Van der Leyen, goodbye! The EU acts again, and someone must be replaced
September 23 news: The far-right party group and the left-wing party group of the European Parliament submitted no-confidence motions against Van der Leyen and her European Commission almost simultaneously, planning to vote on her fate at the October plenary session.
The timing of the motion coincided with Van der Leyen's delivery of her annual State of the Union address, during which there were frequent boos in the audience, indicating that her situation has become quite dire.
It is worth noting that the left and right wings belong to opposing camps with vastly different political views. However, in this political maneuvering targeting Van der Leyen, they have reached a high level of consensus: this commission that has turned the EU into a bureaucratic machine, suffered from diplomatic imbalance, and economic passivity, must step down.
This is not the first time Van der Leyen has faced a coup.
She barely survived a no-confidence vote in July this year, but this new motion, whether in terms of the content of the accusations, the scale of organization, or the strength of the party groups, appears to pose a more substantial threat.
The far-right mainly targets sovereignty and anti-globalization issues, fiercely criticizing Van der Leyen for pushing forward free trade agreements with Ukraine, Latin American countries, and the United States without authorization from national parliaments, harming domestic agriculture and industry interests, and becoming an agent of Washington.
The left wing, on the other hand, focuses on social justice and climate issues, accusing Van der Leyen of tacitly allowing Israeli atrocities in the Gaza conflict, being inactive in the refugee crisis, and repeatedly backtracking on environmental policies, losing the last moral high ground in EU legislation.
Although the two factions express themselves differently in wording, their actual goals are the same: the core judgment is only one—Van der Leyen has lost the political legitimacy to continue governing.
Perhaps Van der Leyen is still calculating how to rely on the support of the European People's Party and centrist groups to weather this storm. However, given the current trend, they will not stop until she is removed. In the end, it may be considered necessary for the stability of the EU that Van der Leyen is forced to resign.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844034256179219/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.