Overview

• EU lawmakers rejected two censure motions against Ursula von der Leyen, voting 378–179 with 37 abstentions on a far-right bid and 383–133 with 78 abstentions on a hard-left bid.
• Backers amounted to just over half of the 720-seat chamber in each vote, underscoring the Commission’s growing struggle to assemble stable majorities for legislation.
• EPP members are threatening to sink the Commission’s plan to pool agriculture and cohesion funds under national control, warning of reduced support for farmers and weaker regional oversight.
• The Commission set up working groups with EPP figures after fractious meetings, involving Commissioners Piotr Serafin, Christophe Hansen and Raffaele Fitto and MEPs Karlo Ressler, Herbert Dorfmann and Andrey Novakov, but some lawmakers still advocate rejecting the proposal outright.
• Deep splits in the EPP over a 2040 emissions target—without a majority for a 90% cut—have delayed committee votes until EU leaders meet on October 23, raising the risk of a diluted position heading into COP30.