Roberta Metsola will lead a new European Parliament. With two new far-right groups, the biggest drop in female representation since 1979 and a median age of 50, how will the balance of the chamber change? And how will this affect the new legislation?
Last week, all committees of the European Parliament held their respective constituent meetings, in which a president and four vice presidents were elected to direct the 20 commissions and subcommittees that make up the institution.
Was the first challenge for Patriots of Europe, the group founded by Viktor Orbán, which has 84 MEPs, making it the third largest group in the chamber.
Center-right coalition groups who supported von der Leyen’s re-electionthe European People’s Party (EPP), Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe, they maintained their cordon sanitairewith which Orbán’s group lost two presidencies that it had assigned to the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and Culture and Education (CULT) commissions.
As a result, Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi (EPP/Greece) became president of TRAN and Nela Riehl (The Greens/Germany) was elected to CULT. The Patriots also lost the vice presidencies of the Committees on Agriculture, Development, Environment, Legal Affairs, Civil and Home Affairs and Budgetary Control.
The commissions are now ready to work – but not before taking a vacation – and They will hold their first meetings during the first week of September.
In addition to the greater number of MEPs who will sit in the chamber in the new mandate, commissions and subcommittees have seen their own changes in composition.
The commission of Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) is still the most numerous, but now it is joined by Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). Both will have 90 members, which represents an increase of two and 12 members respectively.
ENVI will be led by the Italian socialist Antonio Decaro, while the presidency of ITRE falls to the Polish Borys Budka, of the EPP.
The entry into the chamber of Patriots of Europe and the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) has changed the political balance of some commissions. In Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), the composition is predominantly right-wing. The EPP, European Conservatives and Reformists, Patriots for Europe and ESN occupy 25 of the 48 seats. In both ENVI and ITRE, the same coalition has 48 of the 90 seats.
Where are the women?
After the European elections in June, the new Parliament experienced the greatest percentage decrease in female representation since the first direct elections in 1979. Women will be 38.5% of MEPs -277 out of 720-, 2.1% less than in the previous legislature, when they occupied 46% of the seats.
The national differences are notable: While in France, Sweden and Finland women represent more than 50% of MEPs, in Cyprus they do not reach 15%..
Once chosen,Where will these 277 women sit?? What positions will they occupy? This new mandate has already placed women in three of the main positions in Brussels: Roberta Metsola as President of Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen in the European Commission and Kaja Kallas who will be confirmed as High Representative.
But,Is this a reflection of the set of institutions?
On Monday 22 July, at the first Presidents’ Conference, in which the leaders of the political groups in Parliament met to discuss the committee presidencies, Manfred Weber, president of the EPPHe asked for the principle of gender parity in the distribution of commission presidencies will be abandoned. This was agreed upon for the fourth vice presidency.
However, after the meeting, the Agriculture (AGRI) and Economy (ECON) commissions decided to postpone the vote on the fourth member of the Board, in an attempt to achieve balance between men and women, after the three vice-presidencies had already gone to men. Total, Of the 20 commissions and subcommittees of Parliament, only seven presidencies fell to candidates.
ADVERTISINGThe commission with the highest proportion of women is the FEMM, which focuses on women’s rights and gender equalitywhile the Constitutional Affairs Commission (AFCO) is clearly dominated by male MEPs.
And the young people?
Together with women, Young people represent another large underrepresented group in the chamber.
The average age of Parliament is now 50 years old, the same as five years ago. Both the youngest and oldest MEPs belong to The Left. The Austrian Lena Schilling, 23, will be part of the ENVI commissions, while the Italian Leoluca Orlando, 76, will sit on the Foreign Affairs Commission (AFET).
The country with the oldest legislators is Luxembourg, with an average of 60 years. On the contrary, Malta has the youngest group of politicianswith an average of 41 years.
ADVERTISINGIn the EP there is room for everyone
Unlike other professions, MEPs can access Parliament from all types of backgrounds.
Among the 720 people who will sit in the chamber over the next five years, There are not only former European commissioners and former prime ministers, but also professional footballers, influencers and singers.
Vytenis Andriukaitis (Lithuania/S&D) was EU Health Commissioner from 2014 to 2019 and now returns to the institutions to sit on the ENVI and SANT commissions.
More recently, Virginijus Sinkevičius (Lithuania/Greens) was Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries until July. He will now be part of the commission Transport and Tourism.
ADVERTISINGAlso in the previous commission, Adina Vălean (EPP) was the Romanian Commissioner for Transport. She resigned from her position after being elected to Parliament, where she will be part of IMCO, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee.
They are not the only ones who come from strong political positions. Former Prime Ministers Elio di Rupo (S&D) of Belgium and Andrius Kubilius (EPP) of Lithuania have also joined Parliament. But in Parliament there is room for everyone, including the first woman to score a hat trick in a soccer World Cup.
Carolina Morace (The left), former professional footballer, joined the Italian Five Star Movement party in 2024 and was elected to the European Parliament; She will be part of the commission that deals with women’s rights.
András Kulja (EPP) is also a well-known name in Hungary, where He was a surgeon before jumping into European politics. Kulja has a TikTok account in which he talks about medicine and has more than 300 thousand followers. He was elected vice president of the Environment and will also serve on the Public Health subcommittee.
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