Who Are The New 14 European Parliament Vice Presidents Working With Roberta Metsola?
The European Parliament has elected 14 new Vice Presidents, who will serve under newly-elected President and Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola.
Metsola, who was elected on Tuesday morning, was quickly put to work and presided over the vote in her official sitting as the new President.
The 14 VPs were elected over three rounds of voting. S&D ended up with the most positions at five, followed by Metsola’s EPP who now have four VPs.
So who are the new Vice Presidents?
1. Othmas Karas (EPP) – who will also serve as the First Vice President, a position previously occupied by Metsola.
2. Pina Picierno (S&D)
3. Pedro Silvia Pereira (S&D)
4. Ewa Kopacz (EPP)
5. Eva Kaili (S&D)
6. Evelyn Regner (S&D)
7. Rainer Wieland (EPP)
8. Katarina Barley (S&D)
9. Dita Charanzova (Renew)
10. Michal Simecka (Renew)
11. Nicola Beer (Renew)
12. Roberts Zile (ECR)
13. Dimitrios Papadimoulis (The Left)
14. Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA)
What does a Vice President do?
The 14 Vice Presidents, along with the President and the Quaesters, make up the Parliament’s Bureau, which sets rules of the institution.
The Bureau has a long list of duties but effectively manages the budgetary, administrative, and organisational roles of the parliament.
Crucially, Vice Presidents will replace the sitting President in overseeing parliamentary and can at times represent the entire Parliament.
Typically, the parliament tries to elect VPs who will broadly reflect the wide range of political groups within the institution. It’s why most parties, if not all, get at least one VP.
How are they elected?
The procedure is not dissimilar from how the President is elected. Candidates are nominated by their party.
The VPs are elected on a single ballot, with MEPs tasked with picking eight candidates on the ballot.
Candidates are chosen if they get an absolute majority of votes, which means 50% + 1 of all the votes cast.
If the number of successful candidates is lower than 14, a second ballot is held for the remaining seats, under the same conditions. If a third vote is necessary to complete the process, a simple majority is required.
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
What do you think of the new Vice Presidents?
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