Hans-Gert Poettering President of the European Parliament

Last Tuesday the members of the European Parliament (MEPs) elected Hans-Gert Poettering to be the new European Parliament President. Mr Poettering received 450 votes or 65.31 per cent of the valid votes and was elected in the first round of voting.

The absolute majority of votes required to achieve this was 345. Under Parliament's Rules of Procedure, a candidate must win an absolute majority of the valid votes cast, i.e. 50 per cent plus one.

The 61-year-old German Christian-Democrat will lead the European Parliament for two and a half years until the next European elections in June 2009. As president he will be the first to lead the Parliament, which now represents the citizens of 27 member states of the EU.

In his first reaction after his election Mr Poettering said: "The dignity of man, respect of law, and solidarity of the European peoples will be the principles of my engagement. Only if we work together, our peoples will have the possibility to defend its values and interests in the world.

"Whatever our political views, whatever our political ideals, our common will is to build an ever closer European Union. With all my force I want to serve the citizens of Europe, the European democracy and parliamentarism. I want to be a fair and objective president, and I hope you also judge my work in a fair and objective way."

Mr Poettering said that he would deliver his programme for his presidency in Strasbourg on February 13 at 10 a.m. A total of 715 votes were cast of which 26 were blank or invalid. The other candidates in the race were Jens-Peter Bonde (IND/DEM, DK), who obtained 46, Francis Wurtz (EUL/NGL, FR), who netted 48, and Monica Frassoni (Greens/EFA, IT), who did fairly well with 145.

Prior to the election, Mr Poettering, who has been an MEP since 1979, relinquished the presidency of the Group of the European People's Party and the European Democrats, which with 277 parliamentarians is the biggest group within the parliament. He was replaced by the Frenchman Joseph Daul.

The leader of the socialist group (PES), Martin Schulz, who is also German, thanked the other candidates for a "dignified campaign". He stressed the importance of neutrality for the newly elected President.

Mr Schulz pointed out that Mr Poettering had lost his father at the end of the Second World War and this had inspired Mr Poettering's career working for European re-unification. PES is the second largest group within the Parliament.

Former Presidents of the European Parliament
Paul Henri Spaak 1952-1954
Alcide de Gasperi 1954 - died in office
Giuseppe Pella 1954-1956
Hans Furler 1956-1958, 1960-1962
Robert Schuman 1958-1960
Gaetano Martino 1962-1964
Jean Duvieusart 1964-1965
Victor Leemans 1965-1966
Alain Poher 1966-1969
Mario Scelba 1969-1971
Walter Behrendt 1971-1973
Cornelis Berkhouwer 1973-1975
Georges Spénale 1975-1977
Emilio Colombo 1977-1979
Simone Veil 1979-1982
Piet Dankert 1982-1984
Pierre Pflimlin 1984-1987
Lord Plumb 1987-1989
Enrique Barõn Crespo 1989-1992
Egon A. Klepsch  1992-1994
Klaus Hänsch 1994-1997
José Maria Gil-Robles  1997 -1999
Nicole Fontaine 1999- 2002
Pat Cox 2002 - 2004
Josep Borrell Fontelles 2004-2007