Following the European Council, which reached a painful agreement on the names for the key European posts (see other news), the European Parliament's political groups (S&D, ECR, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL) presented four candidates for the institution's seats on Tuesday 2 July, the day before the election.
On Tuesday evening, on the basis of the agreement of the European leaders, the idea of a new Presidency shared by the S&D and the EPP political families was circulating. For the S&D group, it is the Italian David Sassoli who will be in the running to succeed Antonio Tajani (EPP, Italy). The name of Bulgarian Serguei Stanishev, current President of the Party of European Socialists, was mentioned earlier in the day, but he finally did not run for this post.
In addition to the S&D, Ska Keller, the German Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group, Sira Rego of Spain, GUE/NGL, and Jan Zahradil of the Czech Republic for the ECR, were nominated. The Renew Europe group had chosen not to present any candidate, at least for the first round, set at 9:00 on Wednesday morning.
The defeated EPP Spitzenkandidat, Manfred Weber, could enter the game in two and a half years. However, he did not confirm this intention. He simply said on Tuesday evening that he would remain, at this stage, Chairman of the EPP Group in Parliament. On 5 June, he was unanimously reappointed to this position (see EUROPE 12269/7). The EPP was therefore not to present a candidate for this first part of the term of office.
An autonomous institution
On Tuesday morning, there were still rumours of postponement of the election of the Parliament President due to uncertainty on the part of the European Council.
A possibility rejected by many MEPs, starting with Ska Keller, who had defended her candidacy and her vision of Parliament: an "autonomous" institution that should act as such by having a President, whatever the negotiations on appointments to the European Council. "No one said openly that we should wait" and the Parliament President "Tajani announced an election tomorrow at 9:00 am", the Greens/EFA co-president insisted.
The Greens want "Parliament to take the initiative, the other groups may be relying on arrangements made in the European Council; we are not", added Ska Keller, who had a first meeting scheduled later that day with the GUE/NGL to try to find support for her candidacy.
As for the ECR group, with the candidacy of Mr Zahradil, it is also a question of showing that Parliament is "autonomous enough to decide for itself on its President". "As MEPs, we decide our own future and do not need the European Council to tell us what to do with secret agreements".
Among some Social Democrats, notably the French delegation, it was also considered imperative to give the Greens a place in this institutional "machine", an essential ally in the coalition work and progressive work programme of Parliament.
An election in several rounds
To elect this Parliament President on Wednesday 3 July, an absolute majority of votes will be required (blank vote or no vote does not count). If none of the candidates stand out, a second round will be organised, as the same candidates from the first round may stand for re-election and new candidates may still be presented. If, in the third round, no candidate still has a majority, only the two candidates with the most votes will be selected for a final decisive round.
Once this vote has been taken, the Parliament President will immediately proceed to the election of the Parliament Vice-Presidents and Quaestors. The numerical strength of the Parliament committees will also be determined, with their chairmanships to be decided next week.
A stormy inaugural session
Relatively short and mainly used to appoint the eight tellers who will supervise the election of the Parliament President, namely MEPs Henrik Overgaard Nielsen (Brexit Party), Alexandra Lesley Philipps (Brexit Party), Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland), Peter Jahr (EPP, Germany), Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), Bernard Guetta (RE, France), Barbara Thaler (EPP, Austria) and Catherine Chabaud (RE, France), this inaugural Parliament session has, in any case, already been marked by controversies.
Thus the 29 elected members of Nigel Farage's Brexit Party have already distinguished themselves by turning their backs on the Chamber during the playing of Ode to Joy. A "disgrace", commented Ska Keller, who said she was shocked by this "lack of respect" for the institution.
Extreme right-wing elected officials have also made their mark. Almost half of them remained seated while the European anthem was being played. A "disappointing" sight, according to a source from the EPP group, which also justifies the principle of the cordon sanitaire, under study between the four main political groups (see EUROPE 12284/9).
On Twitter, Belgian MEP Gerolf Annemans, a member of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, justified his action. "I can defend the national anthem of - and out of respect for - any nation or country, but not for the promotion of this artificial state".
Asked by EUROPE, Sergio Garuzzo, one of the ID Group's Deputy Secretaries General, assured that the group had not given any indication or contraindication to its Members. "The group respects the principle of freedom of each delegation", he explained.
Cordon sanitaire still under consideration
As for this cordon sanitaire aimed at blocking possible ID Chairmanships in the AGRI and JURI committees (see EUROPE 12285/2), Mr Garuzzo considered that the vote of 3 July on the Parliament Vice-Presidents would already set the tone. The group will need to propose two candidates, in accordance with the Hondt rule.
On the French socialist side, this cordon sanitaire is absolutely clear and in consensus; without being associated with the four groups, the GUE/NGL and its French members from France insoumise have also promised to oppose these ID appointments to the Chairmanships of these two committees.
While the line to be adopted with regard to ID seems clear, it is a little less clear for the moment with regard to the ECR group, a group that targets the Chairmanships of the BUDG and EMPL committees and whose discourse from certain members has also become more radical, they are believed to be on the social-democratic side. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Marion Fontana)