EU leaders' fate will be in lawmakers' hands from Tuesday onwards as the European Parliament convenes for the first time since June elections, with a bolstered far right demanding more influence in the assembly.
Tuesday will be the first day that French MEP Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party, will head the newly formed Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament.
After elections in early June, this new faction, comprising 84 members from 12 countries with the RN contributing the largest share of 30 MEPs, surpassed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right bloc and became the third-largest group in the European Parliament.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has outraged his EU counterparts by visiting Russia and China, was due to address the parliament but his speech was postponed, officially because of a busy voting schedule. Hungary is currently heading the EU presidency.
Tensions are high in Europe as the 720 lawmakers start their five-year term, with current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's future on the line.
As war rages on Europe's doorstep, the bloc faces multiple challenges including a stagnant economy and growing global uncertainty, which the leaders will have to confront head-on after their election.
MEPs will vote on Tuesday for the president of the parliament based in Strasbourg, France, with the current speaker, 45-year-old Maltese conservative Roberta Metsola, expected to win another two-and-a-half-year mandate.
But all eyes will be on Thursday's vote when lawmakers decide whether to give von der Leyen another five years as commission chief.
Since EU leaders struck a hard-fought deal on her candidacy in late June, von der Leyen has been scrambling to win over lawmakers in the main political groups.
It could be a tight race. The polyglot German won by only nine votes in 2019.
"She needs to walk a fine line to get the support of different groups in the European Parliament," said Elizabeth Kuiper, associate director of the European Policy Centre think tank.
Von der Leyen must satisfy lawmakers who do not want the European Union to swerve from its focus on cutting carbon emissions to tackle climate change, while other MEPs want her to reduce the number of new environmental regulations.
(With newswires)
