On Wednesday, the EPP, the Assembly's first political party, will nominate its candidate for the presidency.
 |
| [Roberta Metsola, vice president of European parliament] |
On Wednesday, the EPP, the Assembly's first political party, will nominate its candidate for the presidency. The Maltese Roberta Metsola and the Dutch Esther de Lange are the candidates.
Important day in Strasbourg, where the European People's Party (EPPconservative )'s MEPs must propose their candidate for the European Parliament's Presidency, which will be renewed in January, tonight at 6 p.m. There are three candidates who have declared their candidacy. According to popular opinion, Austrian Othmar Karas has filed a symbolic candidacy with a little possibility of victory. The primary contest is between Maltese Roberta Metsola, 42, the European Parliament's current first vice-president, and Dutch Esther de Lange, 46, vice-president of the PPE group, the Assembly's leading force.
The Conservative Party's nomination of its candidate, or rather its candidates, comes during a difficult moment for the party. He has been weakened by Angela Merkel's retirement and the CDU's electoral loss in Germany in September, as well as the forced resignation of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is suspected of corruption. It is no longer as powerful in the European Parliament as it was in previous legislatures. Furthermore, the formation is becoming increasingly split between hard-line conservatives and Christian Democrats who are closer to the center.
Furthermore, the European Parliament presidency from 2022, which was pledged to the EPP in 2019 under an agreement signed at the outset of the session, is more contentious now. At the time, the role was set to go to Manfred Weber, a Bavarian elected official who has since resigned and now hopes to be president of both the EPP group and the EPP party. He is a dissatisfied contender for the European Commission presidency in 2019, and he wants to try his luck again in 2024.
At the same time, the current President of the European Parliament, Socialist David Sassoli, claims that the epidemic has parasitized his two-and-a-half-year mandate. The Social Democrats, who would lose any top European position (save that of head of European diplomacy) if David Sassoli were to resign, have stated that they want to maintain it.
On Tuesday, Manfred Weber cautioned that the EPP did not hear it that way. Behind the scenes, the GOP is signaling that if the president eludes it, it will filibuster. The parliament's pipelines are clogged with structural texts for the continent's economy, particularly from the climatic and digital perspectives.
David Sassoli is back in Strasbourg this week after suffering from acute pneumonia for several weeks. Roberta Metsola has taken up her responsibilities in her absence, and has done a good job, according to the popular consensus. La Maltaise is well-known for its involvement in the battle against money laundering, organized crime, and civil freedoms.
Esther de Lange possesses a great understanding of institutional mechanisms as well as a large network. If one of the two candidates is elected to the Presidency of Parliament in January, she will be just the third woman to hold the position, following the French Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1979-1982). (1999-2002). There has never been a president from a "small nation" like Malta, despite the fact that there has been a Dutch president (Piet Dankert, 1982-1984). (525,000 inhabitants, six MEPs). The position is usually filled by a member of parliament from a "major" country (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain).