MEPs heap pressure on von der Leyen, vote down envoy pick

European Parliament has kicked up the pressure on Ursula von der Leyen another notch.

More than half of European Union lawmakers on Thursday demanded the European Commission President walk back her choice of a political ally for a lucrative EU job.

The European Parliament plenary voted 382-144 for an amendment telling von der Leyen to rerun the job race after she awarded the highly paid role of representative for small-and-medium sized enterprises to European lawmaker Markus Pieper, who belongs to the same German conservative party.

He signed the contract on March 31, despite the fact that two other shortlisted candidates for the post, both women, had reportedly received higher scores on tests during the selection process.

The controversy around her envoy pick adds to a growing list of potential problems for von der Leyen as she seeks a second term as European Commission President.

It comes just days after POLITICO revealed that the European Public Prosecutor's Office had opened an investigation into her use of text messages to negotiate major vaccine purchase contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.

German Green lawmaker Daniel Freund put forth the amendment — to a budget report, which was backed by Green colleagues, two politicians from the Socialists & Democrats group and three Renew lawmakers. It came after the Commission failed to answer a parliamentary question on how Pieper was selected over the two female rivals.

Freund's text calls for the Commission to rescind Pieper's appointment and start a "truly transparent and open process for the selection of the EU SME Envoy."

While the vote has no binding legal effect, it is likely to embarrass von der Leyen after she saw off criticism from commissioners at a Wednesday meeting. Before that, in a sign that politics are beginning to intrude into the operations of the Brussels executive ahead of the EU's June 6-9 election, four top commissioners pressed von der Leyen for answers about the transparency of the appointment in a letter dated April 8.

Since then, the Commission's top level is scrambling to draw a line under the most serious internal rebellion von der Leyen has faced since she first became head of the EU's executive branch back in 2019.

Von der Leyen's European’s People Party on Thursday tried and failed to get the Parliament plenary to vote for a last-minute oral amendment defending Pieper's appointment and accusing the Greens of using the issue as an election tactic. The amendment wasn't accepted for a vote, with 38 lawmakers opposing it.

European People’s Party commissioners rushed to defend one of their own on Wednesday, facing down the four commissioners who have repeatedly asked her clarity around concerns about transparency and impartiality.

One EPP lawmaker, Slovakia's Ivan Štefanec, told the plenary that recruitment procedures should "not be used for party or personal campaigning goals."

The row may have boosted Czech Renew lawmaker Martina Dlabajová, who had also applied for the SME envoy job and filed an official complaint over the selection procedure. She has now been offered a spot leading the list of Italian liberal alliance Stati Uniti d'Europa (United States of Europe) in Italy’s North-Eastern constituency, Czech media reported.

Dlabajová addressed the Parliament before the vote, telling MEPs her complaint to the Commission over the decision to award the job to Pieper is still pending.

“I think that transparency and public interest must always come first, a consideration which does not seem to be the case for everyone in the Commission, everyone in this Parliament who prefer party interests and personal favors to rules and principles," she said, announcing that she would not take part in the vote on the amendment due to her involvement in the saga so far.

MEPs loudly applauded after her short speech.