Portugal renews practically the entire delegation in the next term | European Parliament

Before voters confirm (or not) the polling trends at the polls, it is already possible to say, with certainty, that the next European Parliament will be very different from what it is now, with the departure of a series of “veterans” from the scene. of parliamentary work, in almost all political families.

The 9th legislature of the European Parliament will be the last for Czech MEP Jan Zahradil, who in 2019 ran for president of the European Commission as Spitzenkandidat of the group of European Conservatives and Reformists. The farewell comes after 20 years and four consecutive terms of “opposition to federalism”.

End of the line also for two Belgian tribunes who are some of the most influential voices in the hemicycle: the liberal Guy Verhofstadt, former prime minister and president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe for more than a decade; and ecologist Philippe Lamberts, co-president of the Greens since 2014, leave the scene after three consecutive terms.

Also leaving the French delegation after 15 years are Arnaud Danjean, a member of the Republicans and specialist in security and defense matters, and Karima Delli, the president of the Transport committee elected by the Greens. The first leaves the position disillusioned; the second does not start on its own, but by decision of the party.

The same happened to two influential Italian MEPs from the Democratic Party, Paolo De Castro, an agricultural expert, and Irene Tinagli, president of the Economic Affairs committee.

Italy and France are two of the countries with the most new candidates for the European Parliament. But no national delegation will change as radically as that of Portugal, where renewal in the next term will be almost total: on the lists of all political parties, it is difficult to find the name of “repeats”.

The exceptions are Lídia Pereira and Vasco Becker-Weinberg, MEPs from the PSD and CDS who are now running for the Democratic Alliance; José Gusmão and Anabela Rodrigues, from Bloco de Esquerda; Sandra Pereira and João Pimenta Lopes, from the CDU, and Francisco Assis from the PS (who was an MEP between 2004 and 2009 and again from 2014 to 2019).

If the projections are confirmed, only the social democrat Lídia Pereira and the socialist Francisco Assis will take office on the 16th of July. In the distribution of Portugal’s 21 mandates in the European Parliament, Europe Elects attributes eight to the PS, six to the AD, four to Chega and one to the Left Bloc, one to the CDU and one Liberal Initiative.

Which means that in the next legislature, the Portuguese delegation will have 19 members starting from scratch – a potential “handicap” in choosing the committees where they want to sit, in electing internal positions and distributing reports. In the European Parliament, seniority counts more than popularity.

In terms of turnover, the German delegation is the most “conservative”, with more than 60% of current MEPs guaranteed re-election.

In relation to parliamentary groups, the European People’s Party and the Socialists & Democrats are expected to replace half of the current bench in the next legislature. In the Greens, only a third of MEPs will be newcomers.

In the elections on June 9, the percentage of women elected to the European Parliament is expected to decrease for the first time since 1979, to fall below the current 40%. The percentage of MEPs under 40 years of age will also be below the current level: they should represent 16% of the total. The share of parliamentarians over 60 years old should remain identical, at 18% of the total.