Motion of censure

With a motion of censure, the European Parliament can force the European Commission to resign as a body. The motion needs two thirds of the votes cast, and these votes in favour must also represent a majority of Parliament’s component Members: with 720 seats filled, at least 361. No motion of censure had been adopted by the end of October 2026; this also applies to the four motions against the Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen on which Parliament voted between July 2025 and January 2026.

What is a motion of censure?

Under Article 17(8) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the Commission, as a body, is responsible to the European Parliament. Under Article 234 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Parliament can adopt a motion of censure on the Commission.

A motion of censure always concerns the Commission as a whole. The procedure in Parliament is laid down in Rule 131 of its Rules of Procedure.

Who can table one and how the procedure works

A motion can be tabled by one tenth of Parliament’s Members, that is 72 MEPs with 720 seats. If Parliament has voted on a motion of censure in the preceding two months, a new motion must be tabled by at least one fifth of Members, i.e. 144.

The motion must be entitled “motion of censure” and state the reasons for it. It is forwarded to the Commission, and the President of Parliament informs Members that it has been received. The Treaty and the Rules of Procedure then lay down the following:

• The debate takes place no earlier than 24 hours after Members have been informed.
• The vote takes place no earlier than 48 hours after the start of the debate and no earlier than three days after the motion was tabled.
• Debate and vote are held at the latest during the part-session following receipt of the motion.
• The vote is open and by roll call: every vote is recorded with the name of the Member who cast it.

The majority required

A double majority is required (Article 234 TFEU, Rule 131(7)): two thirds of the votes cast must be in favour, and these votes in favour must at the same time represent a majority of Parliament’s component Members.

With 720 Members, this majority is 361, according to the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS). If all 720 Members vote either for or against, a two-thirds majority means 480 votes in favour.

OpenRCV counts the Members in office on the day of the vote. On all four voting days there were 719, so the vote view gives at least 360 votes in favour. The voting data do not show which figure Parliament itself applied. How OpenRCV shows the majority required for a vote is explained in the section on majorities.

What happens if a motion is adopted

If a motion of censure is adopted, the Members of the Commission resign as a body. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy must resign from the duties that he or she carries out in the Commission.

The Members of the Commission remain in office and continue to deal with current business until they are replaced in accordance with Article 17 TEU. The new Commission then holds office only until the end of its predecessor’s term.

Previous motions of censure

According to an EPRS count from September 2024, a total of 13 motions of censure on the Commission had been tabled since 1972, nine of them since the first direct elections to Parliament in 1979. According to an EPRS study from 2025, Parliament voted on eight of them; a motion from 2016 never came to a vote. None of them reached the required majority.

On 14 January 1999, Parliament rejected a motion of censure on the Santer Commission by 232 votes in favour to 293 against, with 27 abstentions. Following the report of a committee of independent experts, the Commission resigned as a body in March 1999 to forestall a motion of censure. Its resignation was therefore not the result of an adopted motion of censure.

By the end of October 2026, Parliament had voted on four motions of censure in the 10th term. The first, voted on in July 2025, was tabled by Gheorghe Piperea and 76 other MEPs, according to the text of the motion. In September 2025 two further motions followed, on which Parliament voted separately in October 2025. According to Parliament, one was tabled by the Patriots for Europe group and signed by 85 of its Members; the other was tabled by The Left group in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL) and signed by 72 MEPs, including Members of other groups and non-attached Members. In January 2026 the Patriots for Europe group tabled another motion, signed by 110 MEPs from three groups.

The debates in July and October 2025 were held with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the debate in January 2026 with Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič. All four motions were rejected.

Votes in the current term

The list shows every vote on a motion of censure since the start of the 10th term, with the result and the number of votes. Each entry links to the vote view, which shows how each Member voted.

• 22 January 2026 (B10-0063/2026): rejected, 165 for, 390 against, 10 abstentions
• 9 October 2025 (B10-0400/2025): rejected, 179 for, 378 against, 37 abstentions
• 9 October 2025 (B10-0402/2025): rejected, 133 for, 383 against, 78 abstentions
• 10 July 2025 (B10-0319/2025): rejected, 175 for, 360 against, 18 abstentions

Sources

• Treaty on European Union, Article 17 (EUR-Lex)
• Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 234 (EUR-Lex)
• Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, July 2024 edition, Rule 131 (PDF)
• European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS): briefing on the motion of censure, September 2024 (PDF)
• EPRS: The European Parliament's oversight powers: Tools to scrutinise the European Commission, study, June 2025 (PDF)
• European Parliament: press release on the vote of 10 July 2025
• European Parliament: press release on the votes of 9 October 2025
• European Parliament: press release on the vote of 22 January 2026
• Texts of the motions: B10-0319/2025, B10-0400/2025, B10-0402/2025, B10-0063/2026
• European Parliament Open Data Portal (voting data, licence CC BY 4.0)

Source: European Parliament open data (CC BY 4.0), prepared by OpenRCV.