The European Parliament starts a new term with von der Leyen’s re-election at stake

The 10th term of the European Parliamentwhich will run until the summer of 2029, began this Tuesday in the Chamber of Strasbourg (France) with 720 new MEPs elected in the elections of 9 June, and a solemn performance of the anthem of the European Union, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

“The first session of the European Parliament will start after the European elections,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

The plenary session has started with the vote for the Metsola re-election as President and the fourteen Vice-Presidents will also be elected; together with the President, they will form the Bureau of the European Parliament. At the last minute, the European Left put forward Irene Montero, MEP from Podemos, as its candidate, even though she has zero chance of winning over Metsola, the consensus option among the main groups in the European Parliament.

During her nomination speech, the Maltese conservative said European citizens need a “strong” parliament and pledged to “work tirelessly” to “unite people”.

“This must be a strong parliament, in a strong Union. That is what the Treaties expect of us and that is what the people need. We cannot accept that our role as parliamentarians is diluted,” President Metsola stressed earlier to the Chamber.

Furthermore, he stated that Parliament will be in the spotlight as ‘its staunch defender’ Ukraine needs” and to “raise your voice too Middle East“.

Unlike other plenary sessions, decisions are taken today secret ballot.

Von der Leyen is dependent on a fragile majority

In addition to the Bureau, MEPs will vote on whether to confirm Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission for a new term. The conservative leader will try to repeat the existing majority popularsocialists and liberals who already supported his candidacy in 2019.

These three groups hold a total of 401 seats out of the 720 that make up the chamber, which is more fragmented and smaller – down 27 seats after Britain left the EU – than it was five years ago, when German politicians became the first woman to preside over the community’s executive. Von der Leyen must add 361 seats to overcome the rehabilitation, forcing the country to seek support outside the fragile majority of the centrist coalition to compensate for possible last-minute changes.

Not in vain, only his own political family, the European People’s Party (EPP, with 188 seats), has guaranteed unwavering support. social democrats and liberals They make their support conditional on respect for their own priorities, while at the same time indicating how Red line any cooperation with the Extremely rightwhich has managed to form three factions during this term of office and has so far gained 187 seats.

They come from the Conservatives and Reformists (78), who lead the Brothers of Italy of transalpine Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; the Patriots for Europe (84), promoted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and which also welcomes Vox and the parties of Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini; and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (25), created by the ultra-German party Alternative for Germany.

For their part, the Greens, who have assured that they are “ready to work constructively”, have also rejected any agreement with the far right, which they exclude from a “stable majority” of which they want to be part, while on the other hand they ask at the same time not to “roll back climate policy”. The European Left, for its part, has made it clear that it will not support the re-election of von der Leyen.