Not just von der Leyen: every censure at the EU Commission since 1990

Brussels – Delors, Santer, Prodi, Barroso I, Juncker, and finally von der Leyen. A motion of censure against the college of commissioners is not a common occurrence, yet it has become increasingly frequent over the years. Since the European Parliament became a directly elected institution in 1979, there have been ten instances of a motion to resign. The first time was in 1990, and since then, practically every constituency has had a vote of no confidence in the European Parliament. With the censorship filed against the current EU executive, the number of such votes in the European Parliament aimed at potentially requesting the resignation of the entire Commission has risen to 11. Eunews reviews all past cases.

Censure motion against the Delors Commission (1990, 1991, 1992)

 Jacques Delors is regarded as one of the key architects of European integration. It was under his leadership at the head of the EU executive that the Maastricht Treaties were signed, transforming the European Economic Community (EEC) into the European Union (EU). It was under Delors that the European single market was created, and again, under Delors, the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was implemented. It was precisely against the ideas of reforming the CAP that the Right Group tabled two motions of censure, in February 1990 and July 1991, both of which were rejected (respectively 16 yes, 234 no, 5 abstentions, and 8 yes, 206 no, 15 abstentions).  In December 1992, the European Green MEP, Paul Lannoye, collected a total of 72 signatures to demand the resignation of the Delors college over the Commission’s position on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Again, the motion was rejected (96 in favor, 246 opposed, and 15 abstentions). 

Commissione europea: come funziona e quali sono i suoi poteri

Censure motion against the Santer Commission (1997, 1999)

In 1996, the outbreak of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) pandemic — better known as mad cow disease — hit Europe. José Happart, a Belgian MEP and Socialist, believed the European Commission, chaired by Jacques Santer, should be censured for failing to prevent or manage the crisis. However, in the vote in February 1997, the House did not unseat him (118 in favor, 326 against, and 15 abstentions). 

However, this was not the end of the confrontations with the European Parliament for the Santer Commission, which, after just two years (January 1999), found itself at the centre of two motions of censure for its failure to grant discharge for the 1996 budget. The first motion, from the socialists, was withdrawn, but a second, more cross-party one was put to the vote, and the Commission survived but not for long (232 in favor, 293 against, and 27 abstentions). This was the premise for the end of the Community executive, which resigned two months later, in March 1999. The research commissioner at the time, the French Edith Cresson, was accused of corruption, but she refused to resign, so the entire college stepped down to avoid a new vote of no confidence.

Censure motion against the Prodi Commission (2004)

The Santer Commission was succeeded by Romano Prodi’s Commission, which was hit by the Eurostat scandal. Senior officials of the European statistics institute allegedly used a double-accounting system to divert about a million euros of EU funds to secret accounts, which was the subject of an investigation by the EU Anti-Fraud Office. As Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Commission, accountability was demanded. In April 2004, the Prodi Commission was censured, on the initiative of Jens-Peter Bonde, a Eurosceptic MEP who collected an additional 64 signatures. The House rejected the motion (88 in favor, 515 against, and 63 abstentions).

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Censure motion against the Barroso I Commission (2005)

Barely a year passes, and in May 2005, the European Parliament’s Chamber finds itself voting on a motion of censure against José Manuel Barroso’s Commission. In the background were accusations of corruption and favoritism: Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP and supporter of Brexit, accused the EU executive of accepting donations from a wealthy businessman, in exchange for regional aid. The House did not believe this story and saved the Commission (35 in favor, 589 against, and 35 abstentions).

Censure motion against the Juncker Commission (2014)

The European Parliament decided to use the motion of censure again in 2014, this time against Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker. His Commission, which took office on 1 November, was immediately hit by revelations about favorable tax arrangements to attract companies to Luxembourg. It is precisely Juncker, as long-time prime minister, who is said to be the architect of a system that led the Grand Duchy to become a tax haven within the European Union. That is why there were demands for the resignation of the newly-appointed Juncker, who instead survived (101 in favor, 461 against, and 88 abstentions) and remains in power.