President of the European Parliament facts for kids

Quick facts for kids President of the European Parliament
Logo of the Parliament
Incumbent David Sassoli since 3 July 2019
Appointer	European Parliament
Term length	two years and six months
Inaugural holder	Paul-Henri Spaak / Robert Schuman / Simone Veil (First Elected)
Formation	1952 / 1958
Website	ep-president.eu

The President of the European Parliament is the head of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President has to sign that EU laws and the EU budget can become valid.

Presidents serve two-and-a-half-year terms. This time is normally divided between the two major political parties of the European Parliament. There have been twenty-eight Presidents, since the Parliament was created in 1952. Thirteen of whom have served since the first Parliamentary election in 1979. Two Presidents have been women and most have come from the older member states. The current President is Antonio Tajani.

List of Elected President of the European Parliament

1. Simone Veil (France) (July 1979–January 1982)
2. Piet Dankert (Netherlands) (January 1982–July 1984)
3. Pierre Pflimlin (France) (July 1984–January 1987)
4. Henry Plumb (United Kingdom) (January 1987–July 1989)
5. Enrique Barón Crespo (Spain) (July 1989–January 1992)
6. Egon Klepsch (Germany) (January 1992–July 1994)
7. Klaus Hänsch (Germany) (July 1994–January 1997)
8. José María Gil-Robles (Spain) (January 1997–July 1999)
9. Nicole Fontaine (France) (July 1999–January 2002)
10. Pat Cox (Ireland) (January 2002–July 2004)
11. Josep Borrell (Spain) (July 2004–January 2007)
12. Hans-Gert Pöttering (Germany) (January 2007–July 2009)
13. Jerzy Buzek (Poland) (July 2009–January 2012)
14. Martin Schulz (Germany) (January 2012–January 2017)
15. Antonio Tajani (Italy) (January 2017–July 2019)
16. David Sassoli (Italy) (since July 2019)