President of the European Parliament

head of debate oversight in the European Union legislature

The President of the European Parliament is the head of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President has to sign that EU laws and the EU budget can become valid.

President of the European Parliament
Logo of the Parliament
Incumbent
Roberta Metsola

since 18 January 2022
European Parliament
StylePresident[1]
StatusPresiding officer
Member ofEuropean Parliament
ResidenceLouise Weiss building
SeatStrasbourg, France
AppointerEuropean Parliament
Term length2.5 years, renewable once
Inaugural holderPaul Henri Spaak / Robert Schuman[2]
Formation1952 / 1958[2]
DeputyVice-Presidents of the European Parliament
Websiteeuroparl.europa.eu

Presidents serve two-and-a-half-year terms. This time is normally divided between the two major political parties of the European Parliament. There have been twenty-eight Presidents, since the Parliament was created in 1952. Thirteen of whom have served since the first Parliamentary election in 1979. Two Presidents have been women and most have come from the older member states.

List of Elected President of the European Parliament

N.PortraitPresident
(Born–Died)
StateTook officeLeft officePartyGroupElectionRefs
1 Simone Veil
(1927–2017)
 France17 July 197919 January 1982UDFLiberal Democrats1979
2 years, 186 days
2 Piet Dankert
(1934–2003)
 Netherlands19 January 198224 July 1984PvdASocialists
2 years, 187 days
3 Pierre Pflimlin
(1907–2000)
 France24 July 198420 January 1987UDF / RPREuropean People's Party1984
2 years, 180 days
4 C. Henry Plumb
(1925–2022)
 United Kingdom20 January 198725 July 1989ConservativeEuropean Democrats
2 years, 186 days
5 Enrique Barón Crespo
(born 1944)
 Spain25 July 198921 January 1992PSOESocialists1989
2 years, 180 days
6 Egon Klepsch
(1930–2010)
 Germany21 January 199219 July 1994CDUEuropean People's Party
2 years, 179 days
7 Klaus Hänsch
(born 1938)
 Germany19 July 199414 January 1997SPDParty of European Socialists1994
2 years, 186 days
8 José María Gil-Robles
(1935–2023)
 Spain14 January 199720 July 1999PPEuropean People's Party
2 years, 187 days
9 Nicole Fontaine
(1942–2018)
 France20 July 199915 January 2002UMPEuropean People's Party1999
2 years, 179 days
10 Pat Cox
(born 1952)
 Ireland15 January 200220 July 2004IndependentLiberal Democrats
2 years, 187 days
11 Josep Borrell
(born 1947)
 Spain20 July 200416 January 2007PSOEParty of European Socialists2004
2 years, 180 days
12 Hans-Gert Pöttering
(born 1945)
 Germany16 January 200714 July 2009CDUEuropean People's Party
2 years, 179 days
13 Jerzy Buzek
(born 1940)
 Poland14 July 200917 January 2012POEuropean People's Party2009
2 years, 187 days
14 Martin Schulz
(born 1955)
 Germany17 January 201217 January 2017SPDSocialists & Democrats
5 years, 0 days2014
15 Antonio Tajani
(born 1953)
 Italy17 January 20173 July 2019FIEuropean People's Party
2 years, 167 days
16 David Sassoli
(1956–2022)
 Italy3 July 201911 January 2022PDSocialists & Democrats2019
2 years, 192 days
17 Roberta Metsola
(born 1979)
 Malta18 January 2022[a]IncumbentPNEuropean People's Party
2 years, 103 days

Notes

References