, a challenge initiated by far-right lawmakers critical of the EU's landmark trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc. The motion was decisively defeated in a vote during a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday.

A decisive vote and political opposition

The censure motion, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, failed to garner the minimum 361 votes in favor. The final tally showed 390 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voting against, 165 in support, and 10 abstaining. The motion was filed by the far-right Patriots for Europe group, the parliament's third-largest faction. The group accused the European Commission of "bypassing" both EU and national legislatures and ignoring the concerns of European farmers in its pursuit of the trade deal. This marks the fourth time von der Leyen has faced and survived a censure attempt since beginning her second term.

Controversy surrounding the Mercosur agreement

The trade agreement at the heart of the dispute, signed with Mercosur nations Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay on January 17 after over two decades of talks, has been a source of significant contention. The deal reduces EU tariffs on a range of South American agricultural products like beef, poultry, and sugar while granting European industrial goods greater access to Mercosur markets. Its adoption was delayed in December following widespread farmer protests and opposition from member states including France, Ireland, Hungary, and Poland. The European Parliament further underscored the deal's contentious nature by adopting a resolution on Wednesday requesting the European Court of Justice to assess its compatibility with EU treaties.

A resilient Commission presidency

Von der Leyen's survival of this latest challenge underscores her position's resilience despite mounting political pressures. Previous censure motions have related to EU policy on Gaza and other trade matters. The outcome reaffirms the Commission's current trajectory on major policy issues, including international trade, even as significant opposition from both the political fringes and agricultural sectors persists. The situation reflects the complex political dynamics within the EU, where major economic agreements are increasingly scrutinized for their impact on local industries—a topic of keen interest to agricultural nations like Türkiye, which also navigates the balance between domestic interests and international trade.