The Bureau of the European Parliament election was held on 16 and 17 July 2024, where members of the European Parliament, elected in the 2024 election, voted to elect its Bureau for the 2.5 years term during the Tenth European Parliament. On 16 July, Roberta Metsola was elected president of the European Parliament together with 14 vice-presidents. On 17 July, 5 quaestors were elected.
Background
The Bureau of the European Parliament is responsible for matters relating to the budget, administration, organisation and staff. It is composed of the President of the European Parliament along with all 14 vice-presidents and the 5 quaestors.
They are elected with a secret ballot for two and a half years with a renewable term. According to the Parliament's Rules of Procedure, nominations are put forward either by a political group or by a group of MEPs reaching the low threshold (1/20th of MEPs, or 36 out of 720 in 2024).
Traditionally, the political groups informally agree on the distribution of positions (president, vice-presidents and quaestors) using proportional representation, specifically the D'Hondt method. At the same time, some groups refuse to cooperate with PfE and ESN applying a so-called cordone sanitaire.
Election of the President
The President of the European Parliament is elected through a secret vote of MEPs, requiring an absolute majority of cast votes for the election. Article 14 of the Treaty on European Union states that Parliament elects its president from among its Members.
On 16 July 2024, Roberta Metsola was re-elected as President of the European Parliament with 562 votes.
+CandidateVotesRoberta Metsola MaltaEPP 562Irene Montero SpainThe Left 61Voted699Votes cast 623Blank or void 76Votes needed for election 312Source: European Parliament
Election of the Vice-Presidents Fourteen vice-presidents are elected through a single secret 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.
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. 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.
On 16 July 2024, the S&D group got 5 vice-presidents elected, the EPP 3, Renew 2 and the G/EFA 1. In the second round the ECR group got 2 vice-presidents elected and The Left 1. The PfE and ESN candidates remained out due to the cordon sanitaire.
CandidateVotes1st Ballot2nd BallotSabine Verheyen (elected First Vice-President) GermanyEPP604Ewa Kopacz PolandEPP572Esteban González Pons SpainEPP478Katarina Barley GermanyS&D450Pina Picierno ItalyS&D405Victor Negrescu RomaniaS&D394Martin Hojsík SlovakiaRenew393Christel Schaldemose DenmarkS&D378Javi López SpainS&D377Sophie Wilmès BelgiumRenew371Nicolae Ştefănuță RomaniaG/EFA347 Roberts Zīle Latvia ECR 306 490 Antonella Sberna Italy ECR 323 314 Younous Omarjee France The Left 272 311Klára Dostálová CzechiaPfE214177Fabrice Leggeri FrancePfE209116Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik PolandESN10246Voted701674Votes cast665609Blank or void3665Votes needed for election333305Source: European Parliament
Election of the Quaestors Five quaestors are elected through a single secret ballot process, following the same procedure as that for the election of vice-presidents.
On 17 July 2024, the EPP group got 2 quaestors elected, while the S&D and Renew groups 1 each. The ECR got 1 quaestor elected in the second round, while the PfE candidate remained out due to the cordon sanitaire.
CandidateVotes1st Ballot2nd BallotAndrey Kovatchev BulgariaEPP559Marc Angel LuxembourgS&D461Miriam Lexmann SlovakiaEPP459Fabienne Keller FranceRenew398Kosma Złotowski PolandECR260335Pál Szekeres HungaryPfE174130Voted669612Votes cast641465Blank or void28147Votes needed for election321233Source: European Parliament
References