The current amazing factlet on the European Parliament’s website is about our old friend Hans-Gert Pöttering.
Did you know… that before becoming President of the EP Hans-Gert Pöttering had been the leader of the EPP-ED group for seven years (1999-2007)?
Well no, I didn’t. But it doesn’t surprise me that Pöttering is a career politician. Indeed, his CV is less than amazing, since it reveals that Hans-Gert is one of many MEPs who’s never really had a proper job. After his studies he became a research assistant, and was elected to the Parliament in 1979.
Slightly more interesting and ironic is that his CV makes a big deal of his Catholic background, and how it informs his political views. Which stirs memories of Rocco Buttiglione, the Italian candidate for Commissioner of Justice and Home Affairs. That’s the fellow who Parliament rejected because of his Catholic background and the way it informed his political views.