On Wednesday 7 February, the European Parliament approved by 447 votes to 106 and 30 abstentions to end the term of office held by EP Vice President Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR, Poland). Czarnecki was obliged to give up his office after using offensive Nazi-related terms to describe his fellow MEP Roza Thun (EPP, Poland). In a press release, the EP states “Ryszard Czarnecki’s term of office as vice-president of the European Parliament was ended due to serious misconduct”.
The polemic surrounding the dismissal arose because the incriminated MEP had compared his colleague, who is a member of the civic platform, to a “shmaltsovnik” (a deeply offensive Polish term for someone who blackmailed Jews, or Poles protecting Jews, during the Nazi occupation), the EP explains.
The proposal to put an end to Czarnecki’s term of office had been tabled by the Conference of Presidents and required a two-third majority of the votes cast, also constituting a majority of the members, under Article 21 of the EP’s internal rules of procedure (see EUROPE 11952).
The Parliament will now need to elect a new vice-president, who will also be from the ECR Group. Czarnecki will remain a member of the European Parliament but will no longer serve as vice-president or as a member of the Bureau. Neither will he represent the Parliament on behalf of its president nor chair plenary debates. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)