European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was interviewed by TIME Magazine’s Adam Rasmi, detailing the President’s career in the position and her upcoming goals and aims. 

“When Metsola was first sworn in as President of the European Parliament, she could hardly have anticipated the two events that have defined her tenure.”

“Somebody asked me on the day of my election, ‘What will you do?’” she is quoted in saying, pointing to priorities like rolling out the E.U.’s COVID-19 recovery package, focusing on the European Green Deal, and pushing to overhaul the bloc’s asylum and migration rules.

The article highlights the launching of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as well as Qatargate 10 months later as the two key moments of Metsola’s presidency. 

But there’s reason to believe the European Parliament’s powers will continue to grow, even if the more sweeping proposals don’t come to pass. A lot has changed since the days when Metsola first got involved in European politics some two decades ago, when the institution’s work was more easily dismissed. “Now, [MEPs] are called legislators, in all areas,” she says. “And if we are not, we fight for it.”

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