Strasbourg - European parliamentarians elected in May will elect a new speaker on Wednesday after a deal is reached on the distribution of senior posts among leaders of the 28 EU member states.
The new deputies, who took office on Tuesday after a brief opening session in Strasbourg, will vote at 9 am on Wednesday in a secret ballot to elect a speaker to succeed Italian Antonio Taghani of the right-wing European People´s Party.
German Manfred Weber, chairman of the European Parliament´s largest party, the European Parliament´s largest party, and the defeated candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, said he was "ready to support" the candidate of the Social Democratic Group (the second bloc in parliament).
The list of four candidates published on Wednesday night does not include any candidate from the European People´s Party.
The four candidates are Italian Social Democrat David Sassouli, a European MP ten years ago, German environmentalist Ska Keller, Spanish Serra Rigo, who belongs to the far left bloc and Czech Governor Jan Zahradil.
And the presidency of the Parliament, which has set its mandate by two and a half years of positions being contested and sought by the major European political blocs to share, but less important in its view of the President of the European Commission.
European leaders Tuesday reached an agreement on key figures of EU leadership. They chose two women for two main posts - German Ursula von der Lien and European Commission president Christine Lagarde - to head the European Central Bank.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel inherited the presidency of the European Council, which includes the leaders of the 28 countries, while the name of the Spanish Socialist Josep Borrell appears on the table to take over the foreign affairs of the federation, replacing Federica Mugherini.
But for von der Lien, European lawmakers must approve her appointment at a meeting scheduled to take place within two weeks.
The candidate for the Presidency of the Union is required to obtain an absolute majority of votes, to win the office.
