The President of the European Commission disowned by MEPs after contested recruitment

The Commission maintained that the contested MEP would indeed take office as planned next week.

A snub. MEPs disavowed the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday April 11, after the controversial appointment of one of their own to a highly paid position within the European executive. A candidate for her own succession, the German official is being questioned two months before the European elections which will lead to a renewal of the heads of the main EU institutions.

In a non-binding vote, the European Parliament, meeting in Brussels in plenary session, adopted an amendment (382 votes for, 144 against and 80 abstentions) calling for the cancellation of this appointment and the launch of a new procedure. “Big majority for our amendment!”welcomed its author, the German environmentalist MEP Daniel Freund, on X.

“We coaxed a European MP”

The case concerns the appointment at the end of January of an emissary responsible for small and medium-sized businesses. The post was awarded to German MEP from the European People’s Party Markus Pieper, a few weeks before a congress in Bucharest in early March during which the EPP gave its support to a second term for Ursula von der Leyen. “We coaxed a MEP among Ursula von der Leyen’s biggest detractors” within the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the German pillar of the EPP, of which she is a member, denounced Daniel Freund.

The EPP tried to thwart this vote by attempting at the last minute to table an amendment supporting this nomination and Ursula von der Leyen. In vain, the majority of MEPs opposed it. Markus Pieper signed his contract on Sunday March 31 and is due to take up his new role on April 16 for a four-year term. The grade 15 position, one of the highest in the European hierarchy, should earn him remuneration of 18,430 euros gross per month, according to the official scale.

Through its spokesperson, Eric Mamer, the Commission reaffirmed shortly after the vote that it had “respected the procedures” and confirmed that Markus Pieper would take up his duties as planned next week.