The European Parliament on Thursday voted to demand that the European Commission scrap the appointment of an ally of EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, casting a shadow over her bid for a second term.

The vote, which is symbolic and nonbinding, was against the nomination of a German lawmaker in the parliament, Markus Pieper, as the commission's envoy for small and medium-sized businesses. Von der Leyen's conservative European People's Party opposed the motion but was outnumbered.