Jerzy Buzek elected President of the European Parliament

Former Polish prime minister Jerzy Buzek was elected President of the European Parliament today for a two-and-a-half year term. The Polish centre-right MEP has been elected with 555 of 644 MEPs votes cast, becoming the first person from the former Eastern bloc to chair the Parliament. His only rival, Swedish far-left MEP Eva-Britt Svensson received 89 votes. Mr Buzek is from the Polish Platforma Obywatelska Party, a member of the European Parliament’s EPP Group (www.eppgroup.eu)

Jerzy Buzek was Poland’s Prime Minister from 1997 to 2001 and has been an MEP since 2004. He sat on the Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy under the last term as well as being a substitute for the ENVI Committee. Please click here to have more information on his biography: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/expert/committees/view.do?language=EN&id=28269

Speaking during the Presidential debate last week, Jerzy Buzek said that his priorities as President of the European Parliament would be the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the fight against climate change and addressing illegal immigration. EPHA will contact Mr Buzek for a meeting to discuss health and stress the important role the Parliament plays in public health policy.

The remainder of this week’s plenary is devoted to the election of the Vice-presidents, the presentation of the Swedish Presidency’s work programme, and the appointment of the Committees.