The tenth legislature of the European Parliament, which will run until 2029, began this Tuesday (16) in the Chamber of Strasbourg, France, in the presence of 720 new MEPs and with the solemn performance of the anthem of the European Union (EU), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
“The first session of the European Parliament after the European elections is now open,” declared the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, shortly after 10 am (local time, 5 am in Brasilia).
The Maltese member of the European People’s Party was then re-elected President of the European Parliament, a position she will hold until January 2027.
Metsola won the support of 562 MEPs out of 623 who cast valid votes. The alternative candidate, former Spanish equality minister and Podemos MEP Irene Montero, received 61 votes.
The 90.1% support from the European Parliament represents the highest level of support in the Chamber for a presidential candidate in the history of the institution, according to parliamentary sources.
In a speech shortly after being elected, in which she combined English, French, Italian and Maltese, Metsola called on Europe to overcome the polarization that has led to confrontational politics and violence against politicians and advocated resistance to “the easy answers that divide our communities into ‘them’ and ‘us’.”
“We have to move beyond this zero-sum game that excludes people and generates rejection, that fosters hatred and does not create hope. We know that the comfort of these easy policies does not offer real solutions,” he said.
During the first plenary session of the legislature, which will run until Thursday afternoon, a vote will also be held to confirm Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission for another term.
In this tenth legislature, more than half of MEPs (54%) took office for the first time, according to statistics made available today by the European Parliament.
The average age of MEPs is 50, with a range that goes up to 77 years for the oldest and 23 years for the youngest.
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