The Fonds of José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado

Biography

José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado was born in Madrid on 17 June 1935, the son of José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones, a Spanish politician and Minister for War during the Second Republic (1935-1936), who went into exile in France and Portugal. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Estoril, Portugal. After returning to Spain in 1952, he studied law at Deusto University and Salamanca University.

In 1958, he was appointed Parliamentary Counsel in the Spanish Parliament (Letrado de las Cortes). He was Professor of Constitutional Law at Complutense University in Madrid from 1959 to 1964. At the same time he began practising as a lawyer, continuing to do so except during his term of office as President of the European Parliament.

He held a Jean Monnet Chair and was Director of the Centro de Excelencia de Estudios Europeos Jean Monnet "Antonio Truyol" (Complutense University). He also held honorary doctorates from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in Russia (awarded in 1998) and from Sofia University in Bulgaria (awarded in 1999).

José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado passed away on 13 February 2023.

Political Posts

•    1957: Became Member of the Spanish Association for European Cooperation, linked to the European Movement
•    1962: Joined Democracia Social Cristiana
•    1972: Member of the Executive of Equipo Demócrata Cristiano del Estado Español (Christian Democratic Team of the Spanish State)
•    1977: Member of Democracia Cristiana Española (Christian Democracy Spain); held Europe-related offices
•    1989-2004: Member of the European Parliament
•    1990-2004: Member of the Presidency of the European People's Party and of the National Executive of the Spanish People's Party
•    1999-2005: President of the European Movement International
•    1993-1994: Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Institutional Affairs
•    1994-1997: Vice-President of the European Parliament
•    1997-1999: President of the European Parliament
•    2002-2004: Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Bulgaria Joint parliamentary Committee
•    2006-2010: President of the European Parliament Former Members Association

What's in the Archives

The archives of José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado's Office (1997-1999) contain over 10,600 items arranged in more than 800 files relating to specific procedures dealt with during the President's term of office. These files are organised according to the various fields of activity of the President's Office, forming four groups of series (administrative and legal duties, political duties, divided between internal and external relations, and, lastly, citizens' mail), which are themselves sub-divided into 20 series.

Administrative and legal duties

PE4 P2 A00/ADJU

This group of series covers documents concerning relations with the General Secretariat of the European Parliament, i.e. all the directorates-general and, in addition, the Legal Service. Two further series relate, firstly, to financial resources (financial and budget management) and secondly, to property (policy and management).

Political duties: Internal relations

PE4 P2 B00/RINT

This group of series contains the series corresponding to relations with the European Parliament's various political bodies, such as the College of Quaestors, parliamentary committees and delegations, the political groups, MEPs and, lastly, his own Office.

Political duties: external relations

PE4 P2 C00/REXT

This group of series is made up of a first series relating to the President's activities as the Institution's external representative, mainly based on the 'visits and public relations' files. The following series contain documents concerning the President's relations with the other Community institutions and bodies. His role as representative also includes his relations with Member States and third countries in the form of correspondence and documents relating to official visits and relations with parliaments, governments and embassies. The final two series concern relations established with international organisations and forums.

Citizens' mail

PE4 P2 C95/CITO

Finally, the last organic series relates to filed chronologically according to incoming and outgoing.

Reflections of former Presidents of the European Parliament: José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado

It is not easy to sum up a presidency full of events and anecdotes. Some of my memories still stir strong emotions, such as the visit to Parliament by the King and Queen of Spain, or the visit by Rafael Caldera, an old friend from the difficult times of opposition to Franco, or the presence of members of my family and close friends on the day when I was elected. However, it is not my own feelings that count here but the outstanding events for the future of Europe and the European Parliament.

The Treaty of Amsterdam: From this point of view, I would start by highlighting the negotiations for the Treaty of Amsterdam: in the first five months of my presidency I set myself the task of continuing the work of my predecessor, Klaus Hänsch, visiting 14 Member State Heads of Government. This was physically exhausting, but it enabled me to go to the informal summit in Noordwijk with a European Parliament position that was favourably received by the Heads of State and Government and that provided a way out of the impasse that was blocking the negotiations. I must stress that I acted in close cooperation with the Dutch Presidency throughout and that, as a result of this cooperation and determination, the European Parliament and democracy were strengthened in Amsterdam.

European Parliament President José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado at the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam on October 2, 1997 © European Communities

The adoption of the euro: The second key moment I should like to recall is the European Parliament’s approval of the first eleven Member States to launch the euro. This took place at a formal sitting that was widely covered in the media. That same day, 2 May 1998, the European Council appointed the first President of the European Central Bank following tense and interminable negotiations. It was Parliament’s task to question the President designate, and it took advantage of Duisenberg’s weakened position (owing to the difficulties surrounding his nomination) to ensure that its support was duly valued and to obtain in exchange an undertaking from the recently appointed President to appear regularly before Parliament to report on the bank’s progress.

Both Wim Duisenberg and his successor Jean-Claude Trichet scrupulously complied with this commitment, thus enabling Parliament to exercise scrutiny over the European Central Bank whilst fully respecting its independence.

Looking back on these events ten years later, it becomes clear that once again the prophecies were mistaken. Compromise is never a brilliant solution but at that point, as at other times when European integration has been blocked, it offered a way forward. The results are there for all to see: the European Central Bank has had two outstanding presidents who have successfully defended its independence and effectiveness. And the euro has become a leading currency that Europeans see as their own, indeed as their only one.

The resignation of the Commission: The third key moment that must be highlighted is Parliament’s decision to exercise its right of control over the Commission’s activities, a decision which eventually led to the latter’s resignation. This was a tense process that was particularly painful for me, given my friendship and ideological affinity with Jacques Santer and other members of the Commission, especially Marcelino Oreja. But it was a decisive moment for the future of the European Parliament.

Since Maastricht, the Commission has had to obtain Parliament’s confidence. Jacques Santer himself recognised this in the speech he made on taking office. But the conviction then held by the Commission that it should be independent in relation not only to national interests but also to Parliament prevailed.

EC President Jacques Santer (R) presents the Agenda 2000 to EP President José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado (L). © European Union 1997 – European Parliament

The first consequence of that episode is that the Commission cannot place itself in a position of confrontation with the parliamentary assembly, whose confidence must be maintained at all times. Romano Prodi saw this clearly and reached an agreement with Parliament that would enable it to demand the resignation of any Commissioner who had lost this confidence. José Manuel Barroso also followed the same course in the Rocco Buttiglione episode. It can thus be seen as a decisive stage in the evolution towards a parliamentary system.

The second consequence is that the Commission has carried out an in-depth internal reform to strengthen control mechanisms, as called for by the Committee of Independent Experts. European citizens have benefited.

The third and less well-known consequence is in my view equally clear: it concerns the goal of transforming the Commission into a technical secretariat of the Council – a recurrent goal set by those who would like to reduce the European Union to an intergovernmental organisation. This goal was finally cast aside. An institution whose power is based on the confidence of Parliament is not and cannot be a technical body. It is a political body which is given tremendous potential force by this majority … provided, of course, that it is willing to use it. An executive based on the confidence of Parliament can be an instrument of political leadership or it can be a puppet ; it depends on the resolve and decisiveness of its members.

And the fourth consequence, which is an underlying consequence of the resignation but one that is of great importance for the future, is that the two-thirds majority required for a motion of censure to succeed is not sufficient to keep the Commission alive against a simple parliamentary majority that has no confidence in it. The two-thirds majority is an anachronism, a relic from the time when the Commission was appointed by the Member State governments alone. Once the Commission’s appointment requires the approval of the parliamentary majority, the withdrawal of that confidence must mean the end of the Commission, even if it is expressed by a simple majority rather than a two-thirds majority.

Other dimensions of the presidency: My presidency did not, of course, consist of those key moments alone. It covered many other issues:

• Parliamentary relations with the twelve countries that would subsequently join the Union;
• The launching of the Mediterranean Interparliamentary Assembly;
• Visits to the EU Member States, Russia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras;
• As regards the internal dimension of Parliament: the completion and inauguration of the buildings in Brussels, the completion of the building in Strasbourg and the renewal of the highest levels of Parliament’s administration.

EP President José María Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado meets with First Deputy Speaker of the Duma and Co-chair of EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Vladimir Ryzkhov. © European Communities 1998 – European Parliament

I might also mention the negotiations on the 1999-2006 financial perspective, which were particularly complex, the launching of OLAF (the Anti-Fraud Office), and the start of the negotiations on the Statute for Members (whose inclusion in the Treaty of Amsterdam was a personal commitment of mine).

Finally, efforts to bring about European Union intervention to prevent the genocide in Kosovo (efforts which did not meet with success), etc. 

However, this is not the time to go into detail but to express thanks for the support and cooperation I received from my fellow Members and from all those who made up Parliament’s administration and my own cabinet. I could have done nothing without them.