After nearly 30 years of shuttling between Strasbourg and Brussels, Francis Wurtz is leaving the European Parliament. On Wednesday 6 May 2009, Wurtz, who is a French Communist and chair of the United European Left Group, had a send-off from his peers at a ceremony attended by the president of the European Parliament, German Social Democrat Hans-Gert Pöttering, the chair of the EPP-ED Group, Joseph Daul of the Alsace region of France, former Spanish EP president Josep Borrell, and many MEPs from across the house, including British Liberal Democrat Graham Watson, Italian Green Monica Frassoni, French Socialists Pervenche Berès and Harlem Désir, and German PDS MEP Tobias Pflüger. Hans-Gert Pöttering and Josep Borrell praised Wurtz for his human qualities and commitment to Europe. Borrell said Francis Wurtz would remain a “Don Quixote with everything except the lance” and was also “un seòor”. Hats off to him! (O.J./transl.fl)