As agreed, on Tuesday 23 July, the 60 members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs elected by acclamation the Finnish Li Andersson (The Left) as their new Chair, succeeding the Romanian Dragoș Pîslaru (Renew Europe), who was not re-elected.
The new President promised to respond to citizens’ concerns and ensure that “the rights of European workers are respected”.
In a recent interview with Agence Europe (see EUROPE 13454/8), the newly-elected MEP outlined her priorities, which include improving workers’ rights, addressing workplace risks linked to hazardous substances, psychosocial risks, regulating artificial intelligence in the workplace and revising the public procurement directive to ensure greater fairness.
On Tuesday, the EMPL elected MEPs also appointed three other vice-presidents: Sweden’s Johan Danielsson (S&D) as first vice-president, Poland’s Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak (EPP) as 2nd vice-president and Germany’s Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA) as 3rd vice-president.
At the request of the ECR group, formulated by the Italian MEP Chiara Gemma, the 4th vice-president will be elected at a forthcoming meeting, in this case on 4 September, when the EMPL committee resumes its work.
The appointment of a fourth vice-president from the ECR group does not please all the groups, particularly on the left.
In the interests of parity, the ECR group should also appoint a man, but has so far opted for a female candidate. The groups therefore agreed on Tuesday to postpone until September to give themselves a little more time for this final appointment. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)