Agreement in principle on amending EP rules and preventing Le Pen from chairing first session in July

Strasbourg, 26/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting on Thursday 26 March, none of presidents of the political groups opposed the idea of amending European Parliament standing orders to prevent Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen from chairing the first session of the new Parliament in July. This honour would fall to Le Pen as the oldest parliamentarian, if he were to be re-elected (see EUROPE 9868). EPP-ED leader Frenchman Joseph Daul raised the issue, saying that everyone in his group was in agreement on changing the rules. “Not everyone spoke, but no one opposed the idea” at the Conference of the Presidents meeting, a source close to the matter told EUROPE. Amending the rules, was “something that has to be done, not just in the 'LePen' case, but to avoid this kind of situation arising in the future,” the group leaders agreed, according to the same source. The political groups will now try to find an arrangement other than having the oldest MEP chairing the inaugural session of the newly returned Parliament. Those close to German Social Democrat Martin Schulz say that two options have been put on the table by the Socialist Group leader: - either the last European Parliament president should chair the inaugural session if he is re-elected; - or if he is not re-elected, one of the 14 vice-presidents, the highest available in the hierarchy, should chair the meeting. What happens in member states' national parliaments when a new parliament is elected is likely to be carefully examined over the coming weeks to help the constitutional affairs committee decide the best way forward on amending the rules. In the meantime, Le Pen further stoked up the ire of his peers by stating in Wednesday's plenary session, after Schulz's call to prevent him from chairing the inaugural session of the new Parliament, “Mr Schulz has made defamatory comments and accused me of the crime of blasphemy. I would say that this line of argument is false and that I said only that the gas chambers were a detail of history of world war, which is plainly the case”. (E.H./transl.rt)