In a secret ballot, Marc Angel (S&D, Luxembourger) obtained an absolute majority of votes cast and was elected as Vice-President of the European Parliament on Wednesday 18 January in Strasbourg, after two rounds of voting.
The results of this election, amidst the storm of corruption allegations within the institution, show that the EPP/S&D/Renew Europe mid-mandate deal has held, despite signs of protest within some political groups (see EUROPE 13101/1).
The newly elected Vice-President, Mr Angel, replaces Eva Kaili, who was removed from her post due to the investigation into corruption allegations involving Qatar, as the fifth Vice-President of the Parliament’s Bureau.
Internal investigation and exclusion of Mr Tarabella. The S&D group decided on Wednesday evening to exclude from the group one of the two members under investigation for corruption, namely Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella (see EUROPE 13091/10 on the procedure for the waiver of immunity against two MEPs). The other member concerned by the investigation, Italian Andrea Cozzolino, excluded himself from the S&D group. These two members will be on the list of ‘non-attached’ MEPs.
The S&D group also appointed the two personalities to lead an internal investigation to shed light on the mistakes made in connection with ‘Qatargate’: Richard Corbett, former Member of the European Parliament and member of the Labour Party in the UK and Silvina Bacigalupo, President of Transparency International in Spain.
Here are the results of the plenary vote on the nomination of Mr Angel as Vice-President.
Results of the first round of voting: MEPs voting: 648, abstentions: 93, valid votes cast: 555, absolute majority of votes cast required to be elected: 278.
Marc Angel: 263, votes:
Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, French): 113)
Annalisa Tardina (ID, Italian): 179.
Results of the second ballot: MEPs voting: 645, abstentions: 55, valid votes cast: 590, absolute majority of votes cast required to be elected: 296.
Marc Angel: 307, votes;
Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield : 98;
Annalisa Tardino: 185.
“We will not vote for the Socialist candidate for European Parliament vice-president”, said Francois-Xavier Bellamy on behalf of the French EPP delegation, referring to the involvement of S&D members in the corruption scandal. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)