European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emerged from a dramatic day in Brussels and Strasbourg on October 9, 2025, having comfortably survived two separate no confidence votes in the European Parliament. The outcome, while widely anticipated, offered a revealing snapshot of the current political landscape in Europe—one marked by increasing polarization, populist challenges, and deep divisions over trade, migration, and transparency.
Von der Leyen, who began her second five-year term as the EU’s top executive just a year ago, faced censure motions from both the far-right Patriots for Europe group and the far-left alliance known as The Left. According to AP and Reuters, the first motion, brought by the hard-right, saw 378 lawmakers reject the censure, with 179 in favor and 37 abstaining. The second, from the far-left, was defeated by an even wider margin: 383 against, 133 in favor, and 78 abstentions. With the European Parliament’s 720 seats, neither motion came anywhere close to the two-thirds majority required to unseat her.
For von der Leyen, these were not the first such challenges. In fact, she has now survived three no confidence votes in just twelve months—making her the first Commission chief in over a decade to face such repeated scrutiny. Yet, the margins of her victories have grown slightly: as DW and Reuters noted, support for her increased from 360 votes in July 2025 to 378 and 383 in the latest rounds. "I deeply appreciate the strong support received today," von der Leyen posted on social media after the votes, adding that her Commission "will keep working closely with the European Parliament to tackle Europe’s challenges. And together deliver results for all European citizens."
The votes themselves, held in Strasbourg while von der Leyen delivered a keynote speech at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, were never expected to succeed. Still, they served as a barometer of the mounting discontent within the EU’s legislative body. Parties outside the centrist mainstream—invigorated by the 2024 elections, which swelled the far-right’s ranks to more than 100 lawmakers—have found that censure motions are now easier to trigger, requiring only 72 backers to bring one to the floor. As Reuters reported, some lawmakers warned that this could destabilize the assembly and complicate the process of passing legislation, given that the Commission relies on parliamentary support for its policy agenda.
The grievances fueling the two motions were both overlapping and divergent. Both the Patriots for Europe and The Left zeroed in on von der Leyen’s recent trade deals—especially the controversial EU-US agreement. Critics from across the spectrum lambasted the deal’s "lopsided terms," with a recent poll cited by Euronews showing 52% of respondents viewing it as a "humiliation" for Europe. The agreement includes non-binding pledges to invest €750 billion in US-made energy and spend €600 billion in the American market, a move that has drawn fire for being overly favorable to American interests at the expense of European exporters.
Von der Leyen herself has acknowledged the deal’s imperfections, saying it is "imperfect" but "solid enough" to weather the commercial turbulence unleashed by US President Donald Trump. The far-right Patriots for Europe, whose members include Hungary’s Fidesz and France’s Rassemblement National, also targeted her migration and climate policies, claiming that migration "has exploded" under her watch and accusing her of abandoning farmers and consumers through pro-environment measures. The Left, meanwhile, condemned her for failing to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and for what they call the Commission’s lack of transparency, as well as for "signing off on a number of detrimental trade deals."
Another flashpoint is the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, finalized by von der Leyen in December 2024 and now awaiting parliamentary approval. Both the right and left have raised alarms about its potential impact on European farmers—a particularly sensitive issue in France—and on environmental standards. The Patriots for Europe cited threats to food safety and European identity, while The Left focused on the risks to social and climate objectives.
Despite the intensity of the criticism, von der Leyen was buoyed by the support of the pro-European centrist blocs, including her own center-right European People’s Party, the largest political family in the Parliament. As Politico and AP observed, even some centrist opponents who had previously questioned her leadership rallied behind her when the votes were called. This broad support was seen as a signal of confidence in her ability to steer the Commission through turbulent times, even as it underscored the challenges ahead.
Yet, the frequency of these no confidence votes is a clear symptom of the Parliament’s growing fragmentation. As DW pointed out, even if the far-right and far-left had combined their efforts—a scenario considered highly unlikely—they would still have fallen well short of the supermajority needed to topple the Commission president. Nonetheless, the comparatively narrow majorities highlight the difficulties von der Leyen faces in commanding a stable coalition for her legislative agenda. The votes, according to Reuters, have become something of a lightning rod for broader debates about the direction of the EU, with both the left and right using them to score political points and air grievances about everything from trade and migration to climate and foreign policy.
The day was not without its ironies. While von der Leyen was absent from Strasbourg, delivering her speech in Brussels, she was nonetheless the focal point of heated debate in the Parliament. Her absence did little to dampen the intensity of the proceedings, nor the resolve of her detractors. But as the final tallies rolled in, it was clear that the center still holds—at least for now.
Looking forward, the real test for von der Leyen and her Commission may come in the months ahead, as the Parliament prepares to vote on the contested EU-US and Mercosur trade agreements. The outcomes of those votes are far from certain, given the divisions laid bare by this week’s proceedings. For now, however, von der Leyen has weathered the storm, her position arguably strengthened by the size of her victories, but with little doubt that the challenges to her leadership—and to the cohesion of the European project—are far from over.
In the end, the day’s events underscored both the resilience and the vulnerability of the EU’s political center. Von der Leyen’s survival was never seriously in doubt, but the forces arrayed against her—and the issues they raise—ensure that the debates over Europe’s future will remain as fierce and unpredictable as ever.