Ninth European Parliament

• 23–26 May 2019^[2]
  • Elections to the 9th European Parliament.
    • EPP (182 seats), S&D (154), RE (108), Greens/EFA (74), ID (73), ECR (62), GUE/NGL (41), others (54).
• 2 July 2019^[3]
  • First Session (constitutive session) of the 9th Parliament.
    • Presiding officer (under Article 14(2) of the Rules): Antonio Tajani (EPP) of Italy, President of the Eighth Parliament.
• 3 July 2019
  • Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of Parliament for the first half of the parliamentary term.^[4]
    • David Sassoli (S&D) of Italy is elected President, Mairead McGuinness (EPP) of Ireland is elected First Vice-President.^[5]
• 16 July 2019^[6]
  • Vote on 3 July 2019 EUCO proposal for President of the European Commission.
    • Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) of Germany is elected President of the European Commission.^[7]
• 30 September-8 October 2019^[8]
  • Hearings of candidates for European Commissioners.
  • Additional hearings, if needed, would take place on 14 and 15 October 2019.
• 23 October 2019^[8]
  • Confirmation vote on the Von der Leyen Commission.
• 31 October 2019 (postponed)
  • Original scheduled date for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union, but has been agreed to be postponed for 3 months.
  • As Brexit is further postponed, the UK will have to nominate a candidate for a European Commissioner.
• 1 November 2019
  • New European Commission takes office.
• 31 January 2020
  • The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union, subsequently resulting in a reduction in the number of seats in the European Parliament from 751 to 705.
• 12 November 2020
  • Roberta Metsola (EPP) of Malta is elected First Vice-President, replacing Mairead McGuinness who has taken the role of European Commissioner.
• 16 December 2020
  • Approval of the seven-year budget 2021-2027 of the EU. Decision on keeping an eye on how Next Generation EU funds are spent.^[9]
• 11 January 2022
  • Death in office of President David Sassoli.
  • First Vice-President Roberta Metsola takes the role of Acting President of the European Parliament till the election of a new president.^[10]
• 18 January 2022
  • Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of Parliament for the second half of the parliamentary term.
    • Roberta Metsola (EPP) of Malta is elected President, Othmar Karas (EPP) of Austria is elected First Vice-President^[11]

The President of the European Union is chosen through the votes of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and serves a term lasting 2.5 years, with the option for re-election. The responsibilities of the president encompass a diverse array of functions, including presiding over debates and representing the European Parliament in its interactions with other institutions within the European Union.^[12]
Fourteen Vice Presidents are elected through a single ballot process, requiring an absolute majority of cast votes for their selection. In situations where the number of successful candidates falls below 14, a second round of voting is conducted to allocate the remaining positions following identical conditions. Should a third round of voting become necessary, a simple majority suffices to occupy the remaining seats. The precedence of Vice Presidents is established by the order in which they are elected, and in cases of a tie, seniority is determined by age. During each round of voting, MEPs have the capacity to cast votes for as many candidates as there are available seats for that particular round. However, they are obligated to vote for more than half of the total positions to be filled.^[13]

First Half

President: David Sassoli
Vice Presidents:

• Mairead McGuinness
• Rainer Wieland
• Othmar Karas
• Ewa Kopacz
• Lívia Járóka
• Pedro Silva Pereira
• Katarina Barley
• Klára Dobrev
• Dita Charanzová
• Nicola Beer
• Heidi Hautala
• Marcel Kolaja
• Dimitrios Papadimoulis
• Fabio Massimo Castaldo

Second Half

President: Roberta Metsola
Vice Presidents

• Othmar Karas
• Ewa Kopacz
• Rainer Wieland
• Pina Picierno
• Pedro Silva Pereira
• Eva Kaili
• Evelyn Regner
• Katarina Barley
• Dita Charanzová
• Michal Šimečka
• Nicola Beer
• Roberts Zīle
• Dimitrios Papadimoulis
• Heidi Hautala

Elections of the Quaestors

4 July 2019 election

The five Quaestors were chosen by acclamation.

Candidate		Group		Votes
Anne Sander	FRA		EPP	407
Monika Beňová	SVK		S&D	391
David Casa	MLT		EPP	391
Gilles Boyer	FRA		RE	317
Karol Karski	POL		ECR	261
Source: European Parliament News

20 January 2022 election

Four Quaestors were elected on the first round of voting, with the fifth being elected on the second round of voting.

Candidate		Group		Remote Votes
				1st Round	2nd Round
Anne Sander	FRA		EPP	622
Christophe Hansen	LUX		EPP	576
Monika Beňová	SVK		S&D	487
Fabienne Keller	FRA		RE	479
Marcel Kolaja	CZE		G/EFA	277	344
Karol Karski	POL		ECR	321	324
Votes cast				676	668
Votes needed for election				339	335
Blank or void				12	n/a
Voted				688	n/a
Source: European Parliament News

There are currently 7 political groups in the parliament, one less than the previous parliament. Each MEP can belong to only one group. Political groups can be founded by at least 25 MEPs which come from at least one quarter of all EU member states (currently seven).^[3]Roberta Metsola currently belongs to the European People's Party

There are currently 7 political groups in the parliament, one less than the previous parliament. Each MEP can belong to only one group. Political groups can be founded by at least 25 MEPs which come from at least one quarter of all EU member states (currently seven).^[3]

Current situation

Political group and affiliated European political parties			MEPs
			Pre-Brexit	Post-Brexit
	EPP [14]	Group of the European People's Party - European People's Party	182 / 751	187 / 705	5
			24.23%	26.52%	2.29%
	S&D [15]	Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament - Party of European Socialists	154 / 751	147 / 705	7
			20.24%	20.99%	0.75%
	Renew [16]	Renew Europe Group - Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party - European Democratic Party	108 / 751	98 / 705	10
			14.38%	13.76%	0.62%
	ID [17]	Identity and Democracy Group - Identity and Democracy Party	73 / 751	76 / 705	3
			9.72%	10.78%	1.06%
	G/EFA [18]	Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance - European Green Party - European Free Alliance - European Pirate Party - Volt Europa	74 / 751	67 / 705	7
			9.84%	9.50%	0.34%
	ECR [19]	European Conservatives and Reformists - European Conservatives and Reformists Party - European Christian Political Movement	62 / 751	61 / 705	1
			8.26%	8.79%	0.53%
	GUE/NGL [20]	The Left in the European Parliament - Party of the European Left - Nordic Green Left Alliance - Now the People - Animal Politics EU	41 / 751	39 / 705	2
			5.46%	5.67%	0.21%
	NI [21]	Non-Inscrits - European Alliance for Freedom and Democracy - Alliance for Peace and Freedom - Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties	54 / 751	29 / 705	25
			7.19%	3.33%	3.86%
Vacant[22][23][24][25]			4	1	46
Source for MEPs: Seats by Member State

List of members

MEPs that previously served as President or Prime Minister:

• Andrus Ansip of Estonia: Prime Minister (2005–2014)
• Traian Băsescu of Romania: President (2004–2014)
• Marek Belka of Poland: Prime Minister (2004–2005)
• Silvio Berlusconi of Italy: Prime Minister (1994–1995, 2001–2006, 2008–2011)
• Jerzy Buzek of Poland: Prime Minister (1997–2001)
• Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz of Poland: Prime Minister (1996–1997)
• Dacian Cioloș of Romania: Prime Minister (2015–2017)
• Ewa Kopacz of Poland: Prime Minister (2014–2015)
• Andrius Kubilius of Lithuania: Prime Minister (1999–2000, 2008–2012)
• Leszek Miller of Poland: Prime Minister (2001–2004)
• Alfred Sant of Malta: Prime Minister (1996–1998)
• Sergei Stanishev of Bulgaria: Prime Minister (2005–2009)
• Beata Szydło of Poland: Prime Minister (2015–2017)
• Mihai Tudose of Romania: Prime Minister (2017–2018)
• Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium: Prime Minister (1999–2008)

MEPs that previously served as European Commissioner:

• Andrus Ansip of Estonia: Vice President, Digital Single Market (2014–2019)
• Dacian Cioloș of Romania: Agriculture and Rural Development (2010–2014)
• Corina Crețu of Romania: Regional Policy (2014–2019)
• Danuta Hübner of Poland: Trade (2004), Regional Policy (2004–2009)
• Sandra Kalniete of Latvia: Agriculture and Fisheries (2004)
• Janusz Lewandowski of Poland: Financial Programming and the Budget (2010–2014)
• Antonio Tajani of Italy: Transport (2008–2010), Industry and Entrepreneurship (2010–2014)

MEPs that previously served as presiding officer of a national parliament:

• Vasile Blaga of Romania: President of the Senate (2011–2012)
• Milan Brglez of Slovenia: Speaker of the National Assembly (2014–2018)
• Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz of Poland: Marshal of the Sejm (2005)
• Eero Heinäluoma of Finland: Speaker of Parliament (2011–2015)
• Vangelis Meimarakis of Greece: Speaker of Parliament (2012–2015)
• Radosław Sikorski of Poland: Marshal of the Sejm (2014–2015)

MEPs that previously served as President of the European Parliament:

• Jerzy Buzek of Poland: President (2009–2012)
• Antonio Tajani of Italy: President (2017–2019)

MEPs that previously served as foreign minister:

• Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz of Poland: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2001–2005)
• Anna Fotyga of Poland: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2007)
• José Manuel García-Margallo of Spain: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2011–2016)
• Marina Kaljurand of Estonia: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015–2016)
• Sandra Kalniete of Latvia: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2002–2004)
• Sven Mikser of Estonia: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2016–2019)
• Urmas Paet of Estonia: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2005–2014)
• Tonino Picula of Croatia: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2000–2003)
• Radosław Sikorski of Poland: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007–2014)
• Witold Waszczykowski of Poland: Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015–2018)

Seat allocations

When the United Kingdom left the EU, 27 seats were reallocated to the other member states and the other 46 seats were abolished, for a total of 705 MEPs.^[26]

Member state	Seats Pre Brexit (2019-2020)	Seats Post Brexit (2020-2024)	Post Brexit change
Austria	18	19	1
Belgium	21	21	0
Bulgaria	17	17	0
Croatia	11	12	1
Cyprus	6	6	0
Czech Republic	21	21	0
Denmark	13	14	1
Estonia	6	7	1
Finland	13	14	1
France	74	79	5
Germany	96	96	0
Greece	21	21	0
Hungary	21	21	0
Ireland	11	13	2
Italy	73	76	3
Latvia	8	8	0
Lithuania	11	11	0
Luxembourg	6	6	0
Malta	6	6	0
Netherlands	26	29	3
Poland	51	52	1
Portugal	21	21	0
Romania	32	33	1
Slovakia	13	14	1
Slovenia	8	8	0
Spain	54	59	5
Sweden	20	21	1
United Kingdom	73	0	73
Total	751	705	46
[27][28][29]

Post-Brexit political groups membership changes

Member state	Political groups								MEPs
	EPP (EPP)	S&D (PES)	RE (ALDE, EDP)	ECR (ECR, ECPM)	GUE/NGL (EL, NGLA, EACL)	G/EFA (EGP, EFA)	ID (ID)	NI
Austria						+1 (Grüne)			+1
Croatia		+1 (SDP)							+1
Denmark			+1 (V)						+1
France		+1 (PS)	+1 (LREM) +1 (PD)			+1	+1 (RN)		+5
Estonia	+1 (PP)								+1
Finland						+1 (VIHR)			+1
Ireland	+1 (FG)		+1 (FF)						+2
Italy	+1 (FI)			+1 (FdI)			+1 (LN)		+3
Netherlands			+1(VVD)	+1 (FvD)			+1 (PVV)		+3
Poland				+1 (PiS)					+1
Romania		+1 (PSD)							+1
Slovakia	+1 (KDH)								+1
Spain	+1 (PP)	+1 (PSOE)	+1 (C's)	+1 (VOX)				+1 (JxCat)	+5
Sweden						+1 (MP)			+1
United Kingdom		-10 (Lab)	-16 (LibDem) -1 (Alliance Party)	-4 (Con)	-1 (SF)	-7 (Green) -3 (SNP) -1 (PC)		-1 (DUP) -29 (Brexit Party)	-73
Total	+5	-6	-11	0	-1	-7	+3	-29	MEPs
	EPP	S&D	RE	ECR	GUE/NGL	G/EFA	ID	NI

Former members

Group		Name	State	MEP until	Reason	Source
	S&D	André Bradford	POR	18 July 2019	Death	[24]
	S&D	Roberto Gualtieri	ITA	5 September 2019	Named Minister of Economy and Finances of Italy	[25]
	EPP	Adina-Ioana Vălean	ROM	1 December 2019	Approved as European Commissioner for Transport
	EPP	Dubravka Šuica	CRO	1 December 2019	Approved as European Commission VP for Democracy and Demography
	S&D	Nicolas Schmit	LUX	1 December 2019	Approved as European Commissionioner for Jobs and Social Rights
	EPP	Mairead McGuinness	IRE	12 October 2020	Approved as European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union
	S&D	David Sassoli	ITA	11 January 2022	Death
	EPP	Silvio Berlusconi	ITA	12 October 2022	To take up seat in the Italian Senate

Elected MEPs that did not take the seat

Group		Name	State	Reason	Source
	S&D	Frans Timmermans	NED	Remained European Commissioner for the Netherlands	[30]
	EPP	Mariya Gabriel	BUL	Remained European Commissioner for Bulgaria	[31]
	EPP	Valdis Dombrovskis	LAT	Remained European Commissioner for Latvia	[32]

Standing committees

MEPs are divided up among 20 standing committees. Each MEP is usually member of one committee and a substitute member of another. Committees discuss legislative proposals from the Commission before the European Parliament decides on them in plenary session. The European Parliament has an equal role to the Council of the EU in the ordinary legislative procedure, which is usually used in decision-making process at the EU level.^[33]

Each committee elects its chair and vice chairs to lead the work of the committee. Committee chairs are members of the Conference of Committee Chairs, which coordinates the work of all the committees.^[33]

Committee			Members	Chair								Vice Chairs
				1st half of term (2019-2022)				2nd half of term (2022-2024)				1st half of term (2019-2022)				2nd half of term (2022-2024)
Committee on Foreign Affairs		AFET	79		EPP	David McAllister					GER		ECR	Witold Waszczykowski					POL
													RE	Urmas Paet					EST
													S&D	Sergei Stanishev					BUL
													EPP	Željana Zovko					HRV
	Subcommittee on Security and Defence	SEDE	30		RE	Nathalie Loiseau					FRA		S&D	Nikos Androulakis					GRE
													EPP	Rasa Juknevičienė					LIT
													GUE / NGL	Özlem Demirel					GER
													EPP	Lukas Mandl					AUT
	Subcommittee on Human Rights	DROI	30		S&D	Marie Arena					BEL		RE	Bernard Guetta					FRA
													G / EFA	Hannah Neumann					GER
													EPP	Christian Sagartz					AUT
													S&D	Raphaël Glucksmann					FRA
Committee on Development		DEVE	26		EPP	Tomas Tobé					SWE		G / EFA	Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana					GER
													S&D	Norbert Neuser	GER		S&D	Pierfrancesco Majorino	ITA
													RE	Chrysoula Zacharopoulou					FRA
													G / EFA	Erik Marquardt					GER
Committee on International Trade		INTA	41		S&D	Bernd Lange					GER		ECR	Jan Zahradil					CZE
													EPP	Iuliu Winkler					ROM
													EPP	Anna-Michelle Assimakopoulou					GRE
													RE	Marie-Pierre Vedrenne					FRA
Committee on Budgets		BUDG	41		ECR	Johan Van Overtveldt					BEL		EPP	Janusz Lewandowski					POL
													RE	Olivier Chastel					BEL
													S&D	Margarida Marques					POR
													EPP	Niclas Herbst					GER
Committee on Budgetary Control		CONT	30		EPP	Monika Hohlmeier					GER		S&D	Isabel García Muñoz					ESP
													S&D	Caterina Chinnici					ITA
													RE	Martina Dlabajová	CZE		RE	Gilles Boyer	FRA
													EPP	Petri Sarvamaa	FIN		EPP	Tomáš Zdechovský	CZE
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs		ECON	61		S&D	Irene Tinagli					ITA		EPP	Luděk Niedermayer					CZE
													RE	Stéphanie Yon-Courtin					FRA
													ECR	Michiel Hoogeveen					NLD
													GUE / NGL	José Gusmão					POR
	Subcommittee on Tax Matters	FISC	30		S&D	Paul Tang					NLD		EPP	Markus Ferber					GER
													RE	Martin Hlaváček					CZE
													G / EFA	Kira Marie Peter-Hansen					DEN
													EPP	Othmar Karas					AUT
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs		EMPL	55		RE	Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová	SVK		RE	Dragoș Pîslaru	ROM		S&D	Vilija Blinkevičiūtė	LIT		S&D	Elisabetta Gualmini	ITA
													GUE / NGL	Sandra Pereira	POR		GUE / NGL	Leïla Chaibi	FRA
													EPP	Tomáš Zdechovský	CZE		EPP	Romana Tomc	SLO
													G / EFA	Katrin Langensiepen					GER
Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety		ENVI	88		RE	Pascal Canfin					FRA		G / EFA	Bas Eickhout					NED
													S&D	César Luena					ESP
													EPP	Dan-Ștefan Motreanu					ROM
													GUE / NGL	Anja Hazekamp					NED
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy		ITRE	72		EPP	Cristian Bușoi					ROM		ECR	Zdzisław Krasnodębski					POL
													RE	Morten Helveg Petersen					DEN
													S&D	Patrizia Toia					ITA
													S&D	Lina Gálvez					ESP
Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection		IMCO	45		G / EFA	Anna Cavazzini					GER		RE	Andrus Ansip					EST
													S&D	Maria Grapini					ROM
													EPP	Krzysztof Hetman					POL
													S&D	Maria Manuel Leitão Marques					POR
Committee on Transport and Tourism		TRAN	49		G / EFA	Karima Delli					FRA		S&D	István Ujhelyi					HUN
													EPP	Jens Gieseke					GER
													S&D	Andris Ameriks					LAT
													RE	Jan-Christoph Oetjen					GER
Committee on Regional Development		REGI	43		GUE / NGL	Younous Omarjee					FRA		EPP	Krzysztof Hetman					POL
													RE	Vlad-Marius Botoş					ROM
													S&D	Adrian-Dragoş Benea	ROM		S&D	Nora Mebarek	FRA
													EPP	Isabel Benjumea Benjumea					ESP
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development		AGRI	48		EPP	Norbert Lins					GER		G / EFA	Francisco Guerreiro	POR		G / EFA	Benoît Biteau	FRA
													EPP	Daniel Buda					ROM
													ECR	Mazaly Aguilar					ESP
													RE	Elsi Katainen					FIN
Committee on Fisheries		PECH	28		RE	Pierre Karleskind					FRA		EPP	Peter van Dalen					NED
													RE	Søren Gade					DEN
													S&D	Giuseppe Ferrandino					ITA
													EPP	Maria da Graça Carvalho					POR
Committee on Culture and Education		CULT	31		EPP	Sabine Verheyen					GER		G / EFA	Romeo Franz					GER
													ECR	Dace Melbārde					LAT
													S&D	Victor Negrescu					ROM
													EPP	Milan Zver	SVN		EPP	Michaela Šojdrová	CZE
Committee on Legal Affairs		JURI	25		RE	Adrián Vázquez Lázara					ESP		G / EFA	Sergey Lagodinsky					GER
													EPP	Marion Walsmann					GER
													S&D	Iban García del Blanco	ESP		S&D	Lara Wolters	NED
													ECR	Raffaele Stancanelli					ITA
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs		LIBE	69		S&D	Juan Fernando López Aguilar					ESP		RE	Maite Pagazaurtundúa					ESP
													S&D	Pietro Bartolo					ITA
													EPP	Andrzej Halicki					POL
													EPP	Emil Radev					BUL
Committee on Constitutional Affairs		AFCO	28		EPP	Antonio Tajani					ITA		S&D	Gabriele Bischoff					GER
													RE	Charles Goerens					LUX
													S&D	Giuliano Pisapia					ITA
													EPP	Lóránt Vincze					ROM
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality		FEMM	37		S&D	Evelyn Regner	AUT		S&D	Robert Biedroń	POL		GUE / NGL	María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop					ESP
													G / EFA	Sylwia Spurek					POL
													EPP	Eliza Vozemberg					GRE
													S&D	Robert Biedroń	POL		S&D	Radka Maxová	CZE
Committee on Petitions		PETI	35		EPP	Dolors Montserrat					ESP		G / EFA	Tatjana Ždanoka					LAT
													RE	Yana Toom					EST
													ECR	Ryszard Czarnecki					POL
													S&D	Cristina Maestre	ESP		S&D	Alex Agius Saliba	MLT
Sources:[33][34][35][36]

Other bodies

Body		Members	President				Members
Conference of Presidents	BCPR	11		S&D	David Sassoli (ex-officio) 1st Half	ITA	President of the European Parliament Presidents of political groups One NI MEP, invited by the President (no voting right)
				EPP	Roberta Metsola (ex-officio) 2nd Half	MLT
The Bureau	BURO	20		S&D	David Sassoli (ex-officio) 1st Half	ITA	President of the European Parliament Vice Presidents of the European Parliament Quaestors (in advisory capacity)
				EPP	Roberta Metsola (ex-officio) 2nd Half	MLT
College of Quaestors	QUE	5	/				Quaestors
Conference of Committee Chairs	CCC	22		EPP	Antonio Tajani	ITA	Chairs of all standing and temporary committees
Conference of Delegation Chairs	CDC	45		S&D	Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero	ESP	Chairs of all standing interparliamentary delegations
Sources:[37][38]

Executive
President of the European Council			President of the European Commission			High Representative
Charles Michel (ALDE) of Belgium from 1 December 2019			Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) of Germany from 1 December 2019			Josep Borrell (PES) of Spain from 1 December 2019

Parliament term: 2 July 2019 - TBA
European Council
President Donald Tusk (EPP), until 31 November 2019
President Charles Michel (ALDE), from 1 December 2019
European Commission
Juncker Commission, until 30 November 2019
	President Jean-Claude Juncker (EPP), until 30 November 2019
	High Representative Federica Mogherini (PES), until 30 November 2019
Von der Leyen Commission, taking office on 1 December 2019
	President Ursula von der Leyen (EPP), from 1 December 2019
	High Representative Josep Borrell (PES), from 1 December 2019

Appointment of the new executive

On 2 July 2019 European Council finished a three-day-long summit with a decision to propose the following for approval by the Parliament:^[39]

• Ursula von der Leyen (EPP) for President
• Josep Borrell (PES) for High Representative

European Parliament confirmed Ursula von Der Leyen as President of the European Commission on 16 July 2019.

On the same summit Charles Michel (ALDE), incumbent Prime Minister of Belgium was elected a new President of the European Council and President of Euro Summit for a 2.5 years term.

President of the Commission Confirmation

Secret paper ballot took place on 16 July 2019.

Candidate				Votes cast	Majority	In favor	Against	Blank	Source
	EPP	Ursula von der Leyen	GER	733	374	383	327	22	[7]

Von der Leyen Commission Confirmation

Following the election of the new President of the Commission, President-elect called upon member states to propose candidates for European Commissioners. The President-elect, in agreement with the European Council, assigned to each proposed candidate a portfolio, and the Council sent the list of candidates to the European Parliament. Candidates were then questioned about their knowledge of the assigned portfolio and confirmed by European Parliament Committees. When all of the candidates were confirmed by the respective committee, European Parliament took a vote of confirmation of the new European Commission in the plenary session. European Commission was then officially appointed by the European Council using qualified majority.^[40] Commissioners took the oath of office before the Court of Justice of the EU before officially taking office.

Commissioners-designate Confirmations

The responsible committee held a 3-hour hearing of the Commissioner-designate to examine the candidate's competence and suitability. Committee decided if candidate is suitable to become a European Commissioner and if their knowledge of the portfolio is sufficient. After each hearing, the committee voted on the candidate. Decisions of the committee were first taken by the coordinators of the EP political groups, at this point each candidate needed support of 2/3 of coordinators, if support was reached, the candidate was confirmed. If such support was not reached, then committee as a whole took a vote on a Commissioner-designate, where a candidate needed the support of the majority of committee members. If candidate was rejected by the committee as well, President-elect could propose a new candidate, in which case a new hearing would take place for a new candidate. Coordinators could also decide to hold additional hearing of 1.5 hours or demand additional written answers. If there were more committees hearing one candidate, all committees would give a joint evaluation.^{[citation needed]}

The first round of hearings took place from 30 September until 8 October 2019, followed by the evaluation by the BCPR (Conference of Presidents) on 15 October 2019. If any of the candidates would be rejected by the responsible committee, new hearings would take place on 14 and 15 October 2019, followed by BCPR evaluation on 16 October 2019. BCPR closed hearings process on 17 October 2019.^[8] Before the hearings begin, Committee on Legal Affairs, on 19 September 2019, examined if there was a possibility of a conflict of interests for any of the candidates for commissioners.^{[citation needed]}

The United Kingdom, which had been expected to leave the EU on 31 October 2019, did not nominate a candidate for commissioner.^[42]

It was reported by Euractiv on 26 September 2019 that commissioners-designate László Trócsányi of Hungary (Neighbourhood and Enlargement) and Rovana Plumb of Romania (Transport) will be questioned by the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee about their declarations of interests due to potential conflict of interests and "discrepancies in property statements". Other commissioners-designate were approved by the Committee, including Didier Reynders of Belgium (Justice) and Sylvie Goulard of France (Internal Market) who are under investigation by respective national authorities due to corruption allegations or misuse of EU money, according to one of the MEPs because the Committee does not have the authority to question candidates beyond facts stated in the declarations od interests. Euractiv also reports that Janusz Wojciechowski of Poland (Agriculture) might as well be questioned by the Committee.^[43] Euractiv reported later that day that Rovana Plumb of Romania was rejected as a European Commissioner-designate by 10 votes to 6 (with 2 abstentions). Hungarian Commissioner-designate László Trócsányi was rejected on 26 September as well by 11 votes to 9 due to his personal finances in connection with his law firm, he founded before becoming Minister of Justice and due to concerns about "connections to Russia" in relation to extradition of Russian suspects to Russia.^[44] It is up to the President-elect Ursula von der Leyen to take further decisions on candidates, while JURI approval is a necessary precondition for hearings to take place. This was the first time that candidates have been rejected by the JURI Committee.^{[citation needed]}

Following the JURI Committee decision to reject László Trócsányi, he published a statement on his Twitter account later that day, stating that he will take all legal steps against the decision.^[45] This could have an impact on the process of formation of the new European Commission which is due to take office on 1 November 2019.^{[citation needed]}

The Legal Affairs Committee was asked to decide on both rejected candidates again and on 30 September 2019 JURI again rejected both of the candidates, Plumb with 13 votes to 7 and Trócsányi with 12 votes to 9.^[46] Following the vote, President-elect Von der Leyen asked the national governments of Romania and Hungary to propose new candidates. Hungary already proposed a new candidate Olivér Várhelyi, its Permanent Representative to the EU.^[47]

According to several media reports hearings before the European Parliament committees could be tough for:^[48][49]

• Janusz Wojciechowski - European Commissioner-designate for Agriculture (due to ongoing investigation by OLAF regarding irregularities in the reimbursement of travel expenses when he was MEP; it was reported on 27 September by Politico that OLAF dropped investigation because Wojciechowski already paid the money back to the European Parliament)^[50][51]
• Didier Reynders - European Commissioner-designate for Justice (due to investigation by the national authorities regarding corruption and money laundering in the Democratic Republic of Congo; it was reported by Politico on 27 September 2019 that Belgian prosecutor dropped the investigation against Reynders and found no wrongdoing)^[52][53]
• Sylvie Goulard - European Commissioner-designate for Internal Market (due to alleged misuse of EU funds)^[54]
• Paolo Gentiloni - European Commissioner-designate for Economy (due to his role in Italian economy as Prime Minister)^[49]
• Dubravka Šuica - Vice-President-designate for Democracy and Demography (due to personal finances and possession of many real estate worth more than 5 million euros in light of her work as teacher, mayor and MP, and due to her views on women's rights, especially freedom of birth and due to her past votings as MEP where she objected abortion)^[55]

Schedule of the hearings

Date	9:00-12:00	14:30-17:30	18:30-21:30
30 September 2019		Maroš Šefčovič of  Slovakia Vice-President-designate for Inter-Institutional Relations and Foresight	Phil Hogan of  Ireland European Commissioner-designate for Trade
		AFCO JURI PETI ITRE	INTA
			Mariya Gabriel of  Bulgaria European Commissioner-designate for Innivation and Youth
			ITRE CULT
1 October 2019	Nicolas Schmit of  Luxembourg European Commissioner-designate for Jobs	Janusz Wojciechowski[56] of  Poland European Commissioner-designate for Agriculture HEARING NO. 1	László Trócsányi[57] of  Hungary European Commissioner-designate for Neighbourhood and Enlargement NO HEARING HELD
	EMPL ECON	AGRI ENVI	AFET
	Jutta Urpilainen of  Finland European Commissioner-designate for International Partnerships	Ylva Johansson of  Sweden European Commissioner-designate for Home Affairs	Stella Kyriakidou of  Cyprus European Commissioner-designate for Health
	DEVE	LIBE	ENVI AGRI
2 October 2019	Didier Reynders of  Belgium European Commissioner-designate for Justice	Helena Dalli of  Malta European Commissioner-designate for Equality	Elisa Ferreira of  Portugal European Commissioner-designate for Cohesion and Reforms
	LIBE JURI IMCO	FEMM EMPL LIBE	REGI BUDG ECON
	Rovana Plumb[58] of  Romania European Commissioner-designate for Transport NO HEARING HELD	Sylvie Goulard of  France European Commissioner-designate for Internal Market HEARING NO. 1	Janez Lenarčič of  Slovenia European Commissioner-designate for Crisis Management
	TRAN ENVI	IMCO ITRE JURI CULT	DEVE ENVI
3 October 2019	Paolo Gentiloni of  Italy European Commissioner-designate for Economy	Virginijus Sinkevičius of  Lithuania European Commissioner-designate for Environment and Oceans	Margaritis Schinas of  Greece Vice-President-designate for Protecting our European Way of Life
	ECON BUDG EMPL	PECH ENVI	LIBE CULT EMPL
	Kadri Simson of  Estonia European Commissioner-designate for Energy	Johannes Hahn of  Austria European Commissioner-designate for Budget and Administration	Dubravka Šuica of  Croatia Vice-President-designate for Democracy and Demography
	ITRE ENVI	BUDG CONT JURI	AFCO EMPL
7 October 2019		Věra Jourová of the  Czech Republic Vice-President-designate for Values and Transparency
		AFCO LIBE JURI
		Josep Borrell of  Spain Vice-President-designate for A Stronger Europe in the World and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
		AFET
8 October 2019	Valdis Dombrovskis of  Latvia Executive Vice-President-designate for Economy that Works for People and European Commissioner-designate for Financial Markets	Margrethe Vestager of  Denmark Executive Vice-President-designate for Europe Fit for Digital Age and European Commissioner-designate for Competition	Frans Timmermans of the  Netherlands Executive Vice-President-designate for the European Green Deal and European Commissioner-designate for Climate Action
	ECON EMPL BUDG	ITRE IMCO ECON JURI	ENVI ITRE TRAN
	Janusz Wojciechowski[56] of  Poland European Commissioner-designate for Agriculture HEARING NO. 2
	AGRI ENVI
10 October 2019	Sylvie Goulard of  France European Commissioner-designate for Internal Market HEARING NO. 2
	IMCO ITRE JURI CULT
Source:[59]   Confirmed candidate   Candidate with additional hearing   Rejected candidate   Responsible Committee   Associated Committee

Coordinators of political groups in the responsible committees decided that additional written answers will be requested by and potentially additional hearing of 1.5 hours should be held for:

• Janusz Wojciechowski of Poland, European Commissioner-designate for Agriculture (additional hearing on 8 October 2019)^[60]
• Sylvie Goulard of France, European Commissioner-designate for Internal Market (additional hearing on 10 October 2019)^[61]
• Ylva Johansson of Sweden, European Commissioner-designate for Home Affairs

Hearings

Candidate				Official nomination	Portfolio	Committee vote					Refs
						Date	Committee	In favor	Against	Abstain
	EPP	Johannes Hahn	AUT	22 July 2019	Budget and Administration	3 October 2019	BUDG	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[62]
							CONT
							JURI
	ALDE	Didier Reynders	BEL		Justice	2 October 2019	LIBE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote
							JURI
							IMCO
	EPP	Mariya Gabriel	BUL	23 July 2019	Innovation and Youth	30 September 2019	CULT	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[63][64]
							ITRE
	EPP	Dubravka Šuica	CRO	22 August 2019	Democracy and Demography (Vice President)	3 October 2019	AFCO	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[65][66]
							EMPL
	EPP	Stella Kyriakidou	CYP	23 July 2019	Health	1 October 2019	ENVI	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[67][68]
							AGRI
	ALDE	Věra Jourová	CZE	26 August 2019	Values and Transparency (Vice President)	7 October 2019	LIBE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[69][70]
							AFCO
							JURI
	ALDE	Margrethe Vestager	DEN	1 August 2019	A Europe Fit for the Digital Age (Executive Vice President)	8 October 2019	ECON	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[71]
							ITRE
							IMCO
							JURI
	ALDE	Kadri Simson	EST	22 July 2019	Energy	3 October 2019	ITRE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[72][73]
							ENVI
	PES	Jutta Urpilainen	FIN	22 July 2019	International Partnerships	1 October 2019	DEVE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[74]
	Ind.	Thierry Breton	FRA		Internal Market		IMCO
							ITRE
							JURI
							CULT
	EPP	Margaritis Schinas	GRE	23 July 2019	Promoting the European Way of Life (Vice President)	3 October 2019	LIBE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[75][76]
							CULT
							EMPL
	EPP	Olivér Várhelyi	HUN	1 October 2019	Neighbourhood and Enlargement		AFET				[77]
	EPP	Phil Hogan	IRL	31 July 2019	Trade	30 September 2019	INTA	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[78][79]
	PES	Paolo Gentiloni	ITA	6 September 2019	Economy	3 October 2019	ECON	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[80][81]
							BUDG
							EMPL
	EPP	Valdis Dombrovskis	LAT	23 July 2019	An Economy that Works for People (Executive Vice President)	8 October 2019	ECON	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[82]
							EMPL
							BUDG
	Ind.	Virginijus Sinkevičius	LIT	28 August 2019	Environment, Oceans and Fisheries	3 October 2019	ENVI	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[83]
							PECH
	PES	Nicolas Schmit	LUX		Jobs and Social Rights	1 October 2019	EMPL	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote
							ECON
	PES	Helena Dalli	MLT	31 July 2019	Equality	2 October 2019	FEMM	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[84]
							EMPL
							LIBE
	PES	Frans Timmermans	NED	24 July 2019	European Green Deal (Executive Vice President)	8 October 2019	ENVI	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[85]
							ITRE
							TRAN
	ECR	Janusz Wojciechowski	POL	2 September 2019	Agriculture	10 October 2019	AGRI	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[86]
							ENVI
	PES	Elisa Ferreira	POR	26 August 2019	Cohesion and Reforms	2 October 2019	REGI	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[87]
							BUDG
							ECON
	PES	Adina-Ioana Vălean	ROM	7 October 2019	Transport		TRAN				[88]
							ENVI
	PES	Maroš Šefčovič	SVK	19 July 2019	Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight (Vice President)	30 September 2019	AFCO	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[89][90]
							JURI
							PETI
							ITRE
	ALDE	Janez Lenarčič	SLO	26 July 2019	Crisis Management	2 October 2019	DEVE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[91][92]
							ENVI
	PES	Josep Borrell	ESP		Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (Vice President)	7 October 2019	AFET	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[39][93][94]
	PES	Ylva Johansson	SWE	8 August 2019	Home Affairs	1 October 2019	LIBE	Confirmed by the Coordinators no Committee vote			[95]
Responsible Committee   Associated Committee

Rejected candidates

Candidate				Portfolio	Date	Reason
	PES	Rovana Plumb	ROM	Transport	26 September 2019	Rejected by the JURI Committee due to discrepancies in her declarations of interests.
	EPP	László Trócsányi	HUN	Neighbourhood and Enlargement	26 September 2019	Rejected by the JURI Committee due to his personal finances in connection with his law firm and possible connections with Russia.
	ALDE	Sylvie Goulard	FRA	Internal Market	10 October 2019	Rejected by the responsible committees after the hearing with 82 votes against, 29 in favour and 1 abstention.

Presidency of the Council of the EU

Spain 1 June 2023 - 31 December 2023

The Council of the European Union (Council) is one of three EU institutions involved in the EU lawmaking process. It is the de facto upper house of the EU legislature, the European Parliament being the lower house, with an equal role in the ordinary legislative procedure. The Council consists of ministerial representatives from member states' national governments. Votes are decided by qualified majority (55% of member states and 65% of EU population).

Every six months, a new EU member state takes over the presidency of the Council. As presiding country, it organises Council meetings (with the help of Secretariat General) and decides on their agendas. These agendas are prepared in cooperation with other two member states that are part of each trio, which form common policy agendas over their 18-month period.

Presidency of the Council of the European Union												Parliament	Commission	High Representative FAC President			European Council
Member state	Trio	Term	Head of Government			Cabinet	Government coalition
Romania	T9	1 January 2019 – 30 June 2019		PES	Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă (PSD)	Dăncilă		PES		PSD		VIII	Juncker		PES	Federica Mogherini		EPP	Donald Tusk
								ALDE		ALDE
Finland		1 July 2019 – 31 December 2019		PES	Prime Minister Antti Rinne (SDP) until 10 December 2019	Rinne		PES		SDP
								ALDE		Kesk.		IX
								EGP		VIHR
								PEL		Vas.
								ALDE		SFP
													Von der Leyen		PES	Josep Borrell		ALDE	Charles Michel
					Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) from 10 December 2019	Marin		PES		SDP
								ALDE		Kesk.
								PEL		Vas.
								EGP		VIHR
								ALDE		SFP
Croatia		1 January 2020 – 30 June 2020		EPP	Prime Minister Andrej Plenković (HDZ)	Plenković		EPP		HDZ
								ALDE		HNS
Germany	T10	1 July 2020 – 31 December 2020		EPP	Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU)	Merkel IV		EPP		CDU
								PES		SPD
								EPP		CSU
Portugal		1 January 2021 – 30 June 2021		PES	Prime Minister António Costa (PS)	Costa II		PES		PS
Slovenia		1 July 2021 – 31 December 2021		EPP	Prime Minister Janez Janša (SDS)	Janša III		EPP		SDS
								ALDE		SMC
								EPP		NSi
								EDP		DeSUS
France	T11	1 January 2022 – 30 June 2022		Ind.	Prime Minister Jean Castex (DVD-EC)	Castex		Ind.		LREM
								Ind.		TDP
								Ind.		EC
								EDP		MoDem
								ALDE		RAD
								Ind.		Agir
Czech Republic		1 July 2022 – 31 December 2022		ECR	Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS)	Fiala		ECR		ODS
								EPP		STAN
								EPP		KDU-ČSL
								PPEU		Pirates
								EPP		TOP 09
Sweden		1 January 2023 – 30 June 2023		EPP	Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M)	Kristersson		EPP		M
								EPP		KD
								ALDE		L
Spain	T12	1 July 2023 – 31 December 2023		PES	Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE)	Sánchez II until 21 November 2023		PES		PSOE
								MLP		Podemos
								PEL		PCE
								PEL		IU
								EGP		CatComú
						Sánchez IIIfrom 21 November 2023		PES		PSOE
								Ind.		SMR
								PES		PSC
								EGP		CatComú
								Ind.		MM
								PEL		IU
								PEL		PCE
Belgium		1 January 2024 – 30 June 2024	TBD			TBD	TBD
Hungary		1 July 2024 – 31 December 2024	TBD			TBD	TBD				X	TBD	TBD			TBD

European Parliament has role in the appointment of:^[96]

• President of the European Commission
• Members of the European Commission
• Members of the European Court of Auditors
• Members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank
• economic governance bodies:
  • Chair and Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB Supervisory
  • Chair, Vice Chair and full-time members of the Single Resolution Board of the Single Resolution Mechanism
  • Chairs and Executive Directors of the European Supervisory Authorities (European Banking Authority, European Securities and Markets Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority)
  • Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director of the European Fund for Strategic Investments

Position	Candidate				EP Role	Appointer	Hearing					European Parliament vote						Source
	Party		Name	Country			Date	Committee	In favor	Against	Abstain	Date	Votes cast	Majority	In favor	Against	Abstain
President of the European Central Bank		EPP	Christine Lagarde	FRA	Consultation	European Council	4 September 2019	ECON	37	11	4	17 September 2019	649	325	349	206	49	[97][98]
Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank		Ind	Yves Mersch	LUX	Consultation	Governing Council of the European Central Bank	4 September 2019	ECON	35	14	4	17 September 2019	678	340	379	230	69
Chief European Public Prosecutor		Ind	Laura Codruța Kövesi	ROM	Appointment	European Parliament Council of the EU	Confirmed by the BCPR, no EP vote.											[99]

European Parliament statistics

There are 266 women MEPs, 37.7% of the whole Parliament. Kira Peter-Hansen of Denmark is the youngest MEP at 21, while Silvio Berlusconi (former Prime Minister of Italy), is the oldest at the age of 82. The average age of all MEPs is 50.^[100]

387 of current MEPs is newly elected and weren't members of European Parliament before. 295 MEPs were also members of the previous Parliament. 16 of current MEPs held position before, but not between 2014 and 2019.^[100]

Statistics by member states

Most bureau positions is held by Germany, while on the other side Slovenia is the only member state that has no bureau positions. With 5, Germany has most Committee Chairmen, followed by France with 4.

Finland (with 7 women out of 13 MEPs) and Sweden (with 11 out of 20) are the only member states with more women MEPS than men. Austria, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia have a gender parity. Cyprus is the only member state without any women.

Slovakia has the highest percent of newly elected MEPs at 85%, while Malta only has 33% of newly elected MEPs.^[100]

With 60 years of age Lithuania has the oldest national delegation, while Malta has the youngest at 44. Sweden has the youngest "oldest" MEP at the age of 58 and Lithuania has the oldest "youngest" MEP at the age of 54.^[100]

Member state	Positions			Women MEPs	New MEPs	Age
	EP Bureau	Committees' bureaus	Groups' bureaus			Youngest	Average	Oldest
Austria	1 / 20	3 / 110	0 / 55	9 / 18	12 / 18	27	47	61
Belgium	0 / 20	4 / 110	3 / 55	7 / 21	11 / 21	34	52	68
Bulgaria	0 / 20	1 / 110	2 / 55	5 / 17	8 / 17	30	45	67
Croatia	0 / 20	0 / 110	2 / 55	4 / 11	6 / 11	28	47	62
Cyprus	0 / 20	0 / 110	1 / 55	0 / 6	3 / 6	49	55	59
Czech Republic	2 / 20	4 / 110	0 / 55	7 / 21	11 / 21	26	46	66
Denmark	0 / 20	2 / 110	1 / 55	6 / 14	8 / 14	21	46	74
Estonia	0 / 20	1 / 110	0 / 55	2 / 6	3 / 6	28	48	62
Finland	1 / 20	1 / 110	0 / 55	8 / 13	6 / 13	40	55	73
France	2 / 20	10 / 110	6 / 55	37 / 74	51 / 74	23	50	72
Germany	3 / 20	17 / 110	6 / 55	35 / 96	50 / 96	26	49	78
Greece	1 / 20	3 / 110	1 / 55	5 / 21	11 / 21	33	52	67
Hungary	2 / 20	3 / 110	1 / 55	8 / 21	8 / 21	30	46	66
Ireland	1 / 20	0 / 110	1 / 55	6 / 11	7 / 11	32	54	68
Italy	2 / 20	8 / 110	3 / 55	30 / 73	41 / 73	30	49	82
Latvia	0 / 20	2 / 110	1 / 55	4 / 8	4 / 8	43	57	69
Lithuania	0 / 20	1 / 110	0 / 55	3 / 11	6 / 11	54	60	65
Luxembourg	0 / 20	1 / 110	0 / 55	3 / 6	3 / 6	35	52	67
Malta	1 / 20	0 / 110	1 / 55	2 / 6	2 / 6	29	44	71
Netherlands	0 / 20	4 / 110	5 / 55	13 / 26	12 / 26	29	46	66
Poland	2 / 20	7 / 110	2 / 55	18 / 51	31 / 51	34	56	79
Portugal	1 / 20	5 / 110	1 / 55	10 / 21	12 / 21	27	49	66
Romania	0 / 20	7 / 110	3 / 55	7 / 32	22 / 32	33	49	67
Slovakia	1 / 20	1 / 110	0 / 55	2 / 13	11 / 13	34	49	65
Slovenia	0 / 20	0 / 110	0 / 55	4 / 8	3 / 8	30	50	59
Spain	0 / 20	11 / 110	6 / 55	26 / 54	32 / 54	25	20	74
Sweden	0 / 20	2 / 110	3 / 55	11 / 20	16 / 20	32	45	58
Source:[100]