The election of the next president of the European Parliament could be done by acclamation. The only candidate for the position at the moment is Maltese Roberta Metsola of the European People’s Party (EPP). The vote on Tuesday, July 16, will be the first appointment of the opening session of the tenth legislative assembly. Barring sensational reversals, the plenary session in Strasbourg will almost certainly see the reconfirmation of the outgoing president, who has led the European Chamber for the past two and a half years.
Metsola is due to be reconfirmed after the European elections on June 9, when 720 MEPs must once again hand him the keys to the European Union’s democratic institution par excellence. Ursula von der Leyen’s second vote as Commission President is set for July 18. No applause is expected in this case, but a very tense fight in which every vote, especially Italy’s, will carry considerable weight.
How many votes are needed to win the European Chamber presidency?
The Chamber is made up of 720 elected representatives, including all members of the European Parliament who won seats in the European elections held in the 27 EU member states between June 6 and 9. In order for a candidate to win the presidency, a simple majority of valid votes is required. The vote is held by secret ballot. However, we must pay attention to how the simple majority is calculated. It is not certain whether it corresponds to a simple majority of those entitled to vote. This only occurs if all 720 members of the European Chamber participate in the vote by casting a valid vote. In this case, the number of votes needed is equal to 361 votes in favor of the candidate. However, in the event of abstentions, blank votes and invalid votes, the threshold required for the election is lowered.
Day of truth for the new European Parliament and von der Leyen
For example, if 20 members abstain by adding 20 blank votes and 10 blank votes, the number of valid votes will be reduced to 660. In other words, 336 affirmative votes will be sufficient for a simple majority to obtain the presidency. Only candidates officially presented by the relevant parliamentary groups can be voted on. If no one is elected at the end of the first round of voting, we will move on to a second round and possibly a third round. The regulation provides that new candidates can be presented at the end of each round of voting. If a majority is not reached after three rounds of voting, a fourth and final round will be held with a second round of voting between the two candidates who received the most votes in the third round. The person with the most preferences wins, but in the event of a tie, the oldest or most senior candidate is elected.
Hypothesis of choice with applause for Metsola
In the particular case of this election, Metsola is the only candidate running at the time of writing and an election by acclamation is assumed for him, a possibility provided for in Article 15 of the internal regulations of the European Chamber. This can happen when the number of applicants is equal to the number of seats to be allocated. The same rule applies to the vice-presidents and quaestors who will be elected at the plenary session on July 16. An election by acclamation is an election without the use of a vote, but it can only be held if another condition is met: none of the parliamentary groups representing at least one fifth (144) of the deputies have requested a secret ballot.
In this case, the first of the re-elected vice presidents coordinates the voting process. On July 16, this task would fall to the Italian MP Pina Picierno, who was re-elected from the Democratic Party. The deadline for notifying the formation of the groups ends on Monday, July 15. The only groups that could put forward a rival candidate are the far-right groups that have emerged in the wake of the last European elections: the European Patriots (PfE), which welcomed the elected representatives of Viktor Orban, Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini (84), among others, and the German-founded Europe of Sovereign Nations (Esn), the Alternative for Germany, which has 25 seats.
Voting deadlines for the European Parliament presidency
If Metsola’s applause does not materialise, the first round of voting is scheduled for 10:00 on 16 July. The next and possible rounds are planned for around 12:30. The fourth and decisive round of the elections will take place at 17:00. Once the highest office of the European Parliament has been appointed, the election of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament will in any case take place on the afternoon of 16 July or, in the case of an election by acclamation, postponed until 12:30. All voting must be completed by the evening of 16 July.
Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
