You're listening to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on electing the European Parliament's president.

With the new European Parliament also comes a new president of the Chamber.

So while the current president, Antonio Tajani, prepares to leave,

one of the first things the newly elected members will need to do when they meet in plenary session at the beginning of July is to elect a new president.

But how does the election process work? Stay with us.

EP presidents used to be chosen for a period of one or two years, but since the first

election by universal suffrage in 1979, they're elected for a period of one or two years, but since the first election by universal

suffrage in 1979, they're elected for a renewable period of two and a half years.

So who can stand as a candidate?

Well, in principle, every member, as long as they are backed, either by a political group

or by a minimum of 38 MEPs, according to the current rules of procedure.

The election is held by secret ballot and the winner is the one who obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast, so 50% plus one.

Abstentions, blank or spoilt ballot papers are not counted.

If there is no winner after the first ballot, the same candidates or new candidates can be nominated for a second round of voting.

This can be repeated a third time if necessary, but if no one is elected at the third ballot, the two highest-scoring candidates go to a fourth ballot where the winner is the candidate who gets more votes than the other.

And in the event of a tie between those two, the older member is declared elected.

So, what is the role of the President?

Mirroring the increasingly influential role of the Parliament as a shaper of EU policies and co-legislator,

the President has an increasingly visible function in the EU institutional and international setting.

The President oversees the work of the House, its governing bodies and plenary debates,

and represents the Parliament in all legal affairs and external relations,

and at the start of every European Council meeting, sets out the EP's point of view on the topics on the agenda.

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