European leaders paid unanimous tribute on Tuesday 11 January to the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, who died at the age of 65 on Monday night in hospital, where he had been since the end of December, in Aviano (Italy).
Mr Sassoli was previously hospitalised last autumn for pneumonia which kept him away from the European Parliament for several weeks. His frail health and the lack of a majority for a potential Social-Democrat candidate helped convince him in mid-December not to stand for re-election during the 2019-2024 legislative mid-terms (see EUROPE 12853/20).
A mortuary chapel will be set up on Thursday 13 January at the Campidoglio, and the funeral service will take place the following day at noon in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, in Piazza della Repubblica, Rome, according to the spokesman for the President of the European Parliament, Roberto Cuillo.
A former journalist and TV news presenter in Italy, David Sassoli was first elected as an MEP in 2009. In July 2019, MEPs put him in charge of the Parliament for two and a half years in an informal political agreement on the distribution of top European posts. This election was something of a surprise, as the Bulgarian socialist Sergei Stanichev was initially seen as the front-runner (see EUROPE 12287/1).
On behalf of the European Council, Charles Michel hailed David Sassoli as “a sincere and passionate European”. “We already miss his warmth, generosity, friendliness and smile”, he said via Twitter. The French Presidency of the EU Council underlined the “dignity, professionalism and devotion” with which the Italian Social-Democrat carried out his duties.
In a statement to the press, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, dressed in black and wearing a black sanitary mask, said the EU had lost “a passionate European, a sincere democrat and a good man“. “Everyone loved his smile and his kindness, yet he knew how to fight for what he believed in”, she added, referring to this “champion of justice and solidarity” who always defended “a more united Europe, closer to the people, more faithful to our values” and who witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 in person.
The European College of Commissioners will observe a minute’s silence on Wednesday 12 January at its opening seminar in La Hulpe on EU/Africa relations and the digital agenda.
From Rome, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi hailed Mr Sassoli as a deeply pro-European politician, “a symbol of balance, humanity and generosity”. “These qualities have always been recognised by his colleagues of all political persuasions and from all European countries as proof of his extraordinary civic passion, his ability to listen and his constant commitment to the service of citizens”, he said in a statement.
Mrs Metsola is acting as interim director
On Tuesday, the EU institutions lowered their flags to half-staff to salute the memory of Mr Sassoli, the first President of the Parliament to die in office. The Parliament will hold a special ceremony on Monday 17 January in Strasbourg, at the opening of a plenary session during which the election of Mr Sassoli’s successor will be held.
The EPP group’s candidate, Maltese Christian Democrat Roberta Metsola, is the favourite. As first vice-president of the Parliament, she will act as interim President to ensure that Parliament is able to continue functioning until the election scheduled for Tuesday 18 January.
“From now on, all the duties of the presidency fall to her”, such as signing power and the responsibility for protocol, a parliamentary source confirmed to EUROPE. Ironically, Mrs Metsola has to organise an election that is already on the agenda. She is expected to chair the Conference of Presidents (CoP) of the political groups on the morning of Thursday 13 January and to open the plenary session next Monday in Strasbourg.
On Tuesday, at the invitation of S&D group chair Iratxe García Pérez of Spain, MEPs and Parliament staff gathered on the esplanade of the Parliament to honour Mr Sassoli. A condolence book has been opened within the institution and another will be opened for citizens wishing to write a note in memory of the deceased.
In the Chamber, all political groups expressed their sadness about the sudden death of Mr Sassoli and sent their condolences to his family via Twitter.
The chair of the EPP group, Manfred Weber, said he was “shocked” by the death of the political leader, “a passionate ambassador for a more united and social Europe”. “I am heartbroken. Europe has lost a leader. I have lost a friend, democracy has lost a champion“, said Mrs Metsola. “Dismayed”, his compatriot and former predecessor, Italy’s Antonio Tajani, lamented the void left by “a great President, both politically and on a human level”.
On behalf of the Social Democrats, Mrs García Pérez praised “a great president of the European Parliament” and “a really warm-hearted person”. The Secretary General of the Italian PD party, Enrico Letta, said goodbye to “a person of extraordinary generosity” and to a “Europeanist” with a vision and principles that he will now strive to advance.
"Profoundly saddened”, the president of the Renew Europe group, Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné, said that thanks to Mr Sassoli, “our assembly has never ceased to keep European democracy alive, even in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis”. The Parliament did indeed reinvent itself to be able to debate and vote on legislation remotely, an approach that has attracted the interest of many parliaments around the world.
German Greens/EFA co-president Ska Keller said that Mr Sassoli would be “sorely missed”.
Saddened by the “untimely” death of the Italian Social-Democrat, the president of the Identity and Democracy group, Italian Marco Zanni, expressed the condolences of the MEPs from the La Lega party to Mr Sassoli’s family.
On behalf of the ECR group, Poland’s Ryszard Legutko and Italy’s Raffaele Fitto said they were “shocked” by this “great loss for the European Parliament and for Europe”.
“Very moved”, the co-president of The Left group, Manon Aubry of France, praised the actions of a president who was “very attentive” and had “always maintained a constructive dialogue with our group”.
Finally, among the non-attached MEPs, the Movimento 5 Stelle delegation expressed its “immense sorrow” at the death of “a gentleman of politics, a fundamentally good person” who had carried out his mission “with discipline and honour”.
A man in service to the vulnerable
President Sassoli’s term in office was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, an unprecedented crisis that forced the European Parliament to reinvent itself and which, he said, allowed Europe to demonstrate its added value, notably with the bulk purchase of Covid-19 vaccines and the roll-out of the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan.
At the height of the pandemic, Mr Sassoli made his mark by taking the initiative in spring 2020 to open the Parliament’s premises in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg and to use the services of the EU institution to welcome women in precarious situations, provide daily meals to students and people in need, transport and distribute goods, and facilitate meetings between the elderly and their families.
See our special report: https://bit.ly/3HLOd1E
In the spring of 2021, in an interview with EUROPE, the late President called for the establishment of a Europe for public health, with a transfer of national competences to the European level, as was done for animal health after the mad cow crisis (see EUROPE 12688/1). He stressed the urgency of overcoming the crisis by tackling socioeconomic inequalities.
According to him, Covid-19 has defeated nationalism. “Because with Covid-19, all citizens have understood that we cannot do it alone. When we realise that there is a need for solidarity, for cooperation, nationalism is defeated”, he said. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Émilie Vanderhulst)