Former Members

Fonds of Members of the European Parliament

The European Parliament is made up of 705 Members elected in the 27 Member States of the enlarged European Union. Since 1979, MEPs have been elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year period.

What are Fonds?

Fonds are the "whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family, or corporate body in the course of that creator's activities and functions" (General International Standard Archival Description, Second Edition, 1999). For example, the Fonds of an MEP will contain any and all documents saved by that MEP during their time working in Parliament and may include documents from committees they were on, delegations they were part of, etc. 

What's in these Fonds:

The Archives of the European Parliament keep the fonds of Members and former Members of the European Parliament whose contribution has been particularly important for the development of the European Union. The documents are a unique testimony of political and parliamentary work, tracing the different procedures and the working system of drafting parliamentary reports. By demonstrating the work done by Members and their assistants, they illustrate the interactions between Members, political groups and civil society.

These fonds can reflect all the activities of a Member during his or her term of office, or simply contain documents relating to a specific procedure or a particular subject that the Member worked on. The contents of the files therefore vary, but are generally based on:

  • Parliamentary activities as deputies or members of committees, or resulting from other responsibilities within Parliament
  • Political activities as members of a political group or in their national constituencies
  • Activities as a public figure (press, articles, publications, events)

How MEP's documents join the Archives:

Members’ documents don't belong to the European Parliament. However, any Member may decide to entrust the European Parliament at any time with documents created during his or her term of office and deposit into the Archives for processing and dissemination purposes. The decision of the Bureau of the Parliament of 10 March 2014 established the procedure for the acquisition of private archives of Members and former Members by the European Parliament.


1st Legislature 1979-1984

The first legislature of the European Parliament had 410 members from nine member states, who took their seats after being chosen during the first international elections in history. 

MEP Christopher Murray Jackson

Christopher Murray Jackson

United Kingdom

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MEP Mechthild von Alemann

Mechthild von Alemann

Germany

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2nd Legislature 1984-1989

Led by Pierre Pflimlin from 1984 to 1987 and Lord Plumb from 1987 to 1989, the second legislature had 434 members from twelve member states. 

MEP Diemut R. Theato

Diemut R. Theato

Germany

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MEP Joan Colom i Naval

Joan Colom i Naval

Spain

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3rd Legislature 1989-1994

Under the Presidencies of Enrique Barón Crespo (1989-1992) and Egon A. Klepsch (1992-1994), the third legislature had 518 members representing twelve member states. 

MEP Cristiana Muscardini

Cristiana Muscardini

Italy

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MEP Alain Lamassoure

Alain Lamassoure

France

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MEP Doris Pack

Doris Pack

Germany

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MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt

Dagmar Roth-Behrendt

Germany

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4th Legislature 1994-1999

José María Gil-Robles (1997-1999) and Klaus Hänsch (1994-1997) presided over the Fourth Parliamentary Term, which had 567 members from fifteen member states. 

MEP Pat "the Cope" Gallagher

Pat the Cope Gallagher

Ireland

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MEP Sir Graham Watson

Sir Graham Watson

United Kingdom

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MEP Pervenche Berès

Pervenche Berès

France

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MEP Jean-Antoine Giansily

Jean-Antoine Giansily

France

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5th Legislature 1999-2004

This legislature had 626 members from fifteen member states, guided by Presidents Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002) and Pat Cox (2002-2004).

MEP Avril Doyle

Avril Doyle

Ireland

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MEP Zita Gurmai

Zita Gurmai

Hungary

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MEP Andrew Duff

Andrew Duff

United Kingdom

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MEP Jean Lambert

Jean Lambert

United Kingdom

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MEP Diana Wallis

Diana Wallis

United Kingdom

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6th Legislature 2004-2009

With the number of member states expanded to twenty-five, 736 MEPs were elected to the Parliament. The Presidents of this legislature were Josep Borrell Fontelles (2004-2007) and Hans-Gert Pöttering (2007-2009).

MEP Ioannis Varvitsiotis

Ioannis Varvitsiotis

Greece

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MEP Ana Gomes

Ana Gomes

Portugal

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MEP Angelika Beer

Angelika Beer

Germany

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MEP Élisabeth Morin-Chartier

Élisabeth Morin-Chartier

France

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MEP Alexander Nuno Pickart Alvaro

Alexander Nuno Pickart Alvaro

Germany

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MEP Sharon Bowles

Sharon Bowles

United Kingdom

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7th Legislature 2009-2014

736 Members were elected across twenty-seven Member states to the Parliament, which was guided during this legislature by President Jerzy Buzek (2009 - 2012) and President Martin Schulz (2012-2017). 

MEP Christine Revault d'Allonnes Bonnefoy

Christine Revault d'Allonnes Bonnefoy

France

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MEP Catherine Bearder

Catherine Bearder

United Kingdom

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MEP Gerald Häfner

Gerald Häfner

Germany

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MEP Barbara Lochbihler

Barbara Lochbihler

Germany

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MEP Petra Kammerevert

Petra Kammerevert

Germany

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MEP Danuta Maria Hübner

Danuta Maria Hübner

Poland

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MEP Andrey Kovatchev

Andrey Kovatchev

Bulgaria

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MEP Rachida Dati

Rachida Dati

France 

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8th Legislature 2014-2019

Presided over by Martin Schulz (2012-2017) and Antonio Tajani (2017-2019), 751 MEPs from twenty-eight Member states took their seats in the European Parliament.

MEP Gianluca Buonanno

Gianluca Buonanno

Italy

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MEP Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso

Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso

Spain

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