EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SELECTS NEW VICE-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 003234

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/RPM

E.O.: 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SELECTS NEW VICE-
PRESIDENTS AND QUAESTORS



1. (U) Summary: The European Parliament (EP) elected
14 Vice-Presidents and 5 Quaestors (in charge of EP
financial and administrative matters) on July 20 and
21 in Strasbourg. These elections -- which follow
Josep Borrell's victory in the EP presidential
election (septel) -- complete the elected leadership
of the EP. The Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of
Committees and Delegations are not elected in
Plenary but are appointed by the political group
leaders and then elected by acclamation during
constitutive committee meetings: Committee
chairmanship and membership allocations were
concluded on July 22-23 (septel) but Delegation
members and leadership will not be decided until
September. End Summary.

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THE VICE-PRESIDENTS
--------------


2. (U) EP vice presidents have three formal roles:
to preside over plenary sessions when the President
is not in the chair, to stand in for the President
in representing the EP externally, and to take part
in the work of the Bureau. The Bureau, which serves
as Parliament's executive committee, is made up of
the President, 14 VPs, and 5 Quaestors (para 5).


3. (U) The 14 vice presidents of the European
Parliament, whose terms will end at the January 2007
mid-term elections, are (in official order of
precedence based on the number of votes received):

- Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca (EPP, Spain): After
receiving Ph.D. in physics, Vidal Quadras, 59,
taught nuclear physics at universities in Spain and
Ireland; he is the author of a number of scientific
publications. In parallel, he led a political
career in Catalonia and was elected to the EP in

1999. This will be Vidal Quadras' second term as a
vice president; he will also remain a member of the
Industry Committee. For the last five years, he has
been a member -- albeit not a very active one -- of
the Delegation for Relations with the U.S.

- Antonios Trakatellis (EPP - Greece): A medical
doctor specializing in biochemistry, Trakatellis,
72, studied in the U.S. and was a professor at the
Mt Sinai School of Medicine of the City University
of New York in the 1970s. A rector of Aristotle
University in Thessaloniki until 1994, he is also a
member of the Greek National Research Advisory
Board. An MEP since 1994, he has been an active
member of the Environment Committee and was in
charge of drafting the important report on GMO
labelling and traceability in 2001 that was closely
followed by the USG.

- Dagmar Roth-Berendt (PES - Germany): Roth-Berendt
was an adviser in the chancellery of the Governing
Mayor of Berlin in the 1980s following an early
career as a lawyer. Elected to the EP in 1989, she
has been the Socialist group spokesperson on
environment, health policy, and consumer protection
issues and was also the Chairman of the BSE
Committee of Inquiry. The 51-year-old Roth oversaw
preparation of the report on animal testing of
cosmetic products.

- Edward McMillan-Scott (EPP-ED - UK): A public
affairs professional, McMillan-Scott, 54, has been
an MEP since 1984. As the leader of the British
Conservatives in the EP until 2001, he negotiated
the entry of the British Conservatives into the EPP-
ED group. He remains a member of the Foreign
Affairs Committee.

- Ingo Friedrich (EPP-ED, Germany): Leader of the
CSU (Bavarian Christian Democrats) delegation in the
EP, he is a businessman and has been the President
of the European Small Businesses Forum since 1990.
Friedrich, 62, has been an MEP since the first
Parliamentary elections in 1979 and a vice president
since 1999.

- Mario Mauro (EPP-ED, Italy): Mauro, 43, has been
an MEP since 1999. A member of the Cultural
Affairs Committee from 1999-2004, the former teacher
(who has a degree in philosophy) wrote two reports
on education and new technologies. He will now join
the budget committee.

- Antonio Costa (PES, Portugal): The 43-year-old
Costa, a new MEP, is the leader of the Portuguese
Socialist delegation. He was Portugal's Justice
Minister from 1999 to 2002. Costa will be a member
of the Civil Liberties Committee, which is
responsible for Justice and Home Affairs issues.

- Luigi Cocilovo (ALDE - Italy): A lawyer and
University researcher, he has been an MEP since

1999. Cocilovo, 57, was a member of the EPP-ED
group in the last legislature but moved to the newly
created ALDE group with the Italian "Unita
del'Uliva" list.

- Jacek Emil Saryusz-Wolski (EPP-ED - Poland):
Saryusz-Wolski, 56, was the chief negotiator of the
Poland-EC Europe Agreement in 1991 and subsequently
chairman of the office of the Polish Government's
Committee for European integration. A new MEP, he
will be a member of the Budget Committee.

- Pierre Moscovici (PES - France): A well-known
figure in Paris, Moscovici, 46, became Secretary
General of the French Socialist Party in 1990 and
was Minister-Delegate for European Affairs from 1999
to 2002. He represented the French government at
the Convention on the Future of Europe that drafted
the EU constitution. In 2002, Moscovici became the
French Socialist party's Foreign Affairs Spokesman.
In addition to his vice-presidency, he will be a
member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Moscovici
has degrees in philosophy and economics.

- Miroslav Ouzky (EPP-ED, Czech Republic): Ouzky,
46, is little known even in the Czech Republic
despite having been a member of the Czech
Parliament since 1998. A member of the main Czech
opposition party, the centre-right and euroskeptic
Civic Democrats, Ouzky -- who has a medical degree -
- has largely focused on social policy and health
care issues and should keep this focus as a member
of the Environment Committee. An observer in the EP
since May 2001, he is now the highest-ranking Czech
MEP.

- Janusz Onyszkiewicz, (EPP-ED, Poland): A former
mathematician and a leader of "Solidarnosc" in the
1980s, Onyszkiewicx, 67, became Poland's defense
minister in 1997. As such, he oversaw the entry of
Poland into NATO. Onyszkiewicz will be a member of
the Transport Committee and of the newly created
Subcommittee on Defense.

- Gerard Onesta (Greens, France): Founder of the
Young European Greens, former architect, Onesta, 44,
was an MEP from 1991 to 1994 and was re-elected in

1999. He has been an EP vice-president since 1999.

- Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (GUE-NGL, Germany): A
Japan expert, she has been Vice-Chairman of the
German PDS since 1991. An EP observer from 1991 to
1994 (before German reunification was finalized),
she has served as an MEP since then. Kaufmann, 49,
was an active member of the Convention that drafted
the EU Constitution; she will remain a member of the
Constitutional Affairs Committee.


4. (U) There is some specialization among the Vice-
Presidents, with each entrusted with general or
specific tasks. For example, three are appointed by
the Political Groups as permanent members of the
Conciliation Committee. These Members will
negotiate with the Council in conciliation meetings
to find a compromise on matters where they share co-
decision with the Council, and are still in
disagreement after the second reading of the
legislation. Two Members are also appointed to lead
Parliament's delegations to meetings with national
Parliaments (COSAC meetings). These specialized
roles will be allocated by the President in
September.

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THE QUAESTORS
--------------


5. (U) The five Quaestors are responsible for
administrative and financial matters concerning
individual Members. They cover issues such as
external information offices, members' assistants,
security, and finances. The Quaestors take part in
the meetings of the Bureau in an advisory capacity,
where they do not have the right to vote but can
speak on a wide range of issues, with a strong
Quaestor able to have considerable influence.


6. (U) The 5 Quaestors of the European Parliament,
whose appointment runs until the 2009 elections,
are:

-- Jim Nicholson (UK - EPP-ED): The Ulster Unionist
Party's only MEP, Jim Nicholson, 59, has been an MEP
since 1989. As Chairman of the EP delegation
responsible for relations with the U.S., a post he
held from 2002 to 2004, he was a close contact of
USEU. Nicholson worked to revive the Transatlantic
Legislators Dialogue (TLD) that brings together MEPs
and congressmen twice yearly, alternating between
the U.S. and the EU. He also introduced DVC
dialogues on issues of common interest for
legislators on both side of the Atlantic.

- Genowefa Grabowska (PES, Poland): A new MEP,
Grabowska -- a 60 year-old law professor -- is the
head of the Faculty of International and European
Law of the Silesian University in Poland. She is
also a specialist in environmental law. As the
chairwoman of the foreign affairs and European
integration committee of the Polish Senate, she took
part in the convention that drafted the EU
constitution. Grabowska will also be a member of
the Constitutional Affairs Committee.

- Mia de Vits (PES, Belgium): Holder of a social
sciences degree, de Vits, 54, joined the Socialist
Party at a young age. She became Secretary General
(in 1989) and then President (in 2002) of the
Flanders branch of the main Belgian trade union.

- Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (EPP, Germany): An
MEP since 1999, Quisthoudt-Rowohl, 57, holds a Ph.D.
in chemistry. A Member of the Industry Committee,
she was responsible for reports on the fourth and
fifth "Research Framework Programs". She has been a
quaestor since 1999 and will be a member of the new
Committee on International Trade.

- Astrid Lulling (PES, Luxemburg): The 75-year-old
Lulling led a long career in Luxemburg, both as a
member of the Social Democrat party and member of
the national Parliament, before being elected to the
EP in 2004. She was also very active in trade
unions and led the European trade union secretariat
of the food industry in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lulling will be a member of the Committee on
Economic and Monetary Affairs.

COMMENT
--------------

7. (SBU) Among the Vice-Presidents, former French
Minister-Delegate for European Affairs Pierre
Moscovici, former Polish Defense Minister Januszs
Onyszkiewicz, and former Portuguese Justice Minister
Antonio Costa have the most experience in political
and international affairs, including transatlantic
relations and the fight against terrorism. However,
among the three, only Januszs Onyszkiewicz has
expressed support for U.S. policy in Iraq.
Moscovici has often been openly critical of the
current U.S. administration. He said in June,
before the D-Day commemoration that "Mr. Bush's
visit should not be used as an excuse for `anti-
Americanism'. We have shared values and a long
friendship with the United States. We should
absolutely not think that Bush and America are one
and the same." The former Chairman of the U.S.
Delegation in the EP, Jim Nicholson, while a good
contact for the USG, will not be active on
transatlantic issues in his new position as
quaestor. He may, however, remain a member of the
new EP delegation responsible for relations with the
U.S., which will be shaped in September.


(DRAFTED:POL:MVANAVERBEKE)
SAMMIS