EuroWire, STRASBOURG: The European Parliament on Thursday rejected a motion of censure against the European Commission, leaving the EU’s executive arm in office after a roll-call vote in plenary. The motion failed to secure the required supermajority needed to force the Commission’s resignation under EU treaty rules.
Members voted 390 against the motion, 165 in favour and 10 abstained, according to the Parliament’s press service. A motion of censure requires a two-thirds majority of votes cast, representing a majority of the Parliament’s component members, to be adopted.
The proposal was tabled by the Patriots for Europe political group. A successful censure vote would have required the entire College of Commissioners to resign as a body, a step that has never been carried out in the Parliament’s history under current EU procedures.
The vote followed a debate held on Monday, 19 January, in which European Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič represented the Commission during the plenary discussion. The censure procedure is a formal parliamentary mechanism designed to hold the Commission politically accountable, with a high voting threshold intended to reflect the gravity of dismissing the executive.
Trade agreement dispute drives debate
The motion was linked to opposition over the EU’s trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, a deal that has drawn political scrutiny across the Parliament. The agreement was approved by EU member states on 9 January and signed on 17 January in Paraguay, after negotiations spanning more than two decades.
Opponents have raised concerns about the agreement’s implications for EU farmers and regulatory standards, and about the balance between trade policy and parliamentary oversight. Supporters have argued the deal would deepen economic ties and provide new market access for EU exporters, while maintaining EU safeguards through the bloc’s legal framework.
Separately this week, the European Parliament advanced steps to seek a legal opinion on the agreement’s compatibility with EU treaties by referring it to the Court of Justice of the European Union, reflecting the intensity of the debate around the pact and its ratification path.
Censure threshold remains high
Thursday’s result underscored the difficulty of passing a censure motion, which requires both a two-thirds majority of votes cast and support from a majority of all elected members. The high bar is intended to ensure that only a broad, cross-party consensus can remove the Commission.
The Commission continues to carry out its mandate following the vote, and the Parliament retains other oversight tools including hearings, questions, committee investigations and budgetary scrutiny. The censure mechanism remains the chamber’s most far-reaching instrument, but it is rarely close to succeeding due to the voting requirements.
The episode adds to a period of heightened political contention in Brussels and Strasbourg as lawmakers press the Commission on trade policy, regulatory enforcement and institutional accountability. While the motion was defeated by a wide margin, the debate placed renewed focus on how major trade agreements are concluded and reviewed within the EU’s institutional system.