Overview

• Lawmakers are set to vote Thursday on two censure motions filed by the extreme right and the radical left against the European Commission president.
• AFP and parliamentary observers say the effort is expected to fail, noting the Parliament has never ousted a Commission, with the 1999 Santer exit occurring before a doomed vote.
• Tensions inside the pro‑EU camp surfaced as Renew leader Valérie Hayer lamented a malfunctioning majority and S&D chief Iratxe Garcia pressed von der Leyen to choose clear allies.
• Opponents Jordan Bardella and Manon Aubry urged her departure, with Aubry alleging inaction over Gaza and Bardella attacking EU migration policy and a trade approach toward the United States.
• Political pressure has been stoked by a Le Journal du Dimanche op‑ed alleging opacity, federalist overreach, and deference to German and U.S. interests, including disputed claims about vaccine contract communications.