Following the re-election of Roberta Metsola as President of the European Parliament with 562 out of 699 cast votes today in Strasbourg, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger declared:

“The re-election of Roberta Metsola stands for institutional continuity in the European Parliament. It is an opportunity to consolidate and perhaps strengthen its role vis-à-vis the European Commission and the Council. During the last decades, the European Parliament has come a long way as supervisor of the European Commission and a more equal co-legislator together with the Council. However, past experience has also shown that the role and visibility of the European Parliament depends also to a large extent on the internal support, charisma and political weight of its President. Roberta Metsola is now equipped with a strong mandate to further build her political weight for the European Parliament. For the EU’s institutional architecture, a strenghtened role of its publicly elected assembly can only be positive.”

He added: “We count on Roberta Metsola to fully endorse and advocate the adopted positions of the European Parliament regardless of her own eventual political convictions. As President, she must act neutrally and lobby for the European Parliament’s priorities including in the areas of civil liberties, social rights and fair green-digital transitions.”