Two motions to postpone the vote on Ursula von der Leyen’s presidency were filed last night – one from non-attached leftist Germany’s Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and another from The Left group in the European Parliament.
These motions followed The European Court of Justice (ECJ) annulment yesterday (17 July) of a von der Leyen’s Commission’s decision to conceal certain parts of COVID vaccine contracts.
“We request that the election of the Commission President scheduled for tomorrow’s session be postponed until the documents and information that have been unlawfully withheld to date have been disclosed,” the text of the BSW motion, obtained by Euronews, read.
Similarly, The Left MEPs asked that European Parliament President Roberta Metsola seek an assessment from the Parliament’s legal services on whether the vote should be adjourned until the relevant documents are disclosed by the European Commission.
“The Court’s decision is proof of her unwillingness to respect transparency and act in the public interest,” said a note from The Left’s co-chairs, Manon Aubry and Martin Schirdewan, adding: “A vote for Ursula Von der Leyen means endorsing backroom deals and a lack of integrity.”
Despite these requests, the motions might be too late, as parliamentary rules require a 24-hour notice for any postponement requests. Even if the motions are put to a vote, they are unlikely to pass – but would place the Greens grouping in a difficult position.
Although they were key proponents of the lawsuit against the Commission on vaccine transparency, they also seemed eager to vote today, and to vote for von der Leyen. A Green MEP told Euronews in Strasbourg that “the ruling does not change anything [on von der Leyen’s vote],” but that was before the motion was filed. Voting against the substance of one of their major legal victories could appear contradictory.