President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is facing the prospect of a no-confidence vote over the deal struck to provide Poland with long-delayed coronavirus recovery funding.
On the same day that UK Prime Minsiter Boris Johnson faced down efforts to oust him by rebels within his own party, top Eurocrat Guy Verhofstad also launched a leadership battle against EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
The campaign, which was also signed by Renew Europe vice president Luis Garicano and Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld, comes in response to the European Commission reaching an agreement last week to finally release €35.4 ($37.8/£30.2) billion in COVID-19 relief funding.
Verhofstad, among other Europhile politicians, has long called for funding to be withheld from countries such as Poland and Hungary over their refusal to abide by the “rule of law” whims of Brussels on issues such as migration, LGBT issues, and abortion, which they have argued should be decided at the national level rather than by unelected eurocrats — a key issue in the Brexit debate.
The decision to unlock the funding is widely seen as connected to the war in Ukraine, with Poland providing refuge for an outsised number of Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.
Defending the move to release the cash to Poland last week, von der Leyen said that the Eastern European nation had acquiesced to EU demands on reforms to its judiciary and warned that funding will continue to be monitored and that “milestones” will have to be met for the money to be released in full.
“We are not at the end of the road on the rule of law in Poland,” the EU chief said, signalling that disputes will likely continue.
Yet, this was not enough to satisfy the globalist Renew Europe group in the European Parliament, with former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstad writing on Monday: “If Ursula von der Leyen continues to refuse to seriously apply [Rule of Law] conditionality we withdraw our support
“The Commission is fully aware that the remedies announced by the Polish authorities are purely cosmetic,” he added in a letter to Renew Europe members.
Dutch MEP and Renew Europe member Sophie in’t Veld said: “The ‘milestones’ fall short of what has been demanded by the European Court of Justice, and they do not address the refusal to recognise the primacy of EU law and the authority of the ECJ by the Polish authorities.”
“President Von der Leyen … has created a major political problem,” she warned.
In order for the motion of no-confidence to be put to a vote in the European Parliament, 10 per cent of MEPs in the 705 seat parliament will have to sign onto the move. Should the vote go ahead, it would require a two-thirds vote to remove von der Leyen.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.