Asking around among the EU countries' heads of state and government, the thumbs up is given by most. The 66-year-old von der Leyen has broad support among presidents and prime ministers for her way of standing up for Ukraine and being a unifying force within the EU.
But in the European Parliament, there is increasing discontent. Both to the right and left, support is gathering for new votes of no confidence against the Commission President.
It is our task to criticize and put pressure on this commission that we have never been in favor of, says Hanna Gedin (V) at a press conference in Strasbourg.
Every time it comes up in the chamber, we will vote to dismiss Ursula von der Leyen, says Charlie Weimers (SD).
Balancing act
The criticism concerns everything from the handling of Israel's actions in Gaza and too little or too much climate policy to trade agreements with the USA and the Mercosur countries in Latin America.
Dissatisfaction has also been expressed about von der Leyen and her cabinet chief Björn Seibert holding the rest of the EU Commission in too tight reins.
A constant balancing act is required to maintain sufficient support in the parliament. In the middle and to the left, it is disliked that von der Leyen's main support group, the Christian Democratic Conservative EPP, is increasingly seeking help from parties further to the right to get their policies through.
I think it's a dangerous path. The EU is built on cooperation and compromise between the party groups that stand up for a stronger EU together. When you seek support from right-wing extremist groups, you are on a slippery slope, says Heléne Fritzon (S).
"No lottery"
Within the EPP, one is not pleased with the dissatisfaction of the other groups, especially given the sensitive situation surrounding the war in Ukraine.
These constant attempts to sink the entire Commission and ensure that the EU is left leaderless are difficult for us to understand, says Tomas Tobé (M).
At the same time, they defend themselves by saying that they simply use the power position they have received through the latest EU election.
One can be upset that the EPP has such a strong position, but we did not get it in a lottery. It is because the voters have voted in that way, says Tobé.
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Facts: Confidence in von der Leyen
TT
German Ursula von der Leyen (born 1958) has been President of the EU Commission since 2019 and is currently serving a term until 2029.
To dismiss her, a majority in the parliament must vote against her in a vote of no confidence. An attempt was made last summer when only 175 members voted to dismiss her. 360 supported her and 18 chose to abstain.
If she were to be dismissed, the entire EU Commission would have to resign, a new President would have to be appointed, and new members would have to be nominated by the member states.
No Commission has been dismissed in this way so far. However, President Jacques Santer and his entire Commission chose to resign in 1999 when it became clear that they risked being dismissed in a vote of no confidence.
