Dacian Cioloș, former Romanian Prime Minister | Robert Ghement/EPA-EFE Ex-Romanian prime minister to lead centrist Renew Europe group Dacian Cioloș was elected on Wednesday, defeating Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld.

Renew Europe, the new centrist-liberal group in the European Parliament, elected former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș as its leader on Wednesday after a brief, bitter contest.

Cioloș, who has strong ties to France, had won the endorsement of French President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance delegation as well as Ciudadanos, the Spanish liberal party. He was elected with 64 votes against 42, defeating Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld, who had the endorsement of Britain's Liberal Democrats.

The election on Wednesday means the leaders of the three main pro-EU political groups are now in place, allowing negotiations on other positions and policy platforms to move forward at a quicker pace.

On Tuesday, the Socialists elected Spanish MEP Iratxe García as their new leader, while the center-right European People's Party had quickly reelected German Manfred Weber.

Swedish MEP Frederick Federley dropped out of the race to lead Renew Europe on Tuesday after it was clear that Cioloș had secured enough votes to win.

Renew Europe is a joint venture of Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the leader of Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera, as well as former members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), including the current group leader, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt.

Cioloș — a trained economist who served as Romania's prime minister from November 2015 to early January 2017 and as the EU's agriculture commissioner from 2010 to 2014 — emerged as the front-runner after Nathalie Loiseau, the former French Europe minister and leader of Macron's delegation, self-destructed by antagonizing rank-and file members during initial strategy meetings.

Loiseau congratulated Cioloș on Twitter after the result.

Verhofstadt is aiming to become Parliament president. That vote is expected during the first week of July, when the new Parliament convenes for its first plenary. EU leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday for a summit focused on filling all of the EU's top leadership posts, including Commission president and Council president.