The next steps concern the majority formation and allocation of the top jobs.

Once the European elections are over, the search for majorities begins in Brussels. On the one hand, this concerns the European Parliament, where the elections have roughly determined the balance of power, but a lot can still happen between now and the beginning of July as a result of the formation of the political groups. The EPP emerged as the strongest party in the election. In the meantime, it has been able to extend its lead over the Social Democrats by having more members join the group. The right-wing conservative ECR political group was also able to catch up. After the election, it was in fourth place, but has since overtaken the Liberals to become the third-largest political group.

Group formation in the European Parliament

4th July is the internal deadline for the formation of new political groups and major changes. This is important in order to be able to agree internally on how many and which posts are allocated to which political groups – from vice-presidents of the European Parliament to committee chairs, there are around 100 posts available. By and large, the distribution of posts should be based on the size of the political groups. However, in the last legislative period, the so-called "cordon sanitaire" agreed upon by the remaining political groups prevented members of the far-right ID group from occupying key positions. New groups can be formed or changes made at any time. However, the internal votes in June and July ensure that the group structure in the European Parliament is largely in place before the first week of the first plenary session (16th to 19th July).

Discussions about the top jobs continue

While majorities are being formed in the European Parliament, the European Council is discussing the so-called top jobs. This is traditionally done as a package and concerns the presidency of the European Commission, of the European Council and the post of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. At best, party membership and majority ratios, but also a balance in terms of country groups and gender, are taken into account. On 17th June, the EU heads of state and government met for the first time for an informal dinner to discuss the top jobs. No agreement was reached.

Apart from the top jobs, other powerful posts are part of the discussions among the heads of state and government, in particular the posts of vice-presidents of the European Commission. An agreement on the top jobs is now expected at the formal meeting of the European Council on 27th/28th June. As the European Council has the right to nominate the President of the European Commission, this step is a prerequisite for the election of the Commission President, which is expected to take place in the first plenary session of the European Parliament (16th-19th July).

First plenary session of the European Parliament

The presidency of the European Parliament, on the other hand, is not a classic part of the discussions about the top jobs. Instead, it has been customary for many years for the EPP and the PES, as the two largest European party families represented in Parliament, to divide the presidency into two and a half years each. The election of the President of the European Parliament will take place on the first day of the first plenary session (16th July). In addition, the Conference of Presidents – the Parliament President and the chairpersons of the political groups – votes on the committees and their size.

Cooperation between the political groups

It is currently still unclear how the political groups intend to work together in the coming parliamentary period. As the largest political group, the EPP is negotiating primarily with the Social Democrats and the Liberals – also to ensure sufficient support for its lead candidate Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President. However, talks may also take place with the Greens and parts of the ECR. In this complicated situation of interests, there is the idea of a coalition agreement to agree on some specific content in advance. The four political groups of the pro-European centre tried to reach such an agreement back in 2019 but were unsuccessful at the time.

Further steps

If the European Parliament elects a Commission President during its first session in July, the designated Commission President can put together the College of Commissioners over the summer following nominations of individual members by the Member States. The hearings of the designated Commissioners and the vote on the entire College by the European Parliament will then take place in the autumn.