MEPs will be electing a new President at their sitting on Tuesday to replace Spanish Socialist Josep Borrell, who has been in office since 2004.

The internal elections will also pick 14 vice presidents and 6 quaestors, who deal with administrative affairs.

The sitting will open under the chairmanship of the oldest MEP, Giovanni Berlinguer, an Italian Socialist born in 1924.

Each candidate will have five minutes to present themselves and their aspirations for the post to MEPs after which the 1st round begins:

MEPs mark one preferred candidate on the paper ballot and put it into one of the eight ballot boxes which will be in the hemicycle. The process will be overseen by eight tellers chosen by lots from among MEPs.

The candidate who gets 50 % + one vote of the valid paper ballots (an absolute majority), becomes new President.

In case none succeed in the first round, the whole process can be repeated twice. If no one succeeds in the third round, only the two most successful candidates from the third round will pass to the fourth ballot for a final run off. When elected, the new President will take the chair.

Hans-Gert Poettering, chairman of the European People's Party and European Democrats, the largest group in the Parliament, is said to be the most likely to succeed Josep Borrell.

The other candidates are Jens-Peter Bonde, Danish, chairman of the Independence and Democracy group, Monica Frassoni, Italian, chair of the Greens /European Free Alliance, Francis Wurtz, French, chair of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left.

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