The plenary session of the European Parliament opened in Strasbourg at 18:00 on Monday 16 January with the announcement of the candidates for the election of the President of the European Parliament in the second half of the legislative period (see EUROPE 11703).
Listed in alphabetical order, the seven official candidates as of last Friday, were confirmed by the outgoing President, Martin Schulz: Eleonora Forenza (GUE/NGL, Italy), Jean Lambert (Greens/EFA, UK), Gianni Pittella (S&D, Italy), Laurenţiu Rebega (ENF, Romania), Helga Stevens (ECR, Belgium), Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy) and Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium).
If they are presented by a group or by at least 38 MEPs, other MEPs may stand before each round, in this vote by secret ballot (paper deposited in a ballot box), to take place throughout the whole day on Tuesday.
The outcome of the election is absolutely anybody's guess. If nobody wins an absolute majority (50% plus one vote) of the votes cast in the first three rounds, the President will be elected by simple majority in the fourth and final round, to be fought out by the two candidates with the most votes.
The first round will start at 09:00 on Tuesday, the second will take place at 13:00 and the third at 17:00. If a fourth round is held, it will take place at around 20:00, a scenario which has only happened once, in January 1982 when Dutch PES member Pieter Dankerts was elected. The name of the new President of Parliament is therefore expected to be announced at around 22:00 or 22:30 at the latest on Tuesday. "However, we could have a new President at any point in the day", a spokesperson to the European institution said. Between each round, meetings of the political groups will be held to take stock of the situation.
What will Verhofstadt do?
In Strasbourg on Monday, some observers were speculating as to whether the ALDE group candidate, Guy Verhofstadt, will bow out of the race to the top spot between two rounds of voting, having lost points in his abortive attempt to bring 17 Italian MEPs belonging to the 'Five Star Movement' under the fold of the ALDE group (see EUROPE 11699).
The largest political family in Parliament (with 217 MEPs), the EPP, hopes that its champion, Antonio Tajani, will win the election. He leaves the starting gate with a slight advantage over Gianni Pittella, the choice of the S&D group (189 MEPs). The S&D has decided to break with the 'Grand Coalition' (EPP-S&D-ALDE), whereby the two largest political groups have divided up the Presidency of the Parliament over the course of each legislative period in recent years (see EUROPE 11702).
On Monday, a number of sources were talking about the possibility of the GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA group lending support to the Social Democrat, in return for Pittella's agreement to support a postponement of Parliament's vote, scheduled for early February, on the EU/Canada free-trade agreement (CETA) (see EUROPE 11702).
On Wednesday 18 January, the MEPs will elect the 14 vice-presidents and five quaestors of Parliament in secret electronic ballots presided over by the newly elected President. The candidates for the posts of vice-president of Parliament will be officially announced once the next President of the Parliament is known. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)