By the time Klepsch became President of the European Parliament, the wave of euphoria which had followed the fall of the wall and the Iron Curtain had already faded. Now was the time for giving direction and concrete shape to the difficult process of European integration. More than ever, citizens of Central and Eastern Europe turned towards the beginning of a new era full of hope for the European Union.
Election of Egon Klepsch as President of the European Parliament during a plenary session in Strasbourg. From L-R: Enrique Barón Crespo, Raphael Chanterie, Egon Klepsch © European Communities, 1992
President Klepsch’s term in office was therefore characterised by a new dynamic, because the then Community of Twelve acted as a magnet for the countries that wished to belong to it. Nevertheless, for many reasons, the Community still needed further institutional development to accommodate enlargement. The priorities for Klepsch’s mandate would thus be both the enlargement and the deepening of the Community. In his inaugural speech, Egon Klepsch had already shown that he was determined not only to work for the unification of Europe, but for a
“European Union...endowed with the solid democratic structures it now needs more urgently than ever...[a] European Union with a strong European Parliament...the unification of Europe under the banner of democracy, freedom and peace.”
During his term of office from January 1992 until the 1994 European elections, the European Parliament made significant progress on the path of democratic consolidation in Europe. By adopting laws and the budget on an equal footing with the Council of Ministers, it influenced the lives of nearly 500 million citizens. Klepsch also placed great emphasis on letting the spirit of united Europe in parliamentary activity.
