Political groups

2004-2009: Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats

National parties

2004-2009: Nea Dimokratia

Biography

Ioannis Varvitsiotis was born in Athens, Greece. He attended the Experimental School of the University of Athens, before commencing his studies in Law at the University of Athens. He then specialised in Corporate Law at the University of Freiburg in what was then West Germany. Upon his return to Athens, he began to practice law and in 1960 was awarded a Doctorate from the Law School of the University of Athens. By chance he met Konstantinos Karamanlis, an acquaintance of his father Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, who had served as a member of the People's Party, who assigned him to draft relevant proposals to government officials. A while later, he appointed Varvitsiotis as a candidate MP of National Radical Union in the Second District of Athens.

Under the Greek New Democracy party, he became an MP for the first time in 1961 and was re-elected in 1963 and 1964. He was then re-elected in every election between 1974 and 2000, first representing the rest of the former municipality of Athens (1974-1977), then Athens (1977-2000), before being elected on a state level (2000-2004).

In his political career he demonstrated remarkable parliamentary activity, such as Secretary of the Presidium of the Parliament (1961-1963), Secretary of the Committee for the Revision of the Constitution (1963), and Dean of the Parliament (1965-1967). He was also a permanent member of the Greek delegation to the work of allying Greece with the European Economic Community from 1962 to 1967 and took part in in NATO parliamentary groups.

During the period of the dictatorship, specifically a year after its imposition in July 1968, Varvitsiotis, alongside other MPs, began to endorse announcements about the return of the country to democracy. The authorities forbade him from leaving the country so he joined a delegation of the organisation 'Free Greeks'. However, when this was discovered, he was arrested. Following an interrogation, he was confined for five months to complete isolation.

After the change of regime, he participated as Deputy Minister of Interior in the Government of National Unity in 1974 and was elected again in the same year with New Democracy. He then took over as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1974-1975), Minister of Commerce (1975-1977), Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs (1977-1980), Minister of National Defence (Government of Cooperation, 1989), Trade (Ecumenical Government, 1989), National Defence (1990-1993), and Justice (1992).

He was Vice-President of the European People's Party (1985-1996) and Vice-President of New Democracy (1994-1997). 

European People's Party meeting at the European Parliament in Luxembourg – April 1985. Ioannis Varvitsiotis (L), Konstantinos Mitsotakis (C) © European Communities 1985

Varvitsiotis was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 to the 6th legislature. During his time in Parliament, he was a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. He was also a member of the Delegations to the EU-Bulgaria Joint Parliamentary Committee and to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, as well as for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union (including Libya).

In May 2009 he left politics, bringing a 48-year long career to a close. 

He wrote many studies of legal and political content, the main ones of which are: The Nominal Share (1960), The EEC and Company Law (1970), The Change in the Dock (1984), Restoration of Historical Truths (1985), The truth about the past compass for the future (1989), Constitutional Reflections (1993), Greece Ahead of 2000: A New Constitutional Framework (1998), Parliamentary Immunity (2000), The Three Threats of the Century (2002), Political photogrammetry (2005), The Migration Policy of Europe (2006), The Necessary Revision (2006), Blind Armies - The West and the Threat of Islamic Fundamentalism (2008), Seeking Art (2008) and the bilingual edition 5 Years in the European Parliament 2004-2009 (2009) as well as many articles of political and social content.

He has also conducted official visits to England, West Germany and the USA. From January 1998 until August 2010, he served as President of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Institute. 

Varvitsiotis was honoured by the President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix in recognition of his long political activity, as well as with other higher decorations of various states.

For more information on his time as an MEP, click here.

What’s in the Archives

The fonds of Ioannis Varvitsiotis consist mainly of the documents of meetings he took part in and the main themes to which he had to focus on during his term of office. The fonds therefore mainly reflect Varvitsiotis' interests and the main thrust of his work in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. His holdings are organised in series and thematic files in which different types of documents are kept: press articles, reports, notes, letters, programmes, motions for resolutions, etc.