“‘Somebody asked me on the day of my election, ‘What will you do?’’ she [Metsola] says, pointing to priorities like rolling out the E.U.’s COVID-19 recovery package, focusing on the European Green Deal, and pushing to overhaul the bloc’s asylum and migration rules. It was January 2022; Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine came a month later, and Qatargate 10 months after that,” the article reads.

“But there’s reason to believe the European Parliament’s powers will continue to grow, even if the more sweeping proposals don’t come to pass. A lot has changed since the days when Metsola first got involved in European politics some two decades ago when the institution’s work was more easily dismissed. ‘Now, [MEPs] are called legislators, in all areas,’ she says. ‘And if we are not, we fight for it.'”

Earlier on in the interview, Metsola showed optimism at the European Parliament’s (EP) path toward more power. She explained that she would like to see its influence grow further in the realm of democratic scrutiny of all EU institutions, especially the Commission. Metsola stated that she would like to see the EP gain the ability to call on all commissioners, at a moment’s notice, to answer to investigation.

She said that she’s hopeful that this can be achieved.

Nonetheless, TIME stated that this is an uphill battle, asserting that these changes would require treaty changes that would entail complex constitutional processes and involve various institutions – including the Council which is the coalition of member states that are generally already apprehensive toward the idea of losing any degree of sovereignty.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has allegedly shown “lukewarm support”.

“For supporters, resistance to such proposals is a shame, given that they could make the bloc more democratic and help tackle transparency and corruption, not least by making MEPs more visible to the public,” TIME wrote.

Besides her current career as EP President, TIME took a look back at the journey that led to her current position, explaining that in her early 20s, she campaigned for Malta’s successful referendum to join the EU.

They went on to mention former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s encouragement to Metsola to contest in the MEP elections of 2004 – her first of two failed attempts until the historic 2013 elections when she became one of the three first female MEPs from Malta.

In the interview, Metsola stated that she situates at the centre of the ideological scale, explaining that she is liberal on social issues and more conservative on economic ones – here, TIME ensured to mention that she has a “record” of voting against abortion rights.

Nonetheless, her centre-leaning values have made her capable of handling the array of ideologies within the 27-membered institution, the magazine wrote.

When asked about the prospect of running for a second presidential term, Metsola said her focus is to get re-elected at home, “then, we’ll see”.

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How do you think that Metsola has handled her tenure as EP President so far?