Today the European Parliament elected Roberta Metsola (Partit Nazzjonalista, Group of the European People’s Party -Christian Democrats-) as its new President . She will lead the Parliament in the second half of the current legislative term, until a new Parliament is constituted following the 2024 European Elections.
Metsola is the third female President of the European Parliament, after Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999- 2002).
“Twenty-two years ago, Nicole Fontaine was elected 20 years after Simone Veil. It will not be another two decades until the next woman is standing here”, she said in her speech before the the EU Parliament just after being elected.
“I want people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our project”, the aim of Metsola
“The first thing I would like to do as President is to think about David Sassoli’s legacy: he was a fighter; he fought for Europe and for us, for this Parliament. […] I will honour David Sassoli as President by always standing up for Europe, for our common values of democracy, dignity, justice, solidarity, equality, the rule of law, and fundamental rights”, explaind the new President of the EU Parliament just after election.
“I want people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our project. […] Dear Europeans, in the next years, people across Europe will look to our institution for leadership and direction, while others will continue to test the limits of our democratic values and European principles. We must fight back against the anti-EU narrative that takes hold so easily and so quickly. Disinformation and misinformation, further amplified during the pandemic, fuel easy cynicism and cheap solutions of nationalism, authoritarianism, protectionism, isolationism”, Metsola added.
President Metsola underlined that “Europe is about precisely the opposite. It is about all of us standing up for one another, bringing our people closer together. It is about all of us defending those principles of our founding mothers and fathers that led us from the ashes of war and holocaust to peace, to hope, and to prosperity…”, She ended.
In the press briefing after her election Roberta Metsola remarked once and another that leaving aside her personal and political position, she will deffend the EU Parliament position adopted by majority, including the recognition of the rigt to abortion.
The European Parliament should be able to deliver a solution on the inmigration, considered by Meps from all country members as a main issue to be solved and other many issues by the time the next elections take place, she also pointed at the press conference as one of her aims during her mandate.
Deliver to EU citizens is one word widely repeated by Metsola today, who aims to make of the EU Parliament the voice of EU people among, befor and in other EU Institutions.
63% of Meps voted for her
The President is elected by an absolute majority of valid votes, cast by secret vote (at least 50% plus one). Metsola has earned the spot in first round by an absolute majority of 458 votes out of 690 (about a 66%) with 74 blank or invalid votes. Due to the pandemic, the vote was held remotely.
The other two candidates were former Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Kuhnke (Miljöpartiet de gröna, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance) and the Spaniard Sira Rego (Izquierda Unida, The Left group in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL-). Kunke receved 101 votes and Sira Rego just 57.
An EU Law specialist who has been advisor of Catherine Ashton
Born in Malta in 1979, Roberta Metsola who has been an MEP since 2013, is the youngest EP President ever elected. She became First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January.
Following her re-election to the Parliament for a full term in 2014, Metsola was elected as a vice-chair of the Committee on Petitions (PETI) in July 2014. In addition, she served as a member of a number of committees and delegations including the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Delegation for relations with the United States.
From 2016 until 2017, Metsola was part of the Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) that investigated the Panama Papers revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly. Within LIBE, she has been part of the Rule of Law Monitoring Group (ROLMG) since 2018.
In addition to her committee assignments, Metsola joined the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights.
Metsola is a lawyer and has specialised in European law and politics at the College of Europe. She served as Malta’s Legal and Judicial Cooperation Attaché within the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union. and, from 2012 to 2013 as legal advisor to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.
Image over the headline.- Roberta Metsola has been elected as the President of the European Parliament on 18th January 2021. Photographer: Philippe Buissin. Copyright: © European Union 2022 . Source : EP
Related Eastwind links (English edition):
Related Eastwind links (Spanish edition):
De luto por la muerte del Presidente del Parlamento Europeo, David Sassoli
Related external links:
Watch the speech of Roberta Metsola at the European Parliament this morning (video)
Watch the press conference held after Metsola’s election as President of the EU Parliament (video)
