Press release – 15 February 2023

On the occasion of the death of José María Gil Robles, former President of the Association of Former Members of the European Parliament (FMA) and former President of the European Parliament (1997 to 1999), the President of the FMA, Klaus Hänsch, former President of the European Parliament (1994 to 1997), writes:

“José Maria Gil Robles was my immediate successor as President of the European Parliament, bearing testimony to the substantial political reputation he had acquired while serving as a Spanish Member in the Group of the European People’s Party. I remember him as a serious man with great respect for law and order in our united Europe and steadfastly faithful to the idea of developing the foundations provided by the treaties for an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe. He played a successful role in strengthening the European Parliament through the Amsterdam Treaty, acting with determination and a firm belief in democracy. As President of our Former Members Association, he continued to display his unshakeable European convictions.”