On Monday 21 October in Strasbourg, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) was asked to vote on the candidacy of Polish MEP Marlena Maląg (ECR) for the fourth vice-presidency (see EUROPE 13459/18).
This election was postponed at the end of July at the request of the Conservative group because it had been unable to put forward the candidature of a woman for the bureau of this parliamentary committee in order to comply with the European Parliament’s rules of procedure.
At the time of going to press, the result of the vote was not known. However, according to several parliamentary sources, if the Christian Democrats (EPP), the Conservatives (ECR) and the far right (PfE and ESN) are present and support Ms Maląg’s candidacy, they should obtain a sufficient majority. The groups on the left of the chamber were expected to vote against.
At the start of the 2024-2029 legislature, the chairman of the EPP group, Manfred Weber, spoke out against the inclusion of the ECR group, which includes Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d'Italia party, in the ‘cordon sanitaire’ formed by the pro-European groups around the far right.
At the end of July, the members of the ECON committee elected Aurore Lalucq (S&D, French) as chair and the three vice-chairs in the following order: the German Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA), the Slovak Ľudovít Ódor (Renew Europe) and the Czech Luděk Niedermayer (EPP). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)