David Sassoli on the mend, will not chair the Strasbourg session – POLITICO
European Parliament President David Sassoli “is still recovering from pneumonia” and will not chair the plenary session of the assembly next week, his spokesman Roberto Cuillo told POLITICO.
Earlier this month, the 65-year-old Italian MEP was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and was unable to chair the session which featured the annual State of the Union address, one major events in the EU. He then flew to Italy after medics agreed he could recover in his homeland.
But questions about Sassoli’s health increased on Thursday when the president did not attend or even connect online to the traditional Conference of Presidents (COP), which brings together group leaders and senior parliament officials each month.
Cuillo said Sassoli “was still recovering from pneumonia and being treated in Italy” and was unable to report to the COP remotely as he was undergoing tests. “He will not chair the plenary session in Strasbourg next week,” Cuillo added.
However, Cuillo also said that Sassoli’s health was “improving a lot” and that the former Italian TV journalist would likely return to chair the second session of the month on October 18 in Strasbourg.
Sassoli, an Italian Social Democrat, became Speaker of Parliament in 2019 as part of a larger deal to distribute the best jobs in the EU. Under the deal, Sassoli is expected to step down at the end of his term in January, although he is expected to run for a second term.
Parliament officials have said it is up to one of Parliament’s 14 vice-presidents to replace Sassoli next week. First Vice-President Roberta Metsola, a Maltese MEP, chaired the State of the Union session, as well as Thursday’s COP.