A new Parliament, a new Commission

On 23-26 May 2019, more than 200,000,000 voters in 28 EU countries went to the polls to elect the members of the European Parliament. The new president of the Parliament is David Sassoli (Italian Partito Democratico). He is elected for a period of 2.5 year. They in turn voted on 16 July 2019 to elect Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission. She put a team together based on nominees from national capitals - commissioners-designate - whose competence and abilities MEPs examined in a series of parliamentary committee hearings from September to November 2019. On 27 November 2019, the European Parliament approved the new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen. Mariya Gabriel (Bulgaria) will be responsible for education, within a larger portfolio (Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth).