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OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
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DE RUEHBS #0978/01 1970958
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 160958Z JUL 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000978 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/RPM 
 
E.O.: 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR EUN
SUBJECT: JERZY BUZEK ELECTED EP PRESIDENT 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The European Parliament (EP) on July 14 elected as 
its new president former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, the 
candidate of the European Peoples' Party (EPP-Christian Democrats). 
Buzek, a confirmed proponent of strong transatlantic ties, included 
the "strategic alliance with the U.S." as one of his priorities in 
his opening address, a sentiment further echoed to Poloff by his new 
Deputy Chief of the Cabinet.  The EP President wields considerable 
behind the scenes influence over the European Parliament, which 
itself is growing much more powerful in EU policy-making, although 
it is not yet the equal of the Commission or Council.  The 
Presidency is also a very prestigious post and the vote was the 
culmination of months of lobbying by the Polish government.  End 
Summary. 
 
JERZY BUZEK 
----------- 
 
¶2. (U) The 736 newly-elected Members of the European Parliaments met 
for their first plenary session in Strasbourg on July 14 and elected 
Jerzy Buzek to be the new EP President with 555 votes in favor (or 
86.18 per cent of the valid votes).  He will replace the outgoing 
President Hans-Gert Pttering (EPP, Germany). 
 
¶3. (SBU) The sixty-nine year old Buzek, a scientist by training, 
started his political career in the 1980s as an activist of the 
anti-communist Solidarity trade union movement.  He was elected to 
the Polish Parliament (the Sejm) in the 1997 elections and was soon 
thereafter appointed the prime minister of Poland, a position he 
retained until his party was defeated in 2001.  He guided Poland 
into NATO in 1999 and initiated accession negotiations with the EU 
in 1997.  According to Buzek's deputy Chief of Cabinet, Anthony 
Teasdale, Buzek is now very popular in Poland, with a recent poll of 
possible presidential candidates showing him ahead of Poland's 
current President Lech Kaczynski and current PM Donald Tusk if 
elections were to take place at this stage. 
 
BUZEK AND THE UNITED STATES 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  Although as an MEP he has been politically more engaged on 
relations with Russia and Eastern European countries, Buzek remains 
a confirmed proponent of strong transatlantic ties.  According to 
Teasdale, Buzek will emphasize building bridges with the U.S 
Congress and administration, with a specific interest in 
environmental, scientific and energy issues.  "The President told me 
last Friday that his main priority was to surf on the Obama 
popularity wave to build cross-party support for increased 
cooperation with the U.S.," Teasdale told us. 
 
¶5. (SBU) During a July 14 meeting with Emboffs shortly following 
Buzek's election, Teasdale outlined the President's vision for 
strengthening transatlantic ties.  According to Teasdale, Buzek will 
be pushing hard to get President Obama to address the European 
Parliament, stating that such a speech "would solidify pro-American 
sentiment in the Parliament for a long time."  Buzek plans to travel 
to the U.S., possibly in the spring of 2010 during "Euro Week," but, 
Teasdale explained, he would need to "get meetings at the right 
level."  (Teasdale did not specify what that means.)  There are also 
plans to institutionalize a recent Parliamentary staff delegation to 
Congress as an annual event and expand video conferencing with Hill 
staffers.  Teasdale confirmed that the budget now allocates funding 
for a permanent European Parliament office in Washington. 
 
STRONG SUPPORT FROM ALL GROUPS 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) The EP President wields considerable "behind the scenes" 
influence over the European Parliament, which is growing much more 
powerfulcommis3ion. 
 
A CONTESTED POLITICAL DEAL 
-------------------------- 
 
 
BRUSSELS 00000978  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  (U) Buzek's EP Presidency election was secured by a deal between 
the two largest EP political groups, the Christian Democrats 
(EPP-ED) and the Socialists (S&D).  Under their agreement, Buzek 
will step down halfway through the five-year legislative term to 
make way for a socialist president, expected to be the PASD group 
leader, Martin Schulz.  This "technical deal" between the two 
largest groups to share the presidency is a tradition but is 
systematically criticized by the other political groups and by the 
press as a practice denying real democratic elections for the top 
job.  The British former leader of the Alliance of Liberals and 
Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group, Graham Watson, ran for president 
and tried to break the deal but, having failed to do so, withdrew 
his bid on July 7, opening the way for the overwhelming vote for 
Buzek. 
 
 
MURRAY