After the elections
The European elections on 6-9 June 2024 open the next chapter for the European Union. The newly-elected Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will take a number of key decisions on who will head EU institutions and resume Parliament’s work of adopting legislation and holding the European Commission and other EU bodies to account.
Find out what happens after the elections and how the European Parliament plays a key part in the process.
The first plenary session of the new legislative term will take place from 16 to 19 July in Strasbourg.
Before that session, the newly-elected Members will form political groups based on shared political ideas.
At the first plenary, the Parliament will elect its new President, vice-presidents and quaestors as well as decide on the number of MEPs who will be sitting in each parliamentary committee.
At a later stage, MEPs will vote to elect a new President of the European Commission. Then they will assess candidates for commissioners through public hearings. The new Commission will need to secure Parliament approval in a plenary vote to take office.
In the meantime, MEPs will resume examining and amending legislation, scrutinising the work of other EU institutions and debating topical issues.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.EU countries need to notify the European Parliament of the names of the newly-elected MEPs.
Members whose election has been notified to Parliament have to declare in writing, before taking their seat in Parliament, that they do not hold any office incompatible with that of a Member of the European Parliament. The Parliament’s legal affairs committee then verifies these declarations.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.MEPs do not sit in the chamber according to nationality. Most of them join political groups that share similar political values and objectives.
The political groups will be formed in the weeks following the elections.
A political group must have at least 23 MEPs from seven EU countries. Members cannot belong to more than one political group; alternatively, they may choose not to join one and be “non-attached”. New groups can be created at any point during the parliamentary term.
There were seven political groups in the 2019-2024 term.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.MEPs will elect a new President of the European Parliament, vice-presidents and quaestors and take other important decisions about the organisation of their work, for example how many Members will sit in each parliamentary committee.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.The election of a new President of the European Parliament is the MEPs’ first task when they gather in plenary for the first time in July.
MEPs elect the President for a two-and-a-half year term (i.e., half of the parliamentary term) that is renewable.
Nominations can be made by either a political group or a group of MEPs that represent at least one twentieth of all MEPs (36 Members).
The vote is secret. The candidate who secures an absolute majority of the votes cast becomes President.
If none of the candidates wins an absolute majority after three rounds of voting, MEPs choose in the fourth round between the two leading candidates in the third round.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.After the election of the President of the institution, Parliament proceeds with the election of vice-presidents, followed by the election of quaestors.
Vice-presidents and quaestors are elected for two-and-a-half year terms, just like the President.
Nominations can be made by either a political group or a group of MEPs that represent at least one twentieth of all MEPs (36 Members).
The vote is secret and is held simultaneously for all candidates. Each MEP may cast as many votes as there are posts available. Candidates who secure an absolute majority of the votes cast are elected in the order of the number of votes obtained. If fewer than 14 candidates are elected in the first ballot, a second ballot is held under the same conditions.
If a third round of voting is necessary, those remaining candidates who win the highest number of votes fill in the rest of the seats.
The five quaestors are elected following the same process.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.MEPs will decide during the first plenary session on the number of members sitting in each parliamentary committee.
Political groups will then appoint full members and substitutes to the committees. The allocation of committee seats for each political group reflects the composition of the full Parliament.
At the first committee meetings, which will follow the first plenary meeting, committee members will elect chairs and vice-chairs for a period of two-and-a-half years.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.The President of the European Commission is nominated by the leaders of the EU countries who meet in the European Council. The successful candidate must earn the support of a majority of MEPs.
The European Parliament supports the lead candidate process, in which European political parties announce their candidates for the President of the European Commission prior to the elections.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.Electing the President of the European Commission is one of the first tasks of the new Parliament.
The candidate put forward by the EU leaders in the European Council is invited to make a statement in front of the MEPs and take part in a plenary debate with them. Then MEPs proceed with a secret vote.
To secure Parliament’s approval, the candidate needs to receive the support of at least half of all MEPs plus one. If the candidate does not secure the required majority, the European Council needs to propose another candidate.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.Once elected, the President of the European Commission selects Commissioners-designate based on nominations from each EU country and assigns different policy portfolios to them. There is one commissioner from each EU country.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.The European Parliament invites Commissioners-designate to public hearings to establish if they are suitable for the posts they are seeking to secure. Before each hearing, Parliament’s legal affairs committee examines the candidate’s declaration of interests.
The hearings are organised by the respective parliamentary committees and are streamed live. Candidates reply to written questions ahead of the meeting, make a short introduction at the start of the hearing and after that, answer oral questions from MEPs.
After the meeting, the chairs of the committees concerned and political group representatives meet to evaluate the performance of candidates. If they are not fully satisfied with a candidate, they may decide to ask more written questions seeking further answers or invite the candidate to another hearing. Then they prepare an evaluation letter that is submitted to the committee chairs and then to the President of the Parliament and the political group leaders.
Candidates who do not secure a positive evaluation from committees may withdraw and be replaced by others, selected again by the Commission President on a proposal by the EU countries involved. The new candidates also go through a hearing in Parliament.
The Parliament President and the group leaders analyse the process and the evaluation letters and on recommendation of the committee chairs may decide to close the hearing process.
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The address has been copied to your clipboard.Following the conclusion of the hearings, Parliament holds a plenary debate where the Commission President presents the full team of commissioners and its political priorities.
The President-elect of the Commission presents the whole team of Commissioners-designate and their programme at a sitting of Parliament. The presentation is followed by a debate.
Parliament votes on whether to give its consent to the appointment - as a body - of the President-elect and Commissioners-designate. The decision is taken by a majority of the votes cast.
Who selects the members of the European Commission?One of the first jobs of the new European Parliament after elections is to elect the President of the European Commission EU countries nominate a candidate, taking into account the European election results and possible nominations by European political parties.
Parliament assesses then votes on that person, who must get an absolute majority.
For the other 26 commissioner jobs the President-elect and EU countries make a list of candidates.
Each country gets one post.
Parliament checks candidates are up to the task in special hearings and holds a final vote to approve or reject the Commission as a whole.
MEPs must approve any changes in the Commission and have the power to dissolve it.
Democracy in action
European Parliament
MEPs’ contact details are available on Parliament’s MEPs pages. Search for individual MEPs by name or by country, political group or committee. MEPs’ pages contain their email addresses and their social media profiles.
The European Parliament is committed to working in full transparency.
All plenary sessions and most committee meetings are streamed live, while recordings of past meetings are available on Parliament’s Multimedia Centre.
The plenary webpage provides information on plenary agendas, adopted texts, minutes and results of electronic votes. The committees webpage offers access to meeting documents and files related to the work of committees.
Parliament also aims to keep Europeans informed about its work and communicates through different channels, including its liaison offices, website and social media.
Parliament has liaison offices in all EU capitals and regional offices in the largest EU countries. An expanding number of Europa Experience visitor centres across the EU aim to offer direct insight into how the EU makes a difference in people’s lives.
The News section of the website contains press releases and other materials for media, while the Topics section aims to explain Parliament’s work on concrete files and broader issues.
Parliament has social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok and other platforms.
You can also follow the work of individual MEPs - see above how to get in contact with them.
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