Electing Parliament’s Vice-Presidents and Quaestors
The House is expected to elect its 14 Vice-Presidents on Wednesday 3 July and its five Quaestors on Thursday 4 July.
Once the newly-elected president has taken the chair, the House will elect its 14 Vice-Presidents and the five Quaestors which, together, comprise Parliament’s Bureau.
Vice-President nominations are made on the same basis as for the President (Rule 15). The 14 Vice-Presidents are elected in a single ballot by an absolute majority of votes cast. If the number of successful candidates is less than 14, a second vote is held to assign the remaining seats under the same conditions. If a third vote is necessary, a simple majority is sufficient to fill the remaining seats (Rule 17). Vice-Presidents take precedence in the order in which they are elected and, in the event of a tie, by age. If voted by acclamation, a vote by secret ballot determines the order of precedence.
At each round MEPs may vote for up to as many candidates as the number of seats available at that round, but they have to vote for more than half of the positions to be filled (rounded up). In practical terms, this means that in the first round MEPs will have to vote for at least eight candidates (14/2 plus one) and, in case an odd number of seats remains in subsequent rounds, the number would be rounded up (e.g. for nine positions the minimum would be five votes per MEP). The ballot papers that do not meet the necessary threshold will be deemed invalidated.
The election of Quaestors follows the same procedure as that for the election of Vice-Presidents (Rule 18). In practice, the political groups aim to ensure that the Vice-Presidents and Quaestors broadly reflect the numerical strength of the groups and take into account the results of the President's election.
Role of Vice-Presidents and Quaestors
Vice-Presidents can replace the President when necessary, including to chair plenary sittings. Quaestors deal with administrative matters directly affecting MEPs themselves. Vice-Presidents and Quaestors are also members of the European Parliament Bureau, which lays down rules for Parliament’s smooth functioning. Among its other duties, the Bureau draws up Parliament’s preliminary draft budget and decides on administrative, staff and organisational matters.
Vote: Wednesday, 3 July (Vice-Presidents) and Thursday, 4 July (Questors)
Procedure: Election of Vice-presidents and Quaestors