She added that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s failure to attend the debate “shows contempt for the thousands of farmers protesting in the streets and several millions of voters who are represented by the Patriots.”
But it was the Patriots own far-right lawmakers and other signatories of the motion who also didn’t turn up. Out of more than 110 lawmakers who signed the motion, less than a quarter attended.
“Looking in this room, apparently it was not important enough to actually change some dinner plans and to be at the debate,” said Jeroen Lenaerts, chief whip of EPP ― von der Leyen’s center-right political family.
The no-confidence motion, backed by the Patriots for Europe group and lawmakers from the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), will now be put to a vote on Thursday, though it is widely expected to fail.
Three similar motions have already been defeated over the past seven months, dampening lawmakers’ interest in Monday’s debate. The low threshold of 72 out 720 lawmakers required to trigger a motion of censure debate and vote has prompted repeated attempts.
“This motion is not about accountability, it is about headlines,” said Lenaerts.
Some lawmakers are calling to change the threshold and make it more difficult to launch a motion of censure. Others describe that as censorship.