A high-stakes debate will take place in the European Parliament on Monday as lawmakers consider a motion of censure that, if passed later this week, could force European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her team to step down—a scenario that has occurred only once in the European Union’s history.
Von der Leyen is expected to defend her leadership during the debate, which opens the formal process. Under EU rules, the vote cannot take place until at least 48 hours have passed, meaning MEPs will cast their votes on Thursday. For the motion to succeed, it must secure a two-thirds majority of the votes cast and be supported by a majority of all MEPs. The vote will be conducted by roll call, so each lawmaker’s choice will be publicly recorded.
The motion can still be withdrawn if support falls below the minimum threshold of one-tenth of MEPs. Any parliamentarians who signed it initially are free to rescind their backing before the vote, which would halt the procedure automatically if the threshold is no longer met.
Censure motions against the European Commission are extremely rare. There have been nine previous attempts to remove the institution since the EU’s creation, none of which succeeded in triggering a formal dismissal. The most recent came in 2014, when the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group tried to oust the Commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker following the “LuxLeaks” scandal, which revealed favourable tax arrangements in Luxembourg. That motion received the support of just 101 of the 670 MEPs.
Other failed motions have dealt with controversies over EU budget management, agricultural policy, the BSE crisis, and internal oversight problems, including mismanagement at Eurostat. In 1990, a motion filed by the Group of the European Right over agricultural concerns gained only 16 votes, with 243 against.
Only once has a censure process led to a Commission’s resignation. In March 1999, facing allegations of fraud and poor governance, the Jacques Santer-led Commission stepped down preemptively, just days before Parliament was due to vote on a motion that could have removed them. That resignation came despite the Commission having survived three earlier censure attempts on other issues.
