The Patriots for Europe faction in the European Parliament has initiated a motion of no confidence against Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, over the EU-Mercosur agreement.

Fidesz MEP Kinga Gál called the president’s failure to appear in the parliamentary debate “unacceptable,” reports Magyar Nemzet, saying von der Leyen had disregarded the thousands of farmers protesting in the streets, as well as the European citizens represented by the Patriots.

According to Gál, Mercosur could result in cheap and loosely regulated products flooding European markets, creating an unfair competitive situation for EU farmers.

“The safeguard clauses voiced by the Commission are merely empty promises that do not provide real protection for European farmers,” she said.

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The MEP went on to tell the European Parliament that the Commission’s “erroneous decisions” are piling up, pushing European agriculture into a “serious crisis.” She then listed off the Green Deal, bureaucratic burdens imposed on farmers, the Ukrainian free trade agreement, the Mercosur agreement, and the new EU budget draft, which she said would drastically reduce agricultural subsidies.

Gál said the moves are an attack on European agriculture and a betrayal of those who provide the daily bread of the European people.

She also criticized the way the agreement was adopted, emphasizing that it was forced through with a complete lack of transparency and legal tricks. According to her, the splitting of the agreement aims to bypass national parliaments, while the possibility of provisional application empties the European Parliament’s right of consent.

Stating that Mercosur was forced through with a complete lack of transparency and legal tricks, the MEP called it the last straw for European agriculture and announced that the Patriots for Europe group, with thousands of farmers and millions of voters behind it, is demanding a change of direction.

Gál said that European leadership is needed that serves the people of Europe, not Brussels, and that Ursula von der Leyen and the European Commission should leave.