A crack within the European People’s Party (EPP) emerged this week as four French lawmakers broke ranks with their political family to side with the Patriots of Europe in a failed bid to topple the European Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen. The rebellion, led by senior politician François-Xavier Bellamy, stemmed from anger over the EU’s handling of the Mercosur trade deal—an issue that has already provoked a wave of outrage across France.
Jordan Bardella, who leads both the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament and France’s Rassemblement National, introduced the censure motion last month, citing the Mercosur deal as a central reason for demanding the Commission’s resignation.
The controversy got heated last month when the European Commission approved the long-delayed trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc, triggering an angry backlash from politicians and farming groups who warned it would devastate European agriculture. In France, right-wing leader Marine Le Pen called the agreement “devastating for French farming” and urged President Emmanuel Macron to block its implementation. Her ally Jordan Bardella described the deal as a “catastrophe” and said France should even consider suspending its European Union budget contributions if Brussels presses ahead.
That mounting anger set the stage for Thursday’s rebellion. According to voting records, four of Les Républicains’ six MEPs backed the motion from Parliament’s right-wing, while Nadine Morano abstained and Isabelle Le Callennec, though present, did not vote.
Bellamy’s office explained the group’s stance in a statement, emphasizing their opposition to the Mercosur agreement. The statement criticized von der Leyen for “push[ing] through the Mercosur trade agreement without seeking approval from national parliaments in the EU” andcontinued:
We couldn’t contradict the commitments we took during our campaign, and the fight we are waging relentlessly to in particular protect our farmers.
