The European Parliament elects new presidents

If elected by MEPs, Ursula von der Leyen will return to the post of President of the European Commission for the next five years.

On July 16, the new European Parliament must vote for its president and elect its 14 vice-presidents, on July 17 five quaestors, and on July 18 a new president of the European Commission.

If elected by MEPs, Ursula von der Leyen will return to the post of President of the European Commission for the next five years.

After the establishment of the new Parliament on 16 July at 10:00 CET, MEPs must elect their President for the next two and a half years.

The Speaker enjoys a wide range of executive and representative powers, covering "all powers necessary to direct the business of Parliament and to ensure its proper conduct".

Speaker candidates can be nominated by a political group or by a group of MEPs reaching the low threshold, i.e. 1/20 of the members of the EP. Before the vote, the candidates have 5 minutes to make a short statement.

The secret ballot requires an absolute majority of valid votes cast, i.e. 50% plus one.

After the election of its President, the Parliament will also elect its 14 Vice-Presidents and five Quaestors, who make up the Bureau of the Parliament.

What do Vice-Presidents and Quaestors do?

Deputy Speakers may deputize for the Speaker, including presiding over plenary sessions and representing Parliament at specific ceremonies or activities when necessary. Quaestors deal with administrative matters that directly affect MEPs.

The Vice-Presidents and the Quaestors are members of the Bureau of the European Parliament (where the Quaestors have an advisory voice), which sets the rules for the smooth functioning of the Parliament. Among its other duties, the Bureau prepares the preliminary draft budget of the Parliament and makes decisions on administrative, personnel and organizational matters. In practice, the political groups aim to ensure that the composition of the Bureau largely reflects the numerical composition of the groups, also taking into account the results of the election of the President of the EP. | BGNES