Brussels, 26/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering, will travel to Amman, Jordan, on 4-5 July to attend an EMPA (Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly) meeting. This meeting will be more about resuming contact after a long gap during the European election campaign which extended the de facto suspension lasting since the invasion of Gaza (apart from a few activities and informal meetings, and the maintenance of contact among the four members of the Bureau). In addition to Pöttering, who is likely to be attending for the last time, the Bureau comprises Renato Schifani, Speaker of the Italian Senate, and Mustapha Mansouri, Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives; it is chaired by Abdulhadi Majali, Speaker of the Jordanian Lower House.
It is only once the new European Parliament has been constituted that it will be known who will be its representative on the EMPA Bureau and on its various committees. Following the recent European elections, it would seem likely that there will be substantial changes among committee members. (F.B./transl.rt)