Weber reappointed leader of EPP group, vice presidents include Salini. Metsola nominated for President of the EU Parliament

Brussels – The European People’s Party (EPP) is choosing the line of continuity in a legislature inaugurated by a strengthening at the ballot box with the vote of the citizens of the 27 EU member states. The President of the EPP group in the European Parliament since 2014 and of the EPP Party since 2022, Manfred Weber, was reconfirmed today (June 19) at the head of the largest group in the EU Parliament, which, after the entry of 14 new members at yesterday’s (June 18) meeting, saw the subsequent exit of two MEPs and the—almost—final settlement at 188 seats in the new hemicycle. Without surprise was the official nomination of the current President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as the European People’s Party candidate to succeed herself.

As the EPP group reports, Weber was re-elected “with an overwhelming majority,” and from today, the German MEP from the Christian-Social Union in Bavaria (CPSU) will be able to lead the centre-right in the EU Parliament in the opening stages of this legislature. “I am ready to continue to ensure that the voice of European citizens is heard in the EU,” commented the chairman of the group and the European political family. In addition to the presidency, the People’s Party also elected the group’s ten vice-presidents, including Massimiliano Salini, MEP from Forza Italia: “A great satisfaction, I thank all my colleagues for their trust,” stated the member of the EU Parliament since 2014, who stressed that “we will work on the basis of our values for an increasingly leading Europe.” The other vice presidents are French François-Xavier Bellamy (Les Républicains), Polish Andrzej Halicki (Civic Platform), Dutch Jeroen Lenaers (Christian Democratic Appeal), Spanish Dolors Montserrat (Partido Popular), Romania’s Siegfried Mureșan (National Liberal Party), Portugal’s Lidia Pereira (Social Democratic Party), Sweden’s Tomas Tobé (Moderate Party), Slovenia’s Romana Tomc (Slovenian Democratic Party), and Croatia’s Željana Zovko (Croatian Democratic Union).

At the first session of the constituent meeting of the EPP group yesterday afternoon, the entry of six new national delegations for a total of 14 deputies had been approved, bringing the group’s membership to 190. However, the European People’s Party officially announced the abandonment of the group by two MEPs, namely Belgian Yvan Verougstraete of Les Engagés (who will ask to join the Renew Europe Liberal Group) and Hungarian György Hölvényi of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP). In particular, the latter left the EPP group in controversy with the entry of the seven Hungarian MEPs from the centre-right opposition led precisely by their leader, Péter Magyar. The KDNP conservatives did not abandon the alliance with the ruling Fidesz party even after the rabid farewell of Viktor Orbán in 2021 (just before suffering the indignity of the already-decided expulsion). Still, they had nevertheless remained within the EPP, both in the group and in the European family.