Main highlights from the EP constitutive session
The European Parliament’s constitutive session took place from Tuesday 16 July to Thursday 18 July in Strasbourg. On Tuesday 16 July, the composition of the European Parliament was confirmed, after each MEP’s eligibility has been checked and political groups formed. 54% of MEPs are newly elected. There are eight political groups, including two new far-right ones. 33 MEPs remain non-attached. The full list of elected MEPs for the tenth legislature can be consulted here. On Tuesday, MEP Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta) has been re-elected EP President until 2027, with 562 votes (out of 699) in the first round. Her only contender was MEP Irene Montero (The Left, Spain), who obtained 61 votes. The function being awarded to the EPP group was part of the agreement reached at the end of June in the EU Council. Addressing the House after her election, President Metsola said: “I want people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our project. A belief to make our shared space safer, fairer, more just and more equal. A belief that together we are stronger and we are better. A belief that ours is a Europe for all.” A full version of her address is available here. On Tuesday and Wednesday 17 July, MEPs elected their 14 Vice-Presidents and 5 Quaestors. Three candidates from far-right groups were not elected due to the so-called “cordon sanitaire’” set up by the pro-European groups. Last but not least, on Thursday 18 July, MEPs decided to re-elect Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission for five years (with 401 votes in favour, 284 against and 22 cast blank or invalid votes). The necessary majority for her election was 360 votes. Ms von der Leyen will now invite Member States to put forward their candidates for European Commissioner posts. The Commission will interview the candidates starting mid-August. The European Parliament will then organise nominee hearings in the relevant committees after the summer break. The full college of Commissioners will also need to be endorsed by the European Parliament.
EP committees are taking shape
After the approval of their numerical strength on Wednesday 17 July, the 20 committees and 4 standing subcommittees of the European Parliament are about to hold their constitutive meetings on Tuesday 23 July. On this occasion, they will elect their chairs and vice-chairs. Posts are distributed among political groups using the d’Hondt system. Here again, a “cordon sanitaire” is expected to block far-right groups from having responsibility posts. The chairmanship of the ECON committee would reportedly go to MEP Aurore Lalucq (S&D, France) while the FISC subcommittee would likely be chaired by MEP Pasquale Tridico (The Left, Italy). MEP Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, German) would reportedly chair again the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The names of the MEPs appointed to each committee have been announced on Friday 19 July. Find the list of ECON members here, of FISC members here and of IMCO members here.
European Commission President-elect presents her political guidelines for the next five years
Ahead of the vote on her election for the Presidency of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen presented to MEPs her political guidelines for the next five years. Key initiatives announced include: - a new Clean Industrial Deal to be presented in the first 100 days of her mandate to drive decarbonisation and industrial growth; - A European Competitiveness Fund to boost innovation; - A new European Internal Security Strategy; - A European Democracy Shield for countering foreign information manipulation and interference; - A European Affordable Housing Plan; - A Skills Portability Initiative to ensure a skill acquired in one country is recognised in another; - A plan for Agriculture to adapt to climate change; - A Roadmap for Women’s Rights. In particular, Ms von der Leyen promised to make “speed, coherence and simplification key political priorities in everything we do”. Each Commissioner will be tasked with focusing on reducing administrative burdens and simplifying implementation, she said. They will hold regular dialogues on implementation with stakeholders to discuss how best to align implementation with realities on the ground. They will work with a Vice-President for Implementation, Simplification and Interinstitutional Relations to stress-test the entire EU acquis. She also put significant focus on defence, proposing to create a new post of Commissioner for Defence. New Commissioner roles she announced also include Housing, the Mediterranean and Intergenerational Fairness. Her full speech can be found here.
Hungarian Presidency urged to act as an honest broker at ECOFIN meeting
EU Finance Ministers met in Brussels on Tuesday 16 July. One point on their agenda was a presentation from the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union of its priorities for economic and financial affairs during its mandate until December 2024. The work programme and Presidency priorities were largely welcomed by EU Finance Ministers. However, Hungarian Prime Viktor Minister Orbán’s visit to Moscow and the delisting of Ukraine from the priority list took the focus of the meeting. All speakers underlined the importance of maintaining Ukraine at the top of the agenda and some countries like Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France also condemned the visit to Moscow. Most of the ministers said Ukraine’s needs are the more urgent and hoped the Hungarian Presidency will act as an “honest broker”. Regarding its tax programme, the Hungarian Presidency said that it will take forward measures aimed at consolidating Member States’ budget revenues. In particular, it will strive to reach an agreement on the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package. It will also provide support in the international role of the European Union in taxation, respecting Member States’ competencies in this area, it said.
EU expresses concerns about early protocols in drafting terms of reference process of the UN Framework Convention on tax
On Tuesday 16 July, EU Finance Ministers adopted the EU’s position for the second substantive session of the Ad Hoc Committee to draft terms of reference for a UN Framework Convention on international tax cooperation, which will take place from 29 July to 16 August. The document expresses serious concerns regarding the “zero draft” of the terms of reference that was published on 7 June and which states that Members would start negotiating the UN Framework Convention in 2025, alongside a set of early protocols that could include issues like the taxation of the digital economy. In particular, Member States reject the reference to the simultaneous development of early protocols in the terms of reference. “No early protocol should be discussed until the negotiations on the Framework Convention are concluded. Once they are, only a limited number of early protocols could be developed, within a reasonable timeframe. The timeframe to be required for the negotiations of these protocols should depend on the number of protocols and on the subjects they cover. A single deadline for finalising all protocols is not feasible. These protocols should focus on areas with the broadest consensus, avoiding controversial topics. It is therefore appropriate to first assess the suitability of certain topics to determine which ones should be subject to further analysis”, the position paper says. It also says the EU believes that the principal decision on the development of protocols should be taken by the intergovernmental negotiating committee.
