STRASBOURG ― European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič faced an almost empty European Parliament on Monday evening to defend the European Commission’s signing of the Mercosur trade deal.

Many backers of the motion of no-confidence in the Commission over the issue failed to turn up, suggesting that the trend of calling them ― this was an unprecedented fourth in seven months ― has run out of steam.

Supporters of the motion argued that the Mercosur trade deal will open the door to unfair competition from south American countries, with European farmers subject to higher environmental standards than their peers.

“The safeguard clauses from the Commission are simply empty promises which don’t actually provide proper protection for European farmers“ said the Patriots first vice president Kinga Gal, Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán’s right-hand in the European Parliament.

She added that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s failure to attend the debate “shows contempt for the thousands of farmers protesting in the streets and several millions of voters who are represented by the Patriots.”

But it was the Patriots own far-right lawmakers and other signatories of the motion who also didn’t turn up. Out of more than 110 lawmakers who signed the motion, less than a quarter attended.

“Looking in this room, apparently it was not important enough to actually change some dinner plans and to be at the debate,” said Jeroen Lenaerts, chief whip of EPP ― von der Leyen’s center-right political family.

The no-confidence motion, backed by the Patriots for Europe group and lawmakers from the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), will now be put to a vote on Thursday, though it is widely expected to fail.

Three similar motions have already been defeated over the past seven months, dampening lawmakers’ interest in Monday’s debate. The low threshold of 72 out 720 lawmakers required to trigger a motion of censure debate and vote has prompted repeated attempts.

“This motion is not about accountability, it is about headlines,” said Lenaerts.

Some lawmakers are calling to change the threshold and make it more difficult to launch a motion of censure. Others describe that as censorship.

The Parliament’s centrist and left-wing factions — including the center-right EPP, the center-left Socialists and Democrats, and the liberal Renew group — boycotted the debate with only 10 of their lawmakers attending the debate.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also skipped chairing the debate, instead sending one of her deputies, vice president Katarina Barley.

These moves followed the Commission’s decision not to send either President Ursula von der Leyen, nor the full college of 26 Commissioners to stand beside her, as has been the case on previous occasions.

“How many times do we need to vote on hopeless censure motions until the extremists are satisfied or accept the democratic will?,” asked Billy Kelleher, representing the Renew Europe group.

Only one political group leader showed up to the debate.

It was not Jordan Bardella, Patriots for Europe chair, who first announced the motion on X, but the von der Leyen’s party chief, EPP’s Manfred Weber.