Strasbourg, 26/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - Returning to the question of the mandate of Polish Liberal Bronislaw Geremek, the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, issued the following statement on Thursday 26 April, at midday, on behalf of the Conference of Presidents:
“So far, the European Parliament has not received any information from the Polish authorities in relation to Mr Geremek's mandate. Mr Geremek is a political personality of the highest esteem who has always stood up for democracy in his country and for European unification. We will examine all legal possibilities that he can continue his work. According to our information, the Polish Constitutional Court is currently examining the law on which the withdrawal of the mandate of Mr Geremek is based. A decision of the Court is expected during the next weeks. I have asked the Legal Services of the European Parliament to examine the exact legal situation”. After reading this text, which had been issued by himself to the press on Wednesday, Hans-Gert Pöttering added that the Conference of Presidents had also “stated its sympathy and solidarity with our colleague, Bronislaw Geremek”.
The declaration was made at the request of a very large majority, although not unanimously, at the Conference of Presidents, the Parliament's president said, without giving further details. Sovereignists meeting within the UEN Group presided by Brian Crowley of Ireland and the far-right members of the ITS Group presided by Bruno Gollnisch of France, did not subscribe to the declaration.
The president of the European Parliament may tackle the matter with his discussion partners when he next visits Poland. He is due to give a speech to the Polish Senate on 2 May.
As soon as the Parliament has been officially informed by the Polish authorities of the revocation of Mr Geremek's mandate, the president will forward the dossier to the legal committee. In this dossier, the committee must reject the Polish request in order to safeguard the continuity of the MEP's mandate and the independence of Parliament, a source familiar with the dossier says. (oj)