BRUSSELS ― Ursula von der Leyen is facing the biggest challenge yet to her authority as European Commission president after political groups threatened to withdraw support over her decision to cancel climate-friendly legislation.

“We are on the brink of an institutional crisis,” Valérie Hayer, chair of the liberal Renew Europe group, told POLITICO. 

Von der Leyen is from the center-right European People’s Party and although it’s the biggest group in the European Parliament it relies on votes from the Socialists and liberals to get its way. The Commission’s ability to introduce EU laws risks being blocked if the groups refuse to play ball.

The Commission announced on Friday that it was pulling the Green Claims directive ― a landmark law that would hold companies accountable for unfounded environmental claims ― even though it has already passed through many stages of the legislative process.

That move, which the EPP group in Parliament requested the Commission make on Wednesday, was applauded by the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists and the far-right Patriots for Europe, the group of France’s Marine Le Pen and Hungary’s Victor Orbán.

“If the Commission withdraws the text, we at Renew consider this act as seriously jeopardizing the platform of the pro-European majority,” Hayer said.

Socialists and liberals accused von der Leyen of siding with far-right forces ― which demand the EU ditches all its green policies ― and ignoring the will of their groups that voted her into office. 

While there are no formal coalitions in the European Parliament, the center-right EPP, Socialists and liberals ― broadly the traditional pro-EU mainstream ― have relied on each other for support and signed a cooperation agreement in November.

Yet the EPP has repeatedly aligned itself with right-wing and far-right political groups in the house to push through some measures, set the agenda, or kill green files. They did so this week when they brought down a report on financing development projects and two AI and patents bills, and created a new body to scrutinize NGO financing.

‘We will stop protecting her’

This week’s withdrawal of the greenwashing law may be the last straw for the Socialists and liberals, which have also been dismayed at some of von der Leyen’s other actions, including the so-called Pfizergate saga, where the EU court ruled against the Commission over its refusal to release text messages between the commission president and the head of vaccine-maker Pfizer during the Covid pandemic.

“The debate on Pfizergate, we protected her from it, if this continues like this, we will stop protecting her,” a senior Renew official said. The Socialists and liberals could “stop playing the game and making deals in other files with EPP,” effectively blocking the EU’s legislative process, they added.

“The problem now is that the Commission is also answering to the alternative right-wing majority, not the centrist platform,” the official said.

A spokesperson for the EPP said it welcomed the Commission’s announcement, claiming that the current text under negotiation would have “led to a bureaucratic nightmare for companies.”

As well as being angry at the cancelation of the proposed law itself, both centrist parties accuse the EPP and the Commission president of bypassing the EU’s legislative process. The anti-greenwashing bill was already being negotiated between Parliament and EU Council ― representing national governments ― after both institutions already approved their positions after months of work.

A Socialist official added the situation has brought them to question “the whole basis of support for von der Leyen, and if she really goes through with this, that would be seen as breaching the platform, there is no platform left.”

“The Commission should be aware of the importance of the alliance and the commitments.” S&D group chair Iratxe Garcia said.

The greenwashing law in the form the negotiations were taking would “go against the Commission’s simplification agenda,” said Commission spokesperson Stefan De Keersmaecker. “Our objective has been to find an agreement on a legislative proposal that would reduce administrative burden and complexity for companies, and in particular smaller companies.”

He added: “Obviously, the Commission remains fully committed to fighting greenwashing and ensuring that consumers are correctly informed and will continue to work on this objective.”