Vice-President of the European Parliament
7th parliament
Table:
Members

Group

State

Votes

1
Gianni Pittella
S&D
Italy
319

2
Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez
S&D
Spain
295

3
Anni Podimata
S&D
Greece
281

4
Alejo Vidal-Quadras
EPP
Spain
269

5
Georgios Papastamkos
EPP
Greece
248

6
Roberta Angelilli
EPP
Italy
246

7
Othmar Karas
EPP
Austria
244

8
Edward McMillan-Scott
ALDE
United Kingdom
239

9
Isabelle Durant
Greens/EFA
Belgium
238

10
Alexander Alvaro
ALDE
Germany
235

11
Rainer Wieland
EPP
Germany
230

12
Oldřich Vlasák
ECR
Czech Republic
223

13
Jacek Protasiewicz
EPP
Poland
206

14
László Surján
EPP
Hungary
188

With reference to the table together with the background passages below.

Solve the question: What is the political orientation of the group that has the overall highest voted politician as member ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

Giovanni Saverio Furio Pittella ( born 19 November 1958 ) is an Italian politician who served as Leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group from 2014 to 2018 and Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) from Italy from 1999 to 2018 . He previously served as First Vice President of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2014 .
The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats ( S & D ) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists ( PES ) . The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist Group on 29 June 1953 which makes it the second oldest political group in the European Parliament after the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group ( ALDE ) . It adopted its present-day name on 23 June 2009 . Centre-left in orientation , the group mostly comprises social-democratic parties and is affiliated with the Progressive Alliance . Until the 1999 European Parliament elections , it was the largest group in the Parliament , but since then it has always been the second-largest group . During the 8th EU Parliament Assembly , the S & D was the only Parliament group with representation from all 27 EU member states . In the current EU Parliament the S & D is currently composed of 147 members from 25 member states . In the European Council , 8 out of 27 Heads of State and Government belong to the S & D Group and in the European Commission , 8 out of 27 Commissioners come from PES parties .
Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez ( born 30 January 1940 , in Madrid ) is a Spanish politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party , part of the Party of European Socialists . Martínez Martínez is a Vice Chair of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly . He was the first full-time and paid Secretary General of the International Falcon Movement - Socialist Education International the children 's international of the Socialist Group ( 1966-1972 ) , Vice-President of the WEU Assembly ( 1986-1996 ) . Vice-President ( 1983-1992 ) and President ( 1992-1996 ) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe . He also represented Ciudad Real Province in the Spanish Congress of Deputies from 1977 to 1999 .
Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca ( born 20 May 1945 in Barcelona ) is a Spanish politician and radiation physicist who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2014 , and served as First Vice President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007 . He was elected on the People 's Party ticket and sat with the European People 's Party group . In 2014 he announced that he was leaving the People 's Party for Vox . He was the front-runner for Vox in the 2014 European Election , but the party failed to win a seat . In addition to serving in the European parliament , he has occupied several elected positions in Spain : he was a member of the Barcelona City Council ( 1987-1991 ) , member of the Parliament of Catalonia ( 1988-1996 ) and Senator in the Spanish Senate ( 1996-1999 ) .
The European People 's Party group ( EPP Group ) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies ( MEPs ) from the member parties of the European People 's Party ( EPP ) . It sometimes includes independent MEPs and/or deputies from unaffiliated national parties . The EPP Group comprises politicians of Christian-democratic , conservative and liberal-conservative orientation . The European People 's Party was officially founded as a European political party in 1976 . However , the European People 's Party group in the European Parliament has existed in one form or another since June 1953 , from the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community , making it one of the oldest European level political groups . It has been the largest political group in the European Parliament since 1999 .
Georgios Papastamkos ( Greek : Γεώργιος Παπαστάμκος ) ( born 5 March 1955 in Platanorrevma , West Macedonia ) is a Greek politician and was a Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) from 2004 to 2014 for New Democracy ; part of the European People 's Party .
Roberta Angelilli ( born 1 February 1965 in Rome ) is an Italian politician . She has been a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2014 . She served also as Vice President of the European Parliament from 1 July 2009 to 1 July 2014 . In 2014 she was candidate for MEP with the New Centre-Right - Union of the Centre , but she was not re-elected . Roberta Angelilli was again a candidate for MEP in 2019 on the Brothers of Italy list , but she was not elected even on this occasion .
Othmar Karas ( born 24 December 1957 ) is an Austrian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) since 1999 . He is a member of the Austrian People 's Party ( ÖVP ) , which in turn affiliates with the European People 's Party . Karas sits on the European Parliament 's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect . Between 2012 and 2014 , he was one of the vice presidents of the European Parliament . Since the 2019 elections , he has been again serving as one of its vice-presidents ; in this capacity , he is part of the Parliaments leadership under President David Sassoli .
Edward Hugh Christian McMillan-Scott ( born 15 August 1949 ) is a British politician . He was a Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) for Yorkshire and the Humber constituency . He was elected four times as European Parliament Vice-President , 2004-2014 : his main portfolio was Human Rights and Democracy . He was first elected as an MEP in 1984 . McMillan-Scott was a Conservative until his protest over the move of the Conservatives after the June 2009 European elections from the majority , centrist European People 's Party ( EPP ) to the eurosceptic parliamentary group , the European Conservatives and Reformists . After sitting as an Independent MEP ( non-attached ) he joined the Liberal Democrats in March 2010 . On 22 November 2014 he was voted a Patron of the UK 's only pro-European membership organisation , the non-party European Movement at its London AGM . [ citation needed ] In May 2017 he was invited to fight the West Worcestershire parliamentary seat during the snap General Election for the Liberal Democrats . His home is near Pershore , Worcestershire , where his family moved from Yorkshire in the 18th century . McMillan-Scott was leader of the Conservative MEPs 1997-2001 . He was re-elected top of the Yorkshire & Humber regional list in the 2009 election . McMillan-Scott is a lifelong pro-European .
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe ( ALDE ; French : Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe , ADLE ) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties , the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party . ALDE has political groups in the European Parliament , the EU Committee of the Regions , the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly . There are assorted independents in these groups as well as national-level affiliate parties of the European-level parties . The pro-European platform of ALDE espouses liberal economics , and support for European integration and the European single market .
Isabelle A.J . Durant ( born 4 September 1954 ) is a Belgian politician , member of the Ecolo party . She has been serving as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ) since 2017 .
The Greens/European Free Alliance ( Greens/EFA ) is the political group of the European Parliament composed primarily of green and regionalist political parties . Formed following the 1999 European elections for the 5th European Parliament , the Greens/EFA group now consists of three distinct European political parties , namely the larger European Green Party ( EGP ) and the European Free Alliance ( EFA ) and the smaller European Pirate Party . The EFA consists of parties representing stateless nations , regionalist and minority political interests . The group has generally limited its membership to progressive parties . These European parties are joined by MEPs from non-aligned national parties , which have included the Dutch Europe Transparent ( 2004-2009 ) and the Swedish ( 2009-2014 ) , German ( 2014- ) and Czech ( 2019- ) Pirate Parties .
Alexander Nuno Alvaro ( born 26 May 1975 ) is a German politician and was a Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) with the Free Democratic Party of Germany , which is part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe . During his first mandate he worked in the European Parliament 's Committee on Civil Liberties , Justice and Home Affairs ; he was a substitute for the Committee on Legal Affairs , a member of the delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council and a substitute for the delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand . During his second mandate , he became Vice-President of the Committee on Budgets , member of the Committee on Civil Liberties , Justice and Home Affairs , of the Special committee on the policy challenges and budgetary resources for a sustainable European Union after 2013 , and of the Delegation for relations with Iran and Spokesman of the ALDE group for Home Affairs . Alvaro was also involved in many European dossiers and campaigns , initiating the Oneseat campaign ( Oneseat.eu ) with Swedish Minister for European affairs and ex-MEP Cecilia Malmstrom , dealing with the American Government on the Swift International EU-US Treaty , and defending civil liberties on legislative projects such as ACTA . On 22 February 2013 , Alvaro was involved in a car crash in which the vehicle Alvaro was driving struck another car . Alvaro was badly injured and the driver in the other vehicle was killed though it is not known if he had already died before due to an accident which happened before . Two more passengers in the other car were badly injured . Alvaro spent time in a coma , was hospitalised for several months and returned to Parliament in September . He was founder and board member of EU40 www.eu40.eu , the associations of MEPs and EU officials under the age of 40 , aiming at enhancing trans-partisan generation-based EU policies .
Rainer Wieland ( born 19 February 1957 ) is a German politician and member of the European Parliament for Germany . He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union , part of the European People 's Party .
Oldřich Vlasák ( born 26 November 1955 ) is a conservative politician who advocates for the interests of self-governing municipalities , cities and regions . He served as Vice-President of the European Parliament between 2012 and 2014 .
The European Conservatives and Reformists ( ECR ) is a Eurosceptic , anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament . The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party ( ECR Party ) European political party ( formerly known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe ( 2016-2019 ) or Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists ( 2009-2016 ) ) , but also includes MEPs from four other European parties and thirteen MEPs without European party affiliation . The group focuses on reforming the European Union ( EU ) on the basis of Eurorealism as opposed to total rejection of the EU ( anti-EU-ism ) . The ECR was founded around the Movement for European Reform after the 2009 European elections at the behest of British Conservative Party leader David Cameron . Currently it is the sixth-largest group in the European Parliament with 61 MEPs from 15 countries . The group is considered right-wing . The largest party in the group by number of MEPs is the Law and Justice ( PiS ) of Poland .
Jacek Protasiewicz ( born 5 June 1967 in Brzeg ) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) for the Lower Silesian Voivodship & Opole Voivodship with the Civic Platform , part of the European People 's Party and sits on the European Parliament 's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs . Vice President of the European Parliament since 17 January 2012 . Protasiewicz is a substitute for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and a member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of south-east Europe . In February 2014 at the Frankfurt Airport Jacek Protasiewicz was taken under temporary custody , after allegedly insulting customs officials while allegedly drunk .
László Surján ( born 7 September 1941 in Kolozsvár , ( now Cluj-Napoca , Romania ) is a Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament ( MEP ) with the FIDESZ from 2004 to 2014 . Surján was a substitute for the Committee on Regional Development and a vice-chair of the Delegation to the EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee . He was a signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism .