On Tuesday 23 July, European Parliament’s 90-member Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) appointed its Chair, Poland’s Borys Budka (EPP), by acclamation, along with its Vice-Chair, for a two-and-a-half-year term.
Under the ‘D’Hondt’ system, it was up to the European People’s Party (EPP) to nominate a candidate to head this committee, the largest in terms of members along with the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (see other news).
Mr Budka, a member of the Platforma Obywatelska party, is beginning his very first term as a member of the European Parliament after serving as Poland’s Minister of State Assets since December 2023.
Questioned by a handful of journalists, including Agence Europe, Mr Budka acknowledged the scale of the challenge. “Now it’s time to organise the work of the bureau and the committee. I’m a new member, so some things are new to me”, he conceded, before jokingly adding that he was convinced that this committee would be “the strongest and best in this Parliament”.
Also questioned regarding his political priorities on the energy front, he asked for patience, with more in-depth discussions between the political groups due to take place in September, after the summer break.
For Frenchman Christophe Grudler, coordinator of the Renew Europe group, the work of the ITRE committee will be firmly focused on industrial issues, European competitiveness and increased investment in key strategic sectors.
In the same vein, the coordinator of the Greens/EFA group, Germany’s Michael Bloss, stressed the importance of complementing the ‘European Green Deal’ with a ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’.
Vice-Chairs. The first Vice-Chair of the ITRE committee went to Tsvetelina Penkova (S&D) from Bulgaria, by acclamation.
Italian Elena Donazzan (ECR), a member of the Fratelli d’Italia party, was then elected second Vice-Chair, following a secret ballot (47 votes in favour, 24 against and 17 abstentions) requested by the S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left groups.
Italy’s Giorgio Gori (S&D) was elected third Vice-Chair with 66 votes in favour of his candidacy, against 21 votes for France’s Julie Rechagneux, whose candidacy was put forward by the far-right ‘Patriots for Europe’ group.
The fourth Vice-Chair, Belgian Yvan Verougstraete (Renew Europe), was elected by acclamation. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)