EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT Ursula von der Leyen may face a second vote of confidence over her handling of the EU-US tariff agreement.

The Left block’s co-leader Manon Aubry told France’s public broadcaster yesterday that she disagreed with the EU-US investment plans under the deal and claimed the 15% tariff rate placed on European goods ‘vassalised’ the EU.

Von der Leyen survived a rare no-confidence vote in the European Parliament in July over an annulled decision that denied a journalist access to text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Left wing MEPs are now seeking to table a second vote of censure against the German politician when the parliament returns from recess next month. They will require the backing from 140 European politicians for the vote.

Should the politicians not secure enough votes before the plenary session in Strasbourg next month, the group may seek to table the motion for the next session in October. 

Under the tariff agreement, which was finalised last week, all European goods will have a 15% tariff cap placed on them from the US. Von der Leyen welcomed the completion of the agreement, stating that it brought predictability to businesses in the EU.

It was also agreed that European companies would be expected to invest an additional €515b ($600b) across strategic sectors in the US and hundreds of millions of euro in non-renewable energy investments to represent a commitment to transatlantic trade.

Aubry, a French MEP, told the station yesterday: “This agreement is not sustainable. And it was taken without any consultation from the European Parliament.”

She added: “We will table this motion of censure and I hope that the whole or at least a majority of the European Parliament will follow suit.”

There is no mechanism in the EU for MEPs to censure one individual commissioner and motions must be tabled to vote no confidence in all 27 members of the European Commission College, including Ireland’s Michael McGrath.

For the vote to be successful, at least 361 MEPs will be required to vote no-confidence in the Commission. Every member of the EU’s executive would be required to resign should the vote be successful.

The motion earlier this year was defeated, with 360 votes of confidence to 175 votes of censure, but there were split opinions among Irish MEPs. Many highlighted how a noticeable amount of the total 720 MEPs were not present or chose to abstain.