The European Parliament’s newly-elected 720 lawmakers are converging on Strasbourg for the opening plenary of the 10th legislature tomorrow (16 July).
More than a quarter of MEPs now sit with eurosceptic, nationalist and far-right groups, with the swollen ranks of the Europe of Conservatives and Reformists joined by two new far-right alliances: Europe of Sovereign Nations with 25 MEPs, and the 84-strong Patriots for Europe.
They pose a direct challenge to the pro-European centrist parties that, despite holding on to a governing majority, worry an increase in polarisation could thwart the bloc's long-term ambitions and paralyse legislation.
The first test begins tomorrow with a series of critical votes that will set the scene for the next five years.
The re-election of incumbent Maltese lawmaker Roberta Metsola for another two-and-a-half years as president of the chamber is expected to cause no problems. But the election of 14 vice-presidents could be a different matter, testing the centrists’ cordon sanitaire around the far-right, as the Patriots look to secure a post.
MEPs are expected to debate their support for war-torn Ukraine, after Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán's self-proclaimed "peace mission" to China and Russia.
Orbán has been denied the chance to address the assembly, although the pretext – an already scheduled exchange of views with European Council President Charles Michel – – appears to have been taken off the agenda too.
The session will culminate in the hotly anticipated vote on whether Ursula von der Leyen should be allowed a second term as president of the European Commission.
How many lawmakers from the European People’s Party, von der Leyen's own political family, will abstain in the vote?
How much support can she expect from her social democrat and liberal allies?
Will the Greens' 53 MEPs decide she is the best chance they have for their agenda to be furthered in the new Parliament?
Follow all the action from behind the scenes, and on the floor of the Parliament, here.
