After the European elections 

The credentials of newly-elected MEPs are verified to establish that they do not hold another office that is incompatible with membership of the European Parliament Parliament (rule 3 of the European Parliament Rules of Procedure). Incompatible offices include being a member of government or parliament of an EU member state, of the European Commission, the Court of Justice, the European Central Bank Board of Directors, the Court of Auditors, or the European Investment Bank. Active officials working for the EU institutions or bodies set up under the EU treaties to manage EU funding are also barred from being MEPs.

Once the election results are official, member states communicate the names of those who have won a seat to the EP and ask them to take the necessary measures to avoid any incompatibility of offices.

Before taking their seats, new MEPs whose election has been notified to Parliament must declare in writing that they do not hold any office incompatible with that of an MEP. This declaration needs to be made no later than six days before Parliament's constitutive sitting.

These credentials are checked ex post by Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, which draws up a decision based on the information provided by member states. This decision is then passed to the President who informs the plenary during the next sitting. Other than checking credentials, Parliament also rules on any disputes around the incompatibility of different offices(pursuant to the Act of 20 September 1976), except those based on national electoral laws.

Where it is established that an MEP holds an incompatible office, Parliament "shall establish that there is a vacancy."

Negotiations for the constitution of the political groups started after the elections, leading to the creation of eight political groups (one more than in the previous term). A political group must consist of at least 23 MEPs elected in at least one-quarter of the member states (i.e. at least seven), as established in rule 33 of the EP rules of Procedure.

The new legislature officially began on Tuesday 16 July 2024. On that day, and until Friday 19 July, newly elected MEPs met in Parliament’s seat in Strasbourg to elect their President, and their 14 Vice-Presidents and five Quaestors, as established in .

The European Parliament elects its President from among its members, for a renewable term of two and a half years.

Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT), EP President since January 2022, was re-elected until 2027, with 562 votes in the first round of voting.

Read more about the election of the EP’s President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors in this briefing by the Parliament’s Research Service.

MEPs also confirmed the numerical composition of Parliament’s standing committees and subcommittees, as well as parliamentary delegations. The decision on which MEPs sit on each committee, taken by the political groups and the non-attached members (rules 212 and 216 of the Rules of Procedure), was announced in plenary.

On 18 July, Parliament backed Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission, with 401 votes in favour in a secret ballot. Ahead of the vote, Ursula von der Leyen presented her political priorities for the next five years during a debate with MEPs.

Article 14 of the Treaty of the European Union provides that the EP “shall elect the President of the Commission.” In practice, based on rule 128 of the Rules of Procedure, the candidate proposed by the European Council presents their political guidelines to Parliament, followed by a debate.

Parliament’s committees and subcommittees held their first meetings to elect their respective bureaux (which include a Chair and up to four Vice-Chairs) on 23 July in Brussels.

Committees and subcommittees’ Chairs and Vice-Chairs are elected among the Members sitting on each of them. The list of all members on Parliament’s committees and subcommittees was announced in plenary on 19 July.

According to Rule 219 of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the diversity of Parliament must be reflected in the composition of the bureau of each committee.

As established in rule 129 of the Rules of Procedure, together with the Commission President-elect, the Council appoints the Commissioners-designate. Each Commissioner-designate is assigned responsibility for a specific policy area (portfolio) by the Commission President-elect in accordance with the political guidelines she/he has outlined. The relevant EP committees assess each of the Commissioners-designate, before a plenary vote on the appointment of the College as a whole.

Examination by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the declaration of interests

The Committee on Legal Affairs carries out a full examination of the declaration on financial interests of the Commissioners-designate - ahead of their committee hearings - in order to assess the content is accurate and complete as well as possible conflicts of interest.

Should the Legal Affairs Committee have any doubts, it can ask for supplementary information or invite the Commissioner-designate for a discussion. It can also issue recommendations on how to resolve a conflict of interest.

Before the confirmation hearings with the relevant committees can take place, the Legal Affairs Committee must confirm in writing the absence of any conflict of interest. If no solution is found for a given conflict of interest, the Legal Affairs Committee will conclude that the Commissioner-designate is unable to exercise their function.

Written procedure: questions from MEPs

The Commissioner-designate has to provide written replies to several questions, including some from MEPs in the committees responsible for the portfolio to which they have been assigned. A first block of questions revolves around their general competence, European commitment and personal independence, the management of the portfolio and planned cooperation with Parliament. The specialist committees prepare a series of specific questions on the portfolio.

The CVs of all Commissioners-designate and their reply to the written questions will be published on the EP website ahead of the hearings.

Confirmation hearing in the relevant committee or committees

The Commissioner-designate is invited to a three-hour hearing, streamed live, in front of the EP committees responsible for their portfolio. The candidate makes an opening speech of maximum 15 minutes and will then reply to MEPs’ questions.

Exceptionally, a confirmation hearing may be carried out in a different format when the responsibilities of a Commissioner-designate fall within the remit of two or more committees without any of them prevailing. The Commissioner-designate will then be heard jointly by those committees for up to four hours, based on a recommendation of the Conference of Committee Chairs.

The confirmation hearings shall be held in public and webstreamed.

Evaluation after the confirmation hearing

Chairs and coordinators of the responsible committee(s) must finalise their evaluation of a Commissioner-designate within 24 hours following the hearing and should meet in camera (behind close doors) “without delay” for that purpose. The committee(s) in charge of the hearing can also ask the Commissioner-designate for more information in writing, or organise a shorter additional hearing.

An evaluation letter for each candidate is prepared by the political group coordinators, stating whether a candidate is qualified both:

• to be a “Member of the College” (the European Commission) and
• to carry out their assigned duties.

This letter is then transmitted for examination to the Conference of Committee Chairs (CCC) within 24 hours after the completion of the evaluation.

Conclusion of the hearing process

Following an exchange of views, and unless it decides to request further information, the Conference of Presidents declares the confirmation hearings closed. Only at this point can the evaluation letters be published and comments on the evaluation be made.

Presentation of the College and plenary vote

Taking into account the results of the hearings, as well as consultations with Parliament’s political groups, the Commission President-elect presents the whole College of Commissioners-designate and their programme at a sitting of Parliament.

After a debate, MEPs decide, by a majority of the votes cast, whether to invest the new College of Commissioners for a mandate of five years. It may defer the vote until the following sitting.

The procedure for Parliament to approve the College of Commissioners is described in detail in Annex VII to the Rules of Procedure.

Not all negotiations between EU co-legislators (Parliament and Council) on proposals tabled by the European Commission were concluded by the end of the ninth legislative term. This can happen for several reasons, for example when no agreement could be reached in interinstitutional negotiations, or when national governments are unable to agree on a common position.

In concrete terms, legislative files

- that were adopted by Parliament in plenary before the elections, whether at first reading or second reading, or under the consultation procedure, will remain legally valid for the next Parliament.

Examples include combatting late payments, the revision of payment services, food and textile waste, water pollutants, new genomic techniques, safety of toys, driving licenses, Single European Sky, pharmaceuticals and the revamp of the EU Customs code.

- that did not reach the plenary before the elections, saw the work done on them (in committee, trilogue if there was not a deal) end. However, the new Parliament could decide to continue this work.

Examples include combatting corruption, retail investor protection, Digital Euro, AI liability, combatting sexual abuse of children, long-term residents, the anti-smuggling package, animal transport and welfare of cats and dogs.

At the beginning of the new parliamentary term, Parliament’s Conference of Presidents (EP President and political group leaders) will decide on the basis of input from parliamentary committees, whether to continue working on “unfinished business” (Rule 250 of the EP's Rules of Procedure).

Once they take this decision (possibly in October 2024), it will subsequently be announced in plenary (possibly also in October 2024).

If the Conference of Presidents and plenary decide to take this work forward, the newly elected Parliament will continue with the next stage of the relevant decision-making procedure.

If needed, a new rapporteur will be appointed.

Traditionally, the Conference of Presidents decides to resume all unfinished legislative work. Exceptions can be made, for instance for files that have become obsolete and on which a new proposal by the Commission or renewed consultation by the Council is expected.

Find here a list of pending legislative files for the tenth legislative term (non-exhaustive).