On Tuesday 25 January Robert Biedroń (S&D, Poland) was elected Chair by acclamation of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights (FEMM). He will replace Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria).
Elected as an MEP for the first time in 2019, Biedroń is a well-known political figure in Poland, particularly for his stance in favour of LGBTI rights. He has spoken publicly about his homosexuality, which is unusual in the Polish political landscape, a source told us.
“It is rather unusual for the ‘Women’s’ commission to be chaired by a man”, added our source, who indicated that some observers regretted that the commission dedicated to women’s rights was being chaired by a man. This is the second committee to change its chair mid-term, along with the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) (see EUROPE 12875/16).
Having been the fourth Vice-Chair of this committee, the MEP knows the internal workings of the committee well, our source continued.
MEPs also elected Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (The Left, Spain), Sylwia Spurek (Greens/EFA, Poland), Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi (EPP, Greece) and Radka Maxová (S&D, Czech Republic) as Vice-Chairs, with the latter replacing Mr Biedroń.
Internal market and consumer protection. German MEP Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA) was re-elected as head of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). There are no changes to the Vice-Chairs. Andrus Ansip (Renew Europe, Estonia), Maria Grapini (S&D, Romania), Krzysztof Hetman (EPP, Poland) and Marian Manuel Leitão Marques (S&D, Portugal) were re-elected as Vice-Chairs.
Regional development. French MEP Younous Omarjee (The Left), was unanimously re-elected as Chair of the Committee on Regional Development. First Vice-Chair Krysztof Hetman (EPP, Poland), Second Vice-Chair Vlad-Marius Botoş (Renew Europe, Romania) and Fourth Vice-Chair Isabel Benjumea were re-elected to their respective posts. Nora Mebarek (S&D, France) was elected in place of Adrian-Dragoş Benea (Romania) as third Vice-Chair.
International trade. In the Committee on International Trade (INTA), Iuliu Winkler (EPP, Romania) was re-elected second Vice-Chair against Maximilian Krah (ID, Germany). Ánna-Michelle Assimakopoúlou (EPP, Greece) and Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew Europe, France) were elected third and fourth Vice-Chairs respectively, by acclamation. Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany) was re-elected by acclamation as Chair of the Committee on International Trade the day before, along with Jan Zahradil (ECR, Czech Republic) as first Vice-Chair.
Transport and tourism. On Monday 24 January, in addition to seven other committees, the Committee on Transport and Tourism also held its constituent meeting. French MEP Karima Delli (Greens/EFA) was re-elected as Chair. There was no change to the Vice-Chairs either, with the re-election of István Ujhelyi (S&D, Hungary), Jens Gieseke (EPP, Germany), Andriks Ameriks (S&D, Latvia) and Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew Europe, Germany). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens with the editorial staff)