Malta’s Roberta Metsola Tapped to Lead European Parliament

(Bloomberg) -- Roberta Metsola, a lawmaker from the conservative European People’s Party, will replace the late David Sassoli as the next president of the European Parliament.

The Maltese politician who turned 43 Tuesday will assume the post for the next 2 1/2 years after getting 458 votes in the 705-member parliament.

EU lawmakers will have a busy year, with parliament playing a key role implementing the bloc’s new climate strategy for 2030. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has proposed more than a dozen draft laws aimed at cutting emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels.

“The European Green Deal and the pledge to be the first carbon free continent is the right answer,” Metsola told lawmakers in Strasbourg after the vote. “This is not only a necessity, and an urgency, but it is also an opportunity for Europe to take the lead to reinvent itself, to ensure growth, sustainability and prosperity, while reducing emissions.”

Abortion Stance

The election makes her the youngest president and the third woman in charge of EU legislators. Metsola joined the parliament in 2013 and has worked on migration, civil liberties, media freedom, rule of law and LGBTQ rights.

The vote comes days after Sassoli died in Italy following an immune system complication. Metsola, who became interim president, won against The Left group’s Sira Rego and the Greens/EFA group’s Alice Bah Kuhnke.

Metsola has drawn criticism for her stance against abortion rights. She voted in June against a report recognizing sexual and reproductive health issues, including access to safe and legal abortions, as a fundamental right. In the EU, only Malta doesn’t allow abortion under any circumstances, while Poland allows it only in very narrow situations. 

In her recent meetings with Renew and Socialists and Democrats parties, which didn’t put forward their own candidates, Metsola said she would defend the topic based on the majority position of the house, according to EPP Group Director of Press Pedro Lopez.

“I cannot deny that I am not happy with the way she voted on files including this issue in the past,” Maria Noichl, German MEP from Socialists and Democrats, said in written comments before the vote. “She has to fight for what the majority of the European Parliament stands for: reproductive freedom.”

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