EP leadership wants Vice-President Czarnecki to step down
The European Parliament political group leaders decided on Thursday to propose to the full House next week that Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR, Poland) be stripped of his function. This means he would no longer represent them or the Parliament.
The political group leaders in the Conference of Presidents decided by the required majority of at least three-fifths of the votes of at least three groups to terminate Mr Czarnecki’s term of office as Vice-President due to “serious misconduct”. Mr Czarnecki had compared fellow MEP Róża Thun to Polish Nazi collaborators during the Second World War.
The full Parliament will vote on the proposal on Wednesday 7 February and will need a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast, constituting a majority of its component Members, to remove Mr Czarnecki from office. It would then need to elect a new Vice-President at a later stage.
The proposal by the Conference of Presidents is not aimed at Poland or the ECR political group. The proposal simply expresses the opinion of the political leaders that Mr Czarnecki should no longer represent them.
Applicant rules of procedure: