Latest posts
The committees take shape… and MEPs prepare for a break
NEW
Twelve of the European Parliament’s committees held their constituent sessions on Thursday, with the remaining committees meeting on Monday. With the Parliament having adopted its decision on the numerical strength of committees, and the politi...
McMillan-Scott takes EP vice-president post; Kaminski to lead ECR
NEW
1145 update: The Parliament has now elected its 14 vice-presidents, with some controversy. Instead of what is usually a confirmation of agreements between political Groups, there was a political battle between 15 candidates that went to three secret...
Jerzy Buzek elected as EP President
NEW
As expected, Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland) has been elected as President of the European Parliament on Tuesday morning (by 555 votes to 89). EuroparlTV looks at the man who will chair the assembly for the next two-and-a-half years:...
Leinen confirmed as ENVI Chair
NEW
The German SPD delegation met last night to decide on who will be the Chair of the environment committee for this parliament. It confirmed that Jo Leinen will be Chair of the committee for the first two-and-a-half years of the parliament. Matthias Gr...
EP committee Chairs update
NEW
1630 update: Latest news on the EP committee Chairs appears on our ‘Key positions‘ page - with the latest update of the list of committee and delegation Chairs as follows (note that with negotiations ongoing, nothing will be confirmed unt...
Socialists & Democrats in control of co-decision legislation?
NEW
The European Voice reported this morning that German MEPs have taken control of the Parliament’s legislative committees - but that is only half the story. Have the Socialists & Democrats pulled off something of a coup in their choice of com...
Committees to start work next week
NEW
Having (almost) decided on the split of committees and nomination of Chairs, the European Parliament’s committees will begin work next week in Strasbourg, and continue in Brussels on 20 July. The timing of the constituent meetings are as follow...
Groups nominate committee Chairs
NEW
Last update at 1730: The leaders of the European Parliament’s political Groups and national delegations have been meeting in Brussels in the week beginning 6 July to negotiate who will take Chairs of the Parliament’s committees. As expected, the...
Who’s Who? A look at the personalities in the new EP
NEW
From Commissioners and ministers to models and television presenters, the new European Parliament features a range of personalities. You can find short profiles of a selection of the new (and returning) MEPs on the ‘Who’s Who - the new ME...
EP Presidential Debate - Twitter commentary
NEW
With Graham Watson, the Liberal candidate for the presidency of the European Parliament, deciding to withdraw from the race on the morning of the EP Presidential Debate, Jerzy Buzek (EPP) and Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL) were quizzed on their plans o...
EPP and Socialists & Democrats reach technical agreement
NEW
It’s official: the EPP and the Socialists & Democrats have reached a technical agreement on splitting the European Parliament presidency and the chairmanships of the committees. For the committees, negotiations are still in progress, but th...
A new Parliament, and new rules
NEW
Just before the Parliament rose for the elections, it voted a series of changes to the assembly’s rules of procedure. One change - the stricter criteria for forming political Groups (at least 25 members from at least seven member states) are well k...
EP Presidential Debate - coverage on TheNewEP.eu
NEW
On Wednesday 8 July at 1230 CET the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform and European Voice, supported by Burson Marsteller, will stage a debate between the contenders to the presidency of the European Parliament. You can follow the debate by watching o...
Chosing committee Chairs - how and who?
NEW
The choice of committee Chairs is an important one in the European Parliament, where the committees wield a lot of power over legislation. The Chair’s role is a vital one, with functions including setting the committee agenda, representing the...
Buzek to be EPP candidate for EP presidency
NEW
Joseph Daul, the leader of the EPP Group, has announced that Mario Mauro will stand aside and allow Jerzy Buzek to run as the EPP candidate for the presidency of the European Parliament. Mr Daul made the announcement after talks with Silvio Berluscon...
New list of MEPs by Group now online
NEW
Our list of MEPs has been updated to take account of the new ‘Europe of Freedom and Democracy’ Group. You can find the list here. As the Groups consolidate, we have now produced another list, with MEPs arranged Group-by-Group. That list...
Goodbye ‘Independence & Democracy’, hello ‘Freedom & Democracy’…
NEW
The leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Nigel Farage, has announced the creation of a new Eurosceptic Group entitled ‘Europe of Freedom and Democracy’ (EFD). The Group is an almost direct replacement for the Independence and Democ...
ALDE elects Guy Verhofstadt as Group leader
NEW
The ALDE Group, meeting today in Brussels, has just elected Guy Verhofstadt as leader of the Group. Mr Verhofstadt, who was prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008, was elected unopposed, despite indications that Diana Wallis, the leader of the U...
Energy policy in the new European Parliament
NEW
Energy policy is becoming increasingly important in the EU, in terms of its industrial, economic, environmental and foreign policy impact: go to our ‘Policy impact’ page to read the Insight by the Burson-Marsteller Brussels Energy team. A...
Latest updates on TheNewEP.eu
NEW
Our latest national Insight comes from Denmark, where unlike in many other countries, the Social Democrats came out on top. It can be read here. In the political Groups, the far-left GUE/NGL Group has chosen a leader to succeed French communist stalw...
