STRASBOURG, France
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his commission have survived a vote of no-confidence over the so-called "Lux Leaks" affair.
Members of the European Parliament voted on Thursday by a majority of 461 to 101 against the censure motion which sought to dismiss the European Commission and its president saying said Juncker was directly responsible for Luxembourg's tax avoidance policies during his time as the country's prime minister.
There were 88 abstentions from the motion, which had been filed and backed by 76 MEPs from Eurosceptic parties, including the UK Independence Party, the National Front in France and the Italian Five Star Movement.
The vote followed an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in early November which accused more than 300 big-brand corporations including Pepsi, IKEA and FedEx of securing secret tax deals with Luxembourg when Juncker was the country's Prime Minister and Finance Minister.
'Defying EU spirit'
The report - based on nearly 28,000 pages of leaked sensitive documents relating to more than1,000 businesses - triggered anger as it showed a European Union state secretly aiding tax avoidance on a vast scale while much of Europe undergoes IMF- and government-imposed "austerity measures" including "free-market reforms" cutting public services, raising pension ages and restricting wages and salaries.
The author of the motion, European Parliament MEP from the Italian Eurosceptic party the Five Star Movement, Marco Zanni had said: "The 'Lux Leaks' scandal shows that Commission President Juncker has always acted in his political life to enrich his country behind the backs of its European partners, in defiance of the Union and Community spirit he is supposed to represent."
Juncker has defended himself saying: "These are tax arrangements made by the member states across the EU. I'm not the one who created this."
Juncker, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and a member of the center-right Christian Social People’s Party, took office on Oct. 22 for a five-year term.
He was elected in July to replace former Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Manual Barroso, as European Commission President.
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