24 November 2014

Lux leaks: debate on motion of censure against President Juncker and his team

The motion was presented by Marco Zanni (EFDD, IT), one of the authors of the text. 

The motion will be put to a vote on Thursday. In order to dismiss the Commission it would have to obtain a double majority: two-thirds of votes cast and a majority of all MEPs (i.e. 376). The motion was tabled by 76 EFDD and non-attached MEPs further to the "Lux leaks" plenary session debate with Mr Juncker on 12 November.

Full press release

Video with highlights of the debate

European Voice: MEPs dismiss censure motion as far-right ploy

A censure motion put forward by the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group and far-right unaffiliated allies against Jean-Claude Juncker’s European Commission was described as a cynical ploy by the other political groups in a debate in Strasbourg tonight (24 November).

All 28 European commissioners were present, though it was only Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the Commission, who spoke for the institution during the 20-minute debate. The last time a motion of censure was introduced against a college of commissioners was in 2005.

The EFDD group, which consists mainly of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Italy’s Five Star Movement, was able to gather 76 signatures for a motion of censure against Juncker over alleged tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg while he was prime minister. That was enough to force the issue on to the European Parliament’s plenary agenda. The EFDD’s 48 MEPs were joined by non-aligned MEPs such as Marine Le Pen.

The far-left GUE group also attempted to collect enough signatures to introduce a censure motion against Juncker last week, but failed. GUE refused to sign the petition, and its group leader condemned the Green and S&D groups for refusing to sign the leftist petition.

© European Parliament