STRASBOURG ― In a largely empty European Parliament chamber, European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič defended the European Commission’s endorsement of the Mercosur trade deal on Monday evening. The lack of attendance from many supporters of the no-confidence motion against the Commission raised questions about the diminishing momentum behind such actions, especially as this marks the fourth motion in seven months.
Concerns over the Mercosur trade deal
Proponents of the no-confidence motion expressed their worries that the Mercosur trade agreement could pave the way for unfair competition from South American nations, placing European farmers at a disadvantage due to stricter environmental regulations.
“The safeguard clauses from the Commission are simply empty promises which don’t actually provide proper protection for European farmers,”
stated Kinga Gal, first vice president of the Patriots party and a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán within the European Parliament. Gal further criticized Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for her absence at the debate, arguing it demonstrated a disregard for the thousands of farmers protesting and the millions of voters represented by the Patriots.
Attendance issues and political implications
Interestingly, many of the far-right lawmakers from the Patriots who initiated the motion were also absent, with less than a quarter of the 110 lawmakers who signed the motion attending the debate. Jeroen Lenaerts, chief whip of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), highlighted this discrepancy:
“Looking in this room, apparently it was not important enough to actually change some dinner plans and to be at the debate.”
The no-confidence motion, which receives backing from the Patriots for Europe group and lawmakers from the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), is set for a vote on Thursday, though its defeat is widely anticipated.
Three similar motions have already been rejected in recent months, contributing to a waning interest in Monday’s proceedings. The low threshold of 72 out of 720 lawmakers required to initiate a censure debate has led to repeated attempts, prompting calls from some legislators to increase that threshold to prevent what they see as a misuse of censure motions. Others, however, have branded these suggestions as attempts at censorship.
The centrist and left-leaning factions of the Parliament, including the EPP, Socialists and Democrats, and the liberal Renew group, largely boycotted the debate, with only 10 of their members present. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola chose not to chair the meeting herself, delegating the responsibility to her deputy, vice president Katarina Barley. This decision came in conjunction with the Commission’s choice not to send von der Leyen or the full college of 26 Commissioners to support Šefčovič, as had occurred in previous sessions.
Billy Kelleher from Renew Europe expressed frustration with the ongoing cycle of no-confidence motions, questioning how many times such measures would be raised before the extremists would be satisfied with the democratic process. Notably, only one political group leader, EPP chief Manfred Weber, attended the debate, rather than Jordan Bardella, chair of the Patriots for Europe, who had initially announced the motion on social media platform X.