Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament, during the EP plenary session (16-19 January) in Strasbourg. Statements by Martin SCHULZ, EP President, Laurențiu REBEGA (ENF, RO), Jean LAMBERT (Greens/EFA, UK), Eleonora FORENZA (GUE/NGL, IT), Helga STEVENS (ECR, BE), Gianni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT)Antonio TAJANI (EPP, IT). Atmosphere shots during the vote and as a result, Antonio TAJANI, is elected President of the EP. Statement by&nbsp;&nbsp;Antonio TAJANI, EP President. Election of EP Vice-President

TAJANI, Antonio (EPP, IT)

Strasbourg

plenary session

STEVENS, Helga (ECR, BE)

vote

PITTELLA, Gianni (S&D, IT)

LAMBERT, Jean (Greens/EFA, UK)

REBEGA, Laurenţiu (ECR, RO)

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

FORENZA, Eleonora (GUE/NGL, IT)

election of the President of the European Parliament (T)

election of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament (T)

Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament: Best of

(Monday 16/1/2017) SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President: I received the following candidatures for the office of President of the EP: Eleonora Forenza (European United Left-Nordic Green Left Group, Italy) Jean Lambert, (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, UK), Gianni Pittella, (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group, Italy), Laurenţiu Rebega, (Europe of Nations and Freedom Group, Romania), Helga Stevens, (European Conservatives and Reformists Group, Belgium), Antonio Tajani, European People&rsquo;s Party Group (Italy) and Guy Verhofstadt, (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Belgium).

(Tuesday 16/01/2017) Atmosphere at the hemicycle before the vote starts. Arrival and installation of some of the candidates: Jean Lambert (Greens), Antonio Tajani (EPP), Helga Stevens (ECR), Gianni Pittella (S&amp;D), Eleonora Forenza (GUE).

SOUNDBITE (Romanian), Laurențiu REBEGA (ENF, RO): We request more democracy and more transparency within the EP. We seek respect for the millions of citizens who voted for our candidates.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jean LAMBERT (Greens/EFA, UK): Parliament needs to change. The apparent ending of the grand coalition gives an opportunity to demonstrate that we can shift away from electing a usual suspect.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Eleonora FORENZA (GUE/NGL, IT): The grand coalition is dead, we hear, but actually, more than anything else it's remained orphan, because none of the three groups that it was made up of, or the outgoing presidents, are taking responsibility for it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Helga STEVENS (ECR, BE), (in sign language): I stand here with a clear purpose: to make sure that every voice matters in this Parliament, that every MEP , every one of you has equal power.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Gianni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT): I&rsquo;m standing to be President of the EP because I want to see a braver Europe, a stronger Parliament given the major challenges that we face in the world.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Antonio TAJANI (EPP, IT): I don&rsquo;t have a manifesto to present to the Parliament&rsquo;s presidency. Because the President of the Parliament can&rsquo;t have a personal manifesto. My manifesto is the programme decided by the EP, subsequent to the inter-institutional agreement with the Council and Commission. Applause.

EP President Martin SCHULZ opens the vote (first ballot)

Atmosphere shots during the vote, some of the candidates and also EP president SCHULZ, voting.

SOUNDBITE (German), Martin SCHULZ, EP President, after third ballot: As no candidate has achieved an absolute majority of the votes cast, this bring us to a fourth round. In the fourth round only the two candidates that got the highest votes in the third round will continue. So, according to the alphabetical order, that is Mr Pittella and Mr Tajani.

EP President opens of the forth and last ballot, atmosphere shots from the vote. The two candidates Gianni PITTELLA and Antonio TAJANI voting.

President announces the end of the vote. Antonio TAJANI and Gianni PITTELLA hug each other right before the announce of the results of the vote. Applause

EP President announces the result of the vote. Gianni Pittella (S&amp;D, IT) obtains 282 and Antonio Tajani (EPP, IT) 351 votes. Applause. Mr Tajani stands up. Martin SCHULZ proclaims Antonio TAJANI EP President and invites him to take the Chair. Applause

Antonio TAJANI, newly elected President gets to the tribune, greetings  to Martin SCHULZ who takes a seat in the hemicycle. Applause from the chamber. Mr TAJANI takes the Chair of the Plenary Session.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Antonio TAJANI, EP President: For all those who suffer, we have to work hard; I think this is a common feeling among all of us and the best message we can send to our citizens from here today. Applause

EP President Antonio TAJANI opens the vote for the posts of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the EP

EP President Antonio TAJANI announces the result of the first ballot: the following have obtained absolute majority: Mairead McGuinness, Bogusław Liberadzki, David Sassoli, Rainer Wieland, Sylvie Guillaume, Ryszard Czarnecki, Ram&oacute;n Luis Valcarcel Siso, Evelyne Gebhardt, Pavel Telička, Ildik&oacute; Gall-Pelcz. The elected candidates are congratulated.

EP Vice-President David-Maria SASSOLI announing the opening of the second ballot, atmosphere from the vote.

EP President Antonio TAJANI announcing the results of the second ballot: candidates Pas&ccedil;u, Papadimoulis, Lambsdorff, Lunacek have obtained the absolute majority of the votes expressed, and are elected. The colleagues are congratulated.