European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is likely to face a no-confidence vote over the Mercosur trade deal in the coming weeks, according to the far-right group "Patriots for Europe", writes "Politico".
The president of the "Patriots", French theater Jordan Bardella, announced the plan for a no-confidence vote on Thursday evening on X. His party, "National Rally", opposes the trade agreement between the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur, which was supported by von der Leyen. A qualified majority of EU member states approved the long-awaited trade deal on Friday, which France opposed.
"We hope to put it [the no-confidence vote] to a vote in this January session," a senior Patriots official told "Politico".
Once submitted, the Parliament's legal team will check the proposal and if approved, Parliament President Roberta Mezzola will contact all MEPs with the details.
If the trend of previous no-confidence votes is to follow, a debate is likely to be held on Monday, January 19, with a vote on Thursday, January 22.
Scheduling a no-confidence vote requires the support of 72 lawmakers. Since the Patriots" have 82 MEPs, they do not need the support of other political groups.
The proposal, which if successful would lead to the dismissal of von der Leyen and all 26 of her commissioners, is almost certain to fail as it would require a two-thirds majority of the votes cast.
There have been three previous attempts to oust von der Leyen through no-confidence votes - two by the far right and one by the far left. All of them failed.
Bardella also accused French President Emmanuel Macron of being a hypocrite by pretending to oppose the Mercosur deal, and of "betraying French farmers" by not doing enough to stop it.
Bardella said the "National Assembly" would table a no-confidence vote against the French government.