No-confidence vote against EU Commission president set for July 10

​​​​​​​By Melike Pala

BRUSSELS (AA) - A no-confidence motion against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be debated July 7 and voted July 10 during the European Parliament's plenary session in France, a MEP wrote Thursday on X.

It follows an approval by the Conference of Presidents (COP) with 79 supporting signatures.

"The motion of No - Confidence against Ursula v d Leyen just gone through the filter of COP (Conference of Presidents). There are 79 signatures. Will be debated next Monday and voted next Thursday in Strasbourg," wrote Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea, who submitted the motion.

It stems from accusations that von der Leyen violated EU transparency standards by refusing to disclose text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the coronavirus vaccine negotiations in 2021. Despite a ruling by the European Court of Justice in favor of a journalist requesting access to the messages, the Commission has not released the correspondence.

Piperea accused the Commission of hypocrisy when he spoke to Anadolu, claiming it enforces strict rule of law standards on Eastern European states while shielding itself from scrutiny.

While the no-confidence vote is unlikely to gain a majority of MEPs, Piperea argued it sends a powerful symbolic message.