Exhibition
Since the first European elections by direct universal suffrage in 1979, the President has been elected by Members by secret ballot and remains in office for a renewable period of two and a half years. During each legislative term, a first election is held in July, after the election of the new Parliament, and a second mid-term election is held two and a half years later, in January.
On 17 July 1979, Simone Veil (left), former French Minister of Health and a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, became the first President of the directly elected European Parliament and the first woman to hold this office. Louise Weiss (right) chaired the inaugural sitting as the oldest Member.
The basic idea uniting us, namely that without an ever greater solidarity, none of our countries will be capable of holding on to their power, their independence and maybe even of continuing to exist, is firmly anchored in the democratic interaction between voters and those they elect.
Simone Veil, President from 1979-1982