Roberta Metsola re-elected as President of the European Parliament

MEPs have re-elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) as President of the European Parliament until 2027. She won the election in the first round of voting, where she received an absolute majority of 562 votes cast out of 699 by secret paper ballot, among two candidates. She will continue to lead the European Parliament for the first two and a half years of the 10th legislative term.

Voting results

1. Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) 562
2. Irene Montero (The Left, ES) 61

Total votes cast: 699

Blank or invalid votes: 76

Absolute majority needed: 312

Born in Malta in 1979, Roberta Metsola has been an MEP since 2013. She was elected First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January 2022. On 18 January 2022, she was elected President for the second half of the 9th legislative term. She is the third female President of the European Parliament, after Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002).

Addressing the opening session in Strasbourg of the new Parliament, after she was elected, President Metsola said: “Together, we must stand up for the politics of hope, for the dream that is Europe. I want people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our project. A belief to make our shared space safer, fairer, more just and more equal. A belief that together we are stronger and we are better. A belief that ours is a Europe for all.”

She told MEPs that they all “share a responsibility to leave Europe a better place than the one we found.

“And we will leave Europe a better place by creating a new security and defence framework that keeps people safe and pushes back against the expansionist dreams of dictators in our neighbourhood. That defeats the hybrid threats we are still facing. That protects Europe. That defends our strategic autonomy. That keeps the peace. That understands the threat we face is very real.

“We will leave Europe a better place by doubling down on Europe’s competitiveness - deepening the single market, ensuring quality jobs, concluding global trade deals, completing our banking and capital markets union, and having implementable targets for industry. That keeps Europe’s businesses in Europe and gives us the ability to invest in our youth, in research, in education, in culture, in our communities and in the rest of the world. By simplification. By cutting back on red-tape and unnecessary bureaucracy that pushes people and jobs away from Europe. The successes that our people remember the most are the ones where Europe has simplified their lives.

“We will leave Europe a better place by giving real solutions on climate. Europe has a proud legacy and I am convinced that we can remain a world-leader and find a way to achieve our targets in a manner that keeps everyone on board. That allows for sustainable development to go hand in hand with the protection of our natural environment and heritage. We can achieve both.

“We will leave Europe a better place if we are able to reinforce Europe’s social pillar. If we give people hope and dignity. If pensions and wages meet social expectations. We cannot move forward, if our youth are unable to rent let alone buy a place they can call home. Europe’s housing crisis is looming and we must have the tools to help address it even on a European level.

“We will leave Europe a better place if we finally manage to implement proper migration and asylum legislation. That includes necessary border management, with a returns policy and above all, that is human centric. That ensures that no other mother is given a choice but to put her child into a rickety boat in the hands of criminal trafficking networks. That guarantees that Europe is able to live up to its historic and proud legacy.

“We will leave Europe a better place if we are able to harness the opportunities that the digital age allows. That Artificial Intelligence offers. We have to keep ahead of the curve and be in a position to reap the benefits and mitigate the consequences of disinformation. We have all the knowledge of the world at our fingertips and yet people feel more lonely than ever before. It shows how much Europe must also mean community.

“We cannot leave Europe a better place if people are still unable to be who they wish to be and love who they wish to love anywhere in Europe. If we do not remove all the barriers that prevent people with disabilities in our Union from having the same chances in life as everyone else. If we are unable to fight discrimination or stem rising Anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. If hate and violence continue to be a driving force of too much of our political discourse. We must deliver a Europe where everyone feels at home.

“We cannot leave Europe a better place if too many women are still unable to feel part of it. Too many women are still abused, still beaten, still murdered in our Europe. Too many women are still fighting for rights. Too many women still earn less than men for the same job. Too many women still feel afraid. This must become their Europe too”.

The President enjoys a broad range of executive and representative powers set out in the Rules of Procedure. Other than these duties, the President’s authority extends to “all powers that are necessary to preside over the proceedings of Parliament and to ensure that they are properly conducted”.

Article 14 of the Treaty on the European Union states that Parliament elects its President from among its Members. Since the first European elections (universal suffrage) in 1979, each President is in office for a renewable period of two and a half years. This means that there can be two Presidents in each legislative term. There have been 31 presidents since the Parliament was created in 1952, 17 of whom have served since 1979.

Metsola’s reelection was not unexpected. It’s expected to be a far close voter when MEPs vote on Thursday, also by secret ballot, on whether or not to endorse the European Council’s nomination of Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission.

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