Almost two months have passed since the European elections in June and the newly elected Parliament is preparing itself for the five year term ahead.

The three-day inaugural session in Strasbourg from 14 to 16 July was dedicated to the election of the European Parliament President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors as well as to decisions on the composition of the various Committees. Prior to the inaugural meeting on 14 July, seven political groups were formed:

• European People’s Party (Christina Democrats) - PPE
• Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats – S&D
• Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe - ALDE
• Greens/European Free Alliance - Greens-EFA
• European Conservatives and Reformist Group - ECR
• Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left
• Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group

The President

Polish MEP Jerzy Buzek - Poland’s former Prime Minister - was elected as the new president, with an overwhelming majority. He will preside over the Parliament for the coming two and a half years. As agreed between the two largest political groups, Martin Schulz (S&D – D) will take over the presidency for the latter half of the Parliament’s term.

Mr Buzek’s election was convincing:  he received significantly more votes than the required absolute majority, with 555 out of a total of 644 votes. The second candidate, Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson, member of the extreme-left GUE-NGL received 89 votes.

After his election, Mr Buzek briefly presented the priority themes he hopes to address during his Presidency. Employment, climate change and energy security feature high on his list. He also called for a speedy entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, not least because it will ‘allow the European Parliament to operate better’. Another priority is the need to bring Europe closer to its citizens.

Mr Buzek will present his programme again during the September plenary session.

The Vice-Presidents

After the election of Mr Buzek as Parliament President, 14 Vice Presidents were also elected (in order of precedence):

- Giovanni Pittella (S&D, Italy)
- Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (EPP,Greece)
- Stavros Lambrinidis (S&D, Greece)
- Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez (S&D, Spain)
- Alejo Vidal-Quadras (EPP, Spain)
- Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (S&D, Germany)
- Libor Roucek (S&D, Czech Republic)
- Isabelle Durant (Greens-EFA, Belgium)
- Roberta Angelilli (EPP, Italy)
- Diana Wallis (ALDE, United Kingdom)
- Pál Schmitt (EPP, Hungary)
- Edward McMillan-Scott (ECR, United Kingdom)
- Rainer Wieland (EPP, Germany)
- Silvana Koch-Mehrin (ALDE, Germany)

Vice-presidents are important, as they can be asked to replace the President in performing his duties. They are also members of the Parliament’s Bureau, which is responsible for all aspects of administration, personnel and internal organisation. Each Vice-president is responsible for a particular portfolio.

The Quaestors

Five Quaestors – responsible for the management of all administrative questions affecting MEPs and for advising the Bureau on necessary internal infrastructures for MEPs – were also elected:

- Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D, Poland)
- Jim Higgins (EPP, Ireland))
- Astrid Lulling (EPP, Luxembourg)
- Jirí Mastalka (GUE-NGL, Czech Republic)
- Bill Newton Dunn (ALDE, United Kingdom).

The composition of the Parliamentary Committees

Parliament agreed that there will be 20 committees, two sub-committees and one temporary committee (addressing the financial crisis). Contrary to strong rumours before the election there will not be a dedicated health committee: the ENVI Committee will hold the same mandate (public health, environment and food safety). The ITRE Committee (industry, research and energy) will also continue its previous functions.

The number of members and alternates for all committees was also agreed. A first constituent meeting was held by a majority of the committees on 16 July (including ENVI and ITRE), with the aim of electing their Chairman and Vice-chairmen.

Some of the MEPs supporting complementary medicine during the previous term of office have returned as full members to the ENVI Committee. These include Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, Françoise Grossetête, Carl Schlyter, Jill Evans, Peter Liese, Linda McAvan, Horst Schnellhardt, Holger Krahmer and Anja Weisgerber; Some ‘supportive’ substitutes are Bart Staes, Christofer Fjellner, Caroline Lucas, Thomas Ulmer  and Renate Sommer.

Full listings of all members are available on the European Parliament website.

Other positions

Other positions, e.g. Group coordinators, were either decided before the end of July or will be decided shortly after the summer break. The EPP has already agreed coordinators for the ENVI Committee (Peter Liese and Richard Seeber, with Elisabetta Gardini as ‘vice-coordinator’) and the industry committee (Pilar Del Castillo).

MEPs returned to work on 24 August after the summer recess. The first working meeting of the ENVI Committee is on 1 and 2 September in Brussels. The next plenary session of the European Parliament takes place from 14 to 17 September. So far there is no item on medicinal products on the agenda. 

Strasbourg welcomes the MEPs

Amidst controversial discussions about the venue of the headquarters of the European Parliament, Strasbourg has launched a series of initiatives to strengthen its image ‘as a symbol of post-war European reconciliation’ and – more importantly - to dismiss accusations of ‘wasting taxpayers’ money. While most Parliamentary meetings (e.g. Group and Committee meetings) are held in Brussels, EU treaties stipulate that at least twelve plenary sessions need to be held in Strasbourg, where the plenary voting takes place – with overall costs mounting to some 200 million euros a year. This practice is increasingly being criticised, not least by MEPs themselves, who advocate full time relocation of the Parliament to Brussels. To counter the criticism, the city of Strasbourg handed out welcome kits with information on the city and set up a welcome desk in the European Parliament building to help MEPs arrange practical aspects such as housing.

The new Parliament: what do public affairs leaders say?

A number of public affairs leaders in Brussels have expressed the view that the results of the elections have an influence on the complexity of the European Parliament. For instance, the decision by the UK Conservatives not to remain part of the European People's Party (EPP) but to form a new group - the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) - may well mean that EPP-ED will be more homogenous and pro-European, and maybe even shift to the left. This in turn might make the EPP work more closely with the Socialists & Democrats (S&D). The new European Conservatives and Reformists group therefore risks being outnumbered. Moreover, as the two largest political groups, together with the Liberal ALDE, are in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, they can be expected to support initiatives aiming for further European integration.

On the other hand, public affairs leaders also share the view that a coalition between the EPP, ALDE and the new conservative group ECR could lead to a more business and industry-friendly Parliament. The new Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group is not expected to have a huge impact on legislation. However, time will tell whether these predictions are accurate.

Christine Marking
ECHAMP Public Affairs Consultant