Now that the political groups in the European Parliament have chosen the policy areas they are most interested in leading, the national parties are putting forward some names to coordinate the committees.
On Monday evening (15 July), the Parliament’s political families reached a provisional agreement on the distribution of committee chairmanships, with the centre-right EPP and the socialists eyeing key posts.
The groups are now battling internally over their choices for the top posts ahead of a final vote next week (23 July), when each committee will elect its new leaders.
The committees are responsible for drafting Parliament’s positions on legislative proposals, preparing own-initiative reports, organising hearings with experts and scrutinising other EU institutions and bodies, to name a few of their tasks.
Parliament has 20 committees and three subcommittees covering policy areas ranging from economy to agriculture and international trade, and both committee chairs and up to four vice-chairs are elected for two and a half years.
The chairs ensure the smooth running of the committee’s work and are, after all, its most visible face.
Euronews’ policy team has gathered some of the names already emerging as clear frontrunners for the jobs, by group, including others which are rumoured in the corridors of the Parliament.
The European People’s Party (EPP)
The biggest group in the Parliament was the first to choose which committees it could head up, and bagged coveted ones such as Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Civil Liberties (LIBE).
In total the group seized control of six full committees, including Budgetary Control (BUDG), Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), Fisheries (PECH), Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) and the subcommittee for public health (SANT).
The EPP uses the so-called d’Hondt proportional representation system to allocate committee chairs within the party, which means that the largest delegation – Germany in this case – has the first choice, Spain the next, Poland will be the third to choose and so on to fill the party’s seven places.
Germany will most likely guide AFET’s work with David McCallister as chair, a position he’s held since 2017, while Spain would instead opt for LIBE.
Newcomer Borys Budka of the Civic Platform party would be the Polish pick to chair ITRE. As the delegation has two choices, one from each party in the group, the subcommittee on public health (SANT) will go to MEP Adam Jarubas, who held the position since the committee was created, sources confirmed to Euronews.
Another incumbent could be the Italian Salvatore de Meo as all indicators suggest he will be Italy’s choice to chair AFCO.
CONT and PECH are still empty spots for national EPP delegations to claim.
The Socialists and Democrats group (S&D)
The S&D, the second force in the European Parliament, wants to chair the influential Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI), which will the largest in the institution alongside the industry committee (ITRE), both with 90 members.
The centre-left group also intends to chair the committees on International Trade (INTA), Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), Regional Development (REGI) and Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM).
ADVERTISEMENTThe latter is likely to be chaired by Spanish MEP Lina Gálvez, who joined the institution in 2019, while ECON will be chaired by a member of the French delegation, with MEP Aurore Lalucq having her group’s endorsement for the role.
INTA is likely to go to a very experienced and familiar face in the Parliament, German MEP Bernd Lange, who has chaired the trade committee since 2014 – and has been a member of the EU institution for five terms.
One name is floating as a clear frontrunner for ENVI: Italian Camilla Laureti, who is returning to the Parliament for a second term.
Negotiations are still ongoing to decide on the leadership of the REGI committee, according to several party sources.
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Despite missing a July 4 deadline for registration of groups, the third force in the Parliament has claimed the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and Culture and Education (CULT) committees – but the mainstream groups are currently in talks to keep the far right out of the institution’s high-profile positions.
“We are (…) currently in discussions with the Socialists and Renew to implement the ‘cordon sanitaire’ to the MEPs proposed by the groups that are in the extreme right and the friends of Putin,” EPP group spokesman Pedro López de Pablo told Euronews.
If the EPP, the Socialists and the Liberals succeed in blocking the far-right MEPs from the committee chairmanships, they will be allocated elsewhere, most likely to MEPs from two largest groups, at a later stage.
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
The ECR group will not be cordoned off by other political groups and is expected to win the chairmanship of the budget committee (BUDG), which is crucial for the management of the EU’s long-term budget, as well as the petitions committee (PETI) and the agriculture committee.
ADVERTISEMENTFormer Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt won his group’s support for another term at the helm of the budget committee, while Veronika Vrecionová is likely to get the AGRI post.
The third committee chairmanship could go to the Polish delegation, according to a source familiar with the issue, but discussions on the issue remain open.
Renew Europe
The EU liberals have gone from the third to the fifth largest bloc in the Parliament – so their committee choices are the two smallest but influential committees: Development (DEVE) and Legal Affairs (JURI), which will have 25 MEPs each.
Frenchman Pascal Canfin and Irishman Barry Andrews are tipped as possibles for the JURI committee, while Luxembourg’s Charles Goerens is mentioned for DEVE.
ADVERTISEMENTThe liberals have also claimed the subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) in the hope that it will become a full committee later this year.
If SEDE remains a subcommittee, the potential candidate would be its current chair, French MEP Nathalie Loiseau. But if it is promoted to a full committee, it would likely go to one of the EU Liberals’ top three candidates for the elections, German Antonia Strack-Zimmerman, former chair of the German Bundestag’s defence committee.
The Greens/EFA
Veteran Italian MEP Anna Cavazzini has already announced that she has the backing of her party to stay on as chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committee.
The Greens, one of the biggest losers in the elections, have also asked to chair the Human Rights subcommittee (DROI) – which will be chaired by French ecologist Mounir Satour.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Left
The group, composed of 46 MEPs, is seeking control of the Taxation Subcommittee and the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL).
Finnish MEP Li Andersson, a 37-year-old former education minister, will be The Left’s candidate for the chairmanship of EMPL, while Pasquale Tridico (Italy/Five Star Movement) will get the tax portfolio, two party sources told Euronews.
Andersson received more votes than any other candidate has ever won in a European election, while her party, the socialist Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto), made a surprise surge with 17.3% of the Finnish vote.