The European Parliament will debate and vote on whether Juncker is considered fit for his post as president of the EU Commission after a motion of censure was signed by 76 MEPs and submitted to the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, yesterday.
This move follows last week’s disclosure of 28,000 pages of confidential documents, known as LuxLeaks, which revealed that 340 global companies had benefitted from tax savings by channelling profits into Luxembourg.
“The LuxLeaks scandal shows that Juncker in his political life has always acted to enrich his country behind its European partners, in defiance of the Union and the Community spirit he hopes to represent,” said Marco Zanni, an MEP from the Italian populist party, Five Star Movement.
Zanni also said submitting the motion “shows that the EFDD Group is a political force to be reckoned with and demonstrates we can act effectively”.
The majority of signatures were received from members of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, and another 32 came from non-attached members. To trigger a vote, a motion of censure needs to be backed by 10% of the total 751 MEPs, or 76 MEPs. For a motion to pass, two-thirds of all MEPs must agree.
UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe, who also helped gather some of the signatures, said the motion means MEPs will have “an opportunity to show their true colours and let their voters know where they stand on the actions of President Juncker”.
“Intolerable”
Before serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg for nearly two decades up until last year, Juncker had been the country’s finance minister, and had allegedly encouraged tax avoidance in the Grand Duchy while he was in power. Juncker has denied these allegations.
The motion said it was “intolerable that a person who has been responsible for aggressive tax avoidance policies, which have caused the loss of billions in euros to EU member states, is allowed to serve as President of the European Commission”.
It also said under Juncker’s leadership, Luxembourg had failed to cooperate in the European Commission’s investigation into illegal tax agreements.
