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European Parliament backs von der Leyen despite clash over Mercosur deal

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission

22 January 2026 15:20 (UTC +04:00)

Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission survived on Thursday a vote of confidence in the European Parliament, tabled by far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE) and rejected with 390 MEPs voting against, 165 in favour, and 10 abstentions, APA reports, citing euronews.com.

A threshold of two-thirds of the votes cast, representing a majority of all sitting MEPs, was needed to topple the Commission.

The Parliament decided not to unseat von der Leyen the day after a significant setback for her Commission, with MEPs voting to refer the EU-Mercosur trade agreement to the EU Court of Justice.

The motion of censure filed by the far-right group was focused on the signing of the Mercosur deal, arguing that the Commission “failed to listen to farmers and citizens” and “overstepped its competencies” in signing the agreement with Latin American countries.

The farmers' associations protesting outside the Strasbourg Parliament this week have asked for von der Leyen’s resignation, displaying banners and singing chants against her presidency.