Metsola Set To Be Re-Elected As Parl't Pres. On 16 July

The 10th European Parliament meets for its constitutive plenary session on Tuesday following the 6-9 June elections. The first action at 1000CET (0400ET, 0900BST) will be to elect the President of the Parliament. Incumbent President Roberta Metsola is set for another two-and-a-half-year term in office. Metsola, from the Maltese centre-right Nationalist Party, is the candidate of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP).

• Once the President is elected the fourteen vice presidents will be elected, followed by the election of the five 'quaestors' (who manage the administrative and financial business of the chamber) on Wednesday 17 July).
• Euronews reports that the VP votes "...will assess the effectiveness of the cordon sanitaire: [the right-wing nationalist] Patriots for Europe is vying to secure one of the vice-presidents, something that the EPP, the Socialists and the Liberals have vowed to prevent."
• The re-election of Metsola is seen as a fait accompli, having built a reputation as a popular, moderate, consensus-builder since taking over from the late David Sassoli in Jan 2022. She will serve until January 2027 when the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group will put forward its own candidate.
• Metsola's re-election is likely to be one of the few 'simple' tasks for MEPs in this constitutive session. The vote to approve Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for another five-year term is likely to be much closer and require more political horse-trading in order to ensure a majority for the German former defence minister.