“Demand is strong”, Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgian) told Agence Europe after being re-elected Chair of the European Parliament’s 40-member Committee on Budgets (BUDG) on Tuesday 23 July. For Agence Europe, the MEP went on to outline the Committee’s priorities: “Ukraine, defence, cohesion and agriculture”.
“200 billion a year for Europe is simultaneously not a lot and a lot”, said the man who can attest to the “busy” nature of budget-related issues in recent years. Chair of the Committee on Budgets since 2019, Van Overtveldt knows that “the annual budgets and the preparation of the next multiannual financial framework are the cornerstones” of their work.
Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, German) was elected first Vice-Chair by acclamation, having been Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control since 2019. Giuseppe Lupo (S&D, Italian) and Janusz Lewandowski (EPP, Polish) will be the second and third Vice-Presidents respectively.
A vote was needed to decide between Angéline Furet (PfE, French) and Lucia Yar (Renew Europe, Slovak), both candidates for the post of fourth Vice-Chair of the Committee on Budgets. The ‘cordon sanitaire’ of pro-European groups played its part, as Lucia Yar obtained more votes. She will also be Renew Europe’s coordinator for this Committee.
Committee on Budgetary Control. The EPP has taken over the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) and appointed Niclas Herbst (German) by acclamation on Tuesday 23 July. Elected in 2019, the MEP sat on the Committee on Budgets during the previous term of office.
Caterina Chinnici (EPP, Italian) was elected first Vice-Chair by acclamation. The ‘d’Hondt’ rule was once again circumvented by the ‘cordon sanitaire’ principle, as Cristian Terheș (ECR, Romanian) was elected with 10 votes in his favour to prevent the election of Julien Sanchez (PfE, French). The MEP from Rassemblement National then left the room, having received just seven votes. There were abstentions from 12 MEPs.
The third Vice-Chair goes to Romanian Claudiu Manda (S&D). Jacek Protas (EPP, Polish) was proposed for the fourth Vice-Chair, but the vote was postponed until next month, as the candidate could not be from the same party as Niclas Herbst. The CONT Committee has 30 members. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)