The plenary session of the European Parliament paid tribute this Tuesday with a minute’s silence to its president at the end of the 1990s, José María Gil-Robles, who died on Monday at the age of 88.
«This House mourns him and pays tribute to his legacy,» said the President of the European Parliament, the Maltese conservative Roberta Metsola, after evoking the parliamentary career of Gil-Robles and asking MEPs to join a minute’s silence before the voting session.
«He will be remembered for having ensured that the Parliament was directly involved in the negotiations of the Amsterdam Treaty, including the inclusion of the legal basis for the adoption of the Members’ Statute, thanks to which the Parliament became more independent,» Metsola said.
«It was during his presidency that the Parliament contributed to the decisions concerning the entry into force of the euro and the start of the accession negotiations of ten new member states. He also led this House during the difficult months preceding the resignation of the European Commission, a crisis from which our institution emerged stronger,» he added.
Gil-Robles (Madrid, 1935) was an MEP for the European People’s Party for three consecutive legislatures, from 1989 to 2004, a career that included the presidency of the institution between 1997 and 1999.
As the European Parliament recalls in a statement, at the head of the institution he participated in historic moments in Europe, such as the negotiations of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the approval of the implementation of the euro and the election of the first president of the European Central Bank.
In addition, he presided over the process that led to the resignation of the Commission led by Jacques Santer, as well as the launch of the EU anti-fraud office (OLAF) or the EU’s efforts to prevent genocide in Kosovo.
Professor of Law, after his time at the EP, he held the honorary presidency of the International European Movement. Between 2008 and 2015 he chaired the Jean Monnet Foundation.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)