Brussels, Belgium. Cypriot members of the European Parliament split evenly as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen survived a no-confidence vote, her fourth in the last six months. The motion was defeated with 165 votes in favour and 165 against.
Cypriot votes in the European Parliament
Elam’s Geadis Geadi, a co-sponsor of the motion, and independent Fidias Panayiotou supported it. Loucas Fourlas and Michalis Hadjipantela of Disy voted against, while Akel’s Giorgos Georgiou and Diko’s Costas Mavrides abstained.
Motion focused on EU-Mercosur trade deal
The motion centred on complaints about von der Leyen and her commission linked to the trade deal between the European Union and the South American trade bloc Mercosur, which von der Leyen signed in Paraguay on Saturday.
European Court of Justice request
MEPs sent the deal to the European Court of Justice on Wednesday, with Geadi, Georgiou, Mavrides and Panayiotou voting to request the court’s opinion. Georgiou and Mavrides did not vote to topple the whole commission the following day.
Threshold to remove the European Commission
A no-confidence vote in the European Commission would require a two-thirds majority, or 480 votes, to pass. If approved, von der Leyen and all 26 other commissioners, including Cyprus’ Costas Kadis, would have been required to resign.
Previous no-confidence motions
Von der Leyen has faced three such motions in the last six months, with the most recent two taking place on the same day in October last year. On that occasion, the first motion, tabled by MEPs from the far-right Patriots for Europe group, won support from 179 MEPs but was voted down by 378.
Cypriot voting pattern in October
The six Cypriot MEPs split in the same way on the first October motion as they did on Thursday. On the second October motion, tabled by MEPs from The Left, the European grouping of which Akel is a member, the Cypriot MEPs voted somewhat differently.
How do you think Cyprus’ MEPs should approach future no-confidence votes on the European Commission?