The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs had informed Parliament of the decision to appoint Josep Borrell Fontelles as a special envoy of the acting President of the OSCE.
At its meeting of 29 and 30 January 2007, the JURI Committee, to which the matter had been referred under Rule 4(5), had concluded that the assignment was in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage and that as a result it was not incompatible with the office of Member of the European Parliament. Josep Borrell Fontelles could therefore continue to carry out his mandate as an MEP.