The faces of the European Parliament 2007-09.
Date: 2008-08-22
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Parliament, Member of the European Parliament, operation of the Institutions, powers of the institutions (EU)

The faces of the 
European Parliament 
2007–09

Contents

■	 Introduction by the President  
■	 The European Parliament 
  ■	 The President of the European Parliament  
  ■	 The MEPs and the political groups   
■	 Political bodies   
  ■	 The Conference of Presidents  
  ■	 Members of the Conference of Presidents 
  ■	 Bureau 
  ■	 Quaestors 
  ■	 Parliament’s Bureau 

■	 Parliamentary committees 
  ■	 Standing committees and their chairpersons 
  ■	 Temporary committee 

■	 Delegations  
  ■	 Delegations and their chairpersons 
  ■	 Parliamentary assemblies 

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■	 The Secretariat 

■	 Organisational chart of the European Parliament 

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Introduction by 
Introduction by 
the President
the President

Dear reader,

The European Parliament speaks on behalf of nearly 500 mil-
lion  European  citizens  from  the  27  Member  States  of  the 
European  Union.  It  is  your  Parliament,  where  the  Members 
whom you have directly elected represent your interests and 
do much to shape our common future.

Since its origins as a purely consultative assembly in the early 
days of European integration, the European Parliament, as it is 
now called, has developed greatly. For the purpose of adopt-
ing  legislation,  it  now  essentially  enjoys  equal  powers  with 
the  Council  of  Ministers,  in  which  the  governments  of  the 
Member  States  are  represented.  Members  of  the  European 
Parliament have secured a share of the power to make deci-
sions on the European Union’s budget. In addition, Parliament 
plays an important role in the appointment of the European 
Commission,  which  can  take  offi  ce  only  with  its  consent. 

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Once in offi  ce, the Commission — the executive branch — 
has  its  actions  scrutinised  by  the  European  Parliament. The 
Reform Treaty further enhances the powers of the European 
Parliament and thus the rights of European citizens.

The European Union represents a unique model of life and so-
ciety. It is based on equal rights and solidarity. Its foundation 
is our common values, particularly respect for human dignity, 
freedom, democracy and compliance with the law. The Eur-
opean  Parliament  defends  these  rights  beyond  the  borders 
of the European Union, all over the world. In many countries, 
even outside the European Union, the voice of the European 
Parliament has considerable moral authority.

The  Berlin  Declaration,  adopted  on  the  50th  anniversary  of 
the signature of the Treaties of Rome, states: ‘We are, for our 
greater happiness, united’. We are leaving behind us a past in 
which European history was blighted by war, and looking to 
the future, for which we in the European Union now have a 
shared responsibility and in which we shall realise our ideals 
and values.

Only together can we overcome the challenges of the future, 
for example fi nd ways of defending our ideal of society, ensur-
ing growth and employment, protecting the climate and the 
environment, and combating terrorism and organised crime.

At the next European elections in 2009, all citizens of the Eur-
opean Union will be able to elect Members who will repre-
sent their interests in Europe and the world at large. I hope 
that you will take advantage of that opportunity and vote for 
Europe, as it is there that our shared future lies.

Hans-Gert Pöttering 
President of the European Parliament

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■	 The European 
Parliament

The  European  Parliament  is  the  parliamentary  institution  of 
the European Union. The present Parliament has 785 mem-
bers  from  all  27  EU  countries.  Nearly  one  third  of  them  are 
women.  The  European  Parliament,  whose  seat  is  in  Stras-
bourg,  has  three  places  of  work:  Brussels,  Luxembourg  and 
Strasbourg. 

The President of the  
European Parliament

The President of the European Parliament is elected for a re-
newable term of two and a half years, i.e. half the lifetime of 
a Parliamentary term. The President represents the European 
Parliament vis-à-vis the outside world and in its relations with 
the  other  Community  institutions.  The  President  chairs  the 
plenary  sittings  of  Parliament,  the  Bureau  of  Parliament  (in-
cluding 14 Vice-Presidents) and the Conference of Presidents 
of political groups.

Presidents of the European Parliament  
(1958–2009)

1958 –1960

Robert Schuman

1960 –1962

Hans Furler

1962 –1964

Gaetano Martino

1964 –1965

Jean Duvieusart

1965 –1966

Victor Leemans

1966 –1969

Alain Poher

1969 –1971

Mario Scelba

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1971 –1973

Walter Behrendt

1973 –1975

Cornelis Berkhouwer

1975 –1977

Georges Spénale

1977 –1979

Emilio Colombo

1979 –1982

Simone Veil

1982 –1984

Pieter Dankert

1984 –1987

Pierre Pﬂ imlin

1987 –1989

Lord Plumb

1989 –1992

Enrique Barón Crespo

1992 –1994

Egon Klepsch

1994 –1997

Klaus Hänsch

1997 –1999

José María Gil-Robles

1999 –2002

Nicole Fontaine

2002 –2004

Pat Cox

2004 –2007

Josep Borrell Fontelles

2007 –…

Hans-Gert Pöttering

The MEPs and the political groups

The  Members  of  the  European  Parliament  (MEPs)  sit  in  pol-
itical  groups  —  these  are  not  organised  by  nationality,  but 
by  political  affi  liation.  A  political  group  comprises Members 
elected in at least one fi fth of the EU countries and has a mi-
nimum  of  20  Members.  There  are  currently  seven  political 
groups in the European Parliament. Members who do not be-
long to any of the groups are known as ‘non-attached Mem-
bers’. Political groups have their own staff  and the Members 
have parliamentary assistants. 

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ROBERT SCHUMAN

 
 
List of political groups  

1. Group of the European People’s Party 

(Christian Democrats) and 
European Democrats (EPP-ED)

2. Socialist Group in the European Parliament (PES)

3. Group of the Alliance of Liberals and 

Democrats for Europe (ALDE)

4. Union for Europe of the Nations Group (UEN)

5. Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance

(Greens/EFA)

6. Confederal Group of the 

European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)

7.

Independence/Democracy Group (IND/DEM)

Non-attached Members — ‘non-inscrits’ (NI)  

NI

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The make-up of the European Parliament

285 
EPP-ED

215 
PES

44
UEN

102
ALDE

41
GUE/
NGL

42
Greens/
EFA

32
NI

NI

24
IND/
DEM

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Distribution of seats by political groups and Member States

EPP-
ED

PES

ALDE

UEN

Greens/
EFA

GUE/
NGL

IND/
DEM

NI 

Total

Belgium (BE)

Bulgaria (BG)

Czech Republic (CZ)

Denmark (DK)

Germany (DE)

Estonia (EE)

Ireland (IE)

Greece (EL)

Spain (ES)

France (FR)

Italy (IT)

Cyprus (CY)

Latvia (LV)

Lithuania (LT)

Luxembourg (LU)

Hungary (HU)

Malta (MT)

Netherlands (NL)

Austria (AT)

Poland (PL)

Portugal (PT)

Romania (RO)

Slovenia (SI)

Slovakia (SK)

Finland (FI)

Sweden (SE)

1

4

13

4

2

20

6

5

14

1

49

1

5

11

24

17

24

3

3

2

3

13

2

7

6

15

9

15

4

8

4

6

7

5

2

5

23

3

1

8

24

31

15

2

1

9

3

7

7

9

12

10

1

3

3

5

6

5

4

7

2

1

2

11

14

1

1

7

1

2

5

1

5

6

2

5

3

United Kingdom (UK)

28

19

11

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13

3

6

2

1

1

4

2

1

1

5

3

3

1

7

3

2

2

4

3

4

24

18

24

14

99

6

13

24

54

78

78

6

9

13

6

24

5

27

18

54

24

35

7

14

14

19

78

6

1

7

1

4

1

3

7

2

2

3

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

3

2

3

2

10

   Total

285

215

102

44

42

41

24

32

785

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■	 Political bodies

The Conference of Presidents

The Conference of Presidents is made up of the chairs of the 
political groups and the President of the European Parliament. 
t organises practical aspects of Parliament’s work and decides 
on all questions relating to legislative planning, including: 

•  the timetable and agenda for plenary sittings; 
•  the composition of the committees and delegations, and 

their remits; 
legislative programming.

• 

It also has an important role to play in the relations between 
the  European  Parliament  and  the  other  Community  institu-
tions, third countries and extra-Community organisations.

Members of the Conference 
of Presidents

President and chairpersons
of the political groups

Hans-Gert PÖTTERING 
President 

EPP-ED, DE

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Joseph DAUL 
Chairman of the Group of the European 
People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and 
European Democrats

EPP-ED, FR

Martin SCHULZ 
Chairman of the Socialist Group in the 
European Parliament

PES, DE

Graham WATSON 
Chairman of the Group of the Alliance of 
Liberals and Democrats for Europe

ALDE, UK

Brian CROWLEY 
Co-chairman of the Union for Europe of the 
Nations Group   

UEN, IE

Cristiana MUSCARDINI 
Co-chairman of the Union for Europe of the 
Nations Group 

UEN,  IT

Monica FRASSONI 
Co-chairman of the Group of the Greens/
European Free Alliance

Greens/EFA, IT  
Greens/EFA, IT  
Greens/EFA, IT  

Daniel COHN-BENDIT 
Co-chairman of the Group of the Greens/
European Free Alliance

Greens/EFA, DE  
Greens/EFA, DE  
Greens/EFA, DE  

Francis WURTZ 
Chairman of the Confederal Group of the 
European United Left/Nordic Green Left

GUE/NGL, FR

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Jens-Peter BONDE 
Jens-Peter BONDE 
Co-chairman of Independence/Democracy 
Co-chairman of Independence/Democracy 
Group
Group

IND/DEM, DK

Nigel Paul FARAGE 
Nigel Paul FARAGE 
Nigel Paul FARAGE 
Co-chairman of Independence/Democracy 
Co-chairman of Independence/Democracy 
Group
Group

IND/DEM, UK

Irena BELOHORSKÁ
Irena BELOHORSKÁ
Irena BELOHORSKÁ
Observer for the Non-attached Members
Observer for the Non-attached Members

NI, SK

Bureau

The Bureau is made up of the President of the European Par-
liament, the 14 Vice-Presidents and the six Quaestors with ob-
server status, elected by the assembly for a renewable period 
of two and a half years.

It guides Parliament’s internal functioning, including: 

•  the European Parliament’s budget estimates; 
•  administrative and ﬁ nancial organisation; 
•  the Secretariat and its sub-departments.

Quaestors

They are responsible for administrative and fi nancial matters of 
direct concern to Members. The six Quaestors sit on the Bureau
in an advisory capacity. They ensure that Members have the 
infrastructure necessary to exercise their mandate. 

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Parliament’s Bureau 

President

Hans-Gert PÖTTERING

EPP-ED, DE  

Vice-Presidents

Rodi KRATSA-TSAGAROPOULOU

EPP-ED, EL

Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS

EPP-ED, ES

Gérard ONESTA

Greens/EFA, FR
Greens/EFA, FR
Greens/EFA, FR

Edward McMILLAN-SCOTT

EPP-ED, UK

Mario MAURO

EPP-ED, IT

Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ

PES, ES

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Luigi COCILOVO
Luigi COCILOVO

ALDE, IT 

Mechtild ROTHE
Mechtild ROTHE

PES, DE

Luisa MORGANTINI
Luisa MORGANTINI

GUE/NGL, IT

Martine ROURE
Martine ROURE

PES, FR

Manuel António dos SANTOS
Manuel António dos SANTOS

PES, PT

Diana WALLIS
Diana WALLIS

ALDE, UK 

Marek SIWIEC
Marek SIWIEC

PES, PL

Adam BIELAN
Adam BIELAN

UEN, PL

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Quaestors

James NICHOLSON

EPP-ED, UK

Astrid LULLING

EPP-ED, LU

Mia DE VITS

PES, BE

Ingo FRIEDRICH

EPP-ED, DE

Szabolcs FAZAKAS

PES, HU

Jan MULDER

ALDE, NL

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■	 Parliamentary 
committees

Preparatory  work  for  the  Parliament’s  plenary  sittings  takes 

place in Parliament’s 20 committees which cover everything 

from  women’s  rights  to  health  and  consumer  protection.  A 

committee  consists  of  between  28  and  86  MEPs,  and  has  a 

chair, a bureau and a secretariat. Parliament can also set up 

subcommittees and temporary committees to deal with spe-

cifi c issues, and committees of inquiry under its supervisory 

remit.  

Standing committees and their 
chairpersons

■	 Committee on Foreign Aﬀ  airs 

Jacek SARYUSZ-WOLSKI (EPP-ED, PL)

■	 Subcommittee on Human Rights 
Hélène FLAUTRE (Greens/EFA, FR)

■	 Subcommittee on Security and Defence 

Karl VON WOGAU (EPP-ED, DE)

■	 Committee on Development 

Josep BORRELL FONTELLES (PES, ES)

■	 Committee on International Trade  
Helmuth MARKOV (GUE/NGL, DE)

■	 Committee on Budgets 
Reimer BÖGE (EPP-ED, DE)

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■	 Committee on Budgetary Control 

Herbert BÖSCH (PES, AT)

■	 Committee on Economic and Monetary Aﬀ  airs 

Pervenche BERÈS (PES, FR)

■	 Committee on Employment and Social Aﬀ  airs 

Jan ANDERSSON (PES, SE)

■	 Committee on the Environment,

Public Health and Food Safety 

Miroslav OUZKÝ (EPP-ED, CZ)

■	 Committee on Industry, Research and Energy 

Angelika NIEBLER (EPP-ED, DE)

■	 Committee on the Internal Market 

and Consumer Protection 

Arlene McCARTHY (PES, UK)

■	 Committee on Transport and Tourism 

Paolo COSTA (ALDE, IT)

■	 Committee on Regional Development 

Gerardo GALEOTE (EPP-ED, ES)

■	 Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development 

Neil PARISH (EPP-ED, UK)

■	 Committee on Fisheries 

Philippe MORILLON (ALDE, FR)

■	 Committee on Culture and Education 

Katerina BATZELI (PES, EL)

■	 Committee on Legal Aﬀ  airs 

Giuseppe GARGANI (EPP-ED, IT)

■	 Committee on Civil Liberties, 

Justice and Home Aﬀ  airs 

Jean-Marie CAVADA (ALDE, FR)

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■	 Committee on Constitutional Aﬀ  airs 

Jo LEINEN (PES, DE)

■	 Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality 

Anna ZÁBORSKÁ (EPP-ED, SK)

■	 Committee on Petitions 
Marcin LIBICKI (UEN, PL)

Temporary committee 

■	 Temporary Committee on Climate Change

Guido SACCONI (PES, IT)

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■	 Delegations

Relations with countries outside the European Union are vital 
for the European Parliament. It therefore has a series of dele-
gations which interact with the parliaments of countries that 
are not members of the European Union. They play an impor-
tant role in helping to develop Europe’s inﬂ uence abroad. 

There are diff erent types of delegations: 
• 

interparliamentary delegations, whose task is to maintain 
relations  with  the  parliaments  of  countries  outside  the 
European Union that have not applied for membership;
joint parliamentary committees, which maintain contact 
with the parliaments of countries that are candidates for 
accession to the European Union and states that have as-
sociation agreements with the Community;
the  European  Parliament’s  delegation  to  the  ACP–EU 
Joint  Parliamentary  Assembly,  linking  MEPs  and  parlia-
mentarians from African, Caribbean and Paciﬁ c states;
the European Parliament delegation to the Euro-Mediter-
ranean Parliamentary Assembly (Euromed);
the  European  Parliament  delegation  to  the  Euro-Latin 
American Parliamentary Assembly (Eurolat).

• 

• 

• 

• 

Delegations and their chairpersons 
■	 EU–Croatia

Pál SCHMITT (EPP-ED, HU)

■	 EU–Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 

Antonios TRAKATELLIS (EPP-ED, EL)

■	 EU–Turkey

Joost LAGENDIJK (Greens/EFA, NL)

■	 EU–Mexico 

Erika MANN (PES, DE)

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■	 EU–Chile

Giusto CATANIA (GUE/NGL, IT)

■	 Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and European 

Economic Area (EEA)
Diana WALLIS (ALDE, UK)

■	 Russia 

Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN (EPP-ED, NL)

■	 South-East Europe  

Doris PACK (EPP-ED, DE)

■	 Ukraine

Adrian SEVERIN (PES, RO)

■	 Moldova 

Marianne MIKKO (PES, EE)

■	 Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, 

Turkmenistan and Mongolia  
Ona JUKNEVIČIENĖ (ALDE, LT)

■	 Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia 

Marie Anne ISLER BÉGUIN (Greens/EFA, FR)

■	 Belarus 

Bogdan KLICH (EPP-ED, PL)

■	 Israel  

Jana HYBÁŠKOVÁ (EPP-ED, CZ)

■	 Palestinian Legislative Council  

Kyriacos TRIANTAPHYLLIDES (GUE/NGL, CY)

■	 Maghreb 

Luisa Fernanda RUDI UBEDA (EPP-ED, ES)

■	 Mashreq 

Béatrice PATRIE (PES, FR)

■	 Gulf States, Yemen 
Lilli GRUBER (PES, IT)

■	 Iran 

Angelika BEER (Greens/EFA, DE)

■	 United States  

Jonathan EVANS (EPP-ED, UK)

■	 Canada 

Seán Ó NEACHTAIN (UEN, IE)

■	 Central America 

Raimon OBIOLS i GERMÀ (PES, ES) 

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■	 Andean Community  

Alain LIPIETZ (Greens/EFA, FR)

■	 Mercosur 

Sérgio SOUSA PINTO (PES, PT)

■	 Japan 

Georg JARZEMBOWSKI (EPP-ED, DE)

■	 People’s Republic of China 
Dirk STERCKX (ALDE, BE)

■	 South-East Asia, ASEAN 

Hartmut NASSAUER (EPP-ED, DE)

■	 Korean Peninsula 

Hubert PIRKER (EPP-ED, AT)

■	 Australia and New Zealand 
Giles CHICHESTER (EPP-ED, UK)

■	 South Africa  

Lapo PISTELLI (ALDE, IT)

■	 NATO 

Achille OCCHETTO (PES, IT)

■	 South Asia 

Robert EVANS (PES, UK)

■	 India 

Neena GILL (PES, UK)

■	 Afghanistan 

Guido PODESTÀ (EPP-ED, IT)

Parliamentary assemblies

■	 ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly  

Glenys KINNOCK (PES, UK)

■	 Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly 

(Euromed) 
Hans-Gert PÖTTERING (EPP-ED, DE) 

■	 Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly 

(Eurolat) 
José Ignacio SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA (EPP-ED, ES)

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■	 The Secretariat

The  European  Parliament  is  assisted  by  a  Secretariat.  The 
Secretariat’s establishment plan and the administrative and 
financial  rules  for  officials  and  other  staff  are  drawn  up  by 
the Bureau. The employees are mostly officials recruited by 
competition from all the EU countries. The Secretariat’s task 
is  to  coordinate  legislative  work  and  organise  plenary  sit-
tings and meetings. It provides also a fully multilingual ser-
vice for all plenary sittings and meetings. The Secretariat is 
located in Luxembourg and Brussels, whereas ordinary ple-
nary sessions are held in Strasbourg. The Secretary-General 
of the European Parliament is Harald RØMER.

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Organisational chart of the European Parliament

President
Hans-Gert PÖTTERING 

Vice-Presidents

Quaestors

Secretariat
Secretary-General
Harald RØMER

DG Presidency
David HARLEY
Deputy Secretary General

DG Internal Policies
Riccardo RIBERA D’ALCALA 

DG External Policies
Dietmar NICKEL

DG Communication
Francesca RATTI

DG Personnel
Barry WILSON

DG Infrastructure and Logistics
Costas STRATIGAKIS

DG Translation
Juana LAHOUSSE

DG Interpretation and Conferences
Olga COSMIDOU

DG Finance
Roger VANHAEREN

DG Innovation and Technological Support
Jean-Marc LAFOREST

Legal Service
Christian PENNERA 

Conference of 
Presidents

Bureau

Political groups

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EPP-ED

PES

ALDE

UEN

Greens/
EFA

GUE/
NGL

IND/
DEM

NI

NI

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For more information visit:
www.europarl.europa.eu

This publication was produced by the European 
Parliament’s Directorate-General for 
Communication.
Manuscript completed in December 2007.

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Groupes politiques

Photographic credits

European Communities, cover, pages 3, 4, 6, 10, 11,
12, 13, 14, 15, 22; European Communities/Architect:
Architecture Studio, pages 8, 19, 21; European Communities/
Architect: Association des architectes du CIC : Vanden Bossche
sprl, C.R.V. s.a., CDG sprl, Studiegroep D. Bontinck, pages 14,
15, 20; Yves Fonck/Architect: Architecture Studio, page 2.

A great deal of additional information on the European Union is 
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