The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, expressed her sadness on Monday at the death of José María Gil-Robles, who led the European Parliament with "great determination" to make this European institution "stronger and closer to the citizens".
"Saddened by the death of the former president of the European Parliament José María Gil-Robles. He led Parliament in moments of change with great determination to make this institution stronger and closer to the citizens," Metsola tweeted in Spanish in a message that accompanied of a black and white photo of the politician.
The Maltese conservative expressed her "deepest condolences to her family and friends" on behalf of the European Parliament.
"José María Gil-Robles has left us, a great president of the European Parliament, but above all a teacher and a friend, an example of service to European ideals, a man of dialogue, open, conciliatory, intelligent, wise and fun", highlighted the Director of Communication of Eurocámara, Jaume Duch. The spokesman for this institution also assured on his Twitter profile that "it was an honor to work with him."
Died this Monday at the age of 87, Gil-Robles (Madrid, 1935) was a member of the European Parliament for 15 years, from 1989 to 2004, and served as the twenty-third president of the European Parliament between April 14, 1997 and December 19. July 1999.
As president of the European Parliament, he participated in some of the key moments in European history, such as the negotiations that would give rise to the Treaty of Amsterdam, the approval by the European Parliament of the launch of the euro, the appointment of the first president of the European Central Bank and the launch of the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) or the efforts of the European Union to prevent genocide in Kosovo.
He was also in charge of the European Parliament when the bloc resignation of the Commission led by Jacques Santer took place, in which Parliament played a key role of control and accountability of the European Commission that would set a precedent for the following community executives .
Professor of Constitutional Law at the Complutense University of Madrid from 1959 to 1964, Gil-Robles was the holder of a Jean Monnet Chair and director of the "Antonio Truyol" Jean Monnet Center of Excellence for European Studies of the aforementioned university.
Born in Madrid on June 18, 1935, José María Gil-Robles was the eldest son of the former Minister of War in the Second Republic, José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones (1898-1980), who was leader of the CEDA ( Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights).
When he was a few years old, he left Spain with his family -as exiles- to reside in Biarritz (France) and, later, in Portugal. In the latter country he studied the Spanish Baccalaureate with private teachers, including his father, and he took the self-examination at the Institute of Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca.
Graduated in Law, after approving the oppositions to the Superior Body of Jurists of the Spanish Parliament, he joined the Courts in 1959 as a lawyer and among his destinations were the Foreign Affairs Commission, the Foreign Legislation Bulletin, the Central Board of the Electoral Census, the National Defense Commission and the Agriculture Commission.
In October of that same year, he joined the Madrid Bar Association and, later, those of Pamplona and Salamanca.
For several years, until 1964, he was also an assistant professor at the Chair of Political Law at the University of Madrid.
In 1970 he joined the editorial board of "Cuadernos para el diálogo", in addition to practicing as a lawyer in Administrative Law and consulting companies.
He developed his political activity in the Popular Democratic Federation, of which he was general secretary in 1976. In 1977 his father resigned as president of this formation and a month later, on April 16, he was ratified as general secretary of the new Democratic Federation Cristiana (FDC), emerged after the merger of the Democratic Left and the Popular Democratic Federation.
The following year and within this party, he was in charge of the Secretariat for Political Relations, until December 1978, when he resigned from office.
Retired from political activity, he continued in his position as Lawyer of the Courts and practiced private law.
In October 1987 he returned to political activity as a member of the political council of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP); two years later, on June 15, 1989, he won a seat in the elections to the European Parliament in which he ran as an independent for the Popular Party (PP), and where he was part of the Youth, Culture and Education Commissions .
In 1990 he joined the PP, endorsed by the vice-president and MEP Marcelino Oreja and in the European elections held on June 12, 1994, he renewed his deputy act for this party, held one of the fourteen vice-presidencies and was part of the Institutional Affairs and Regulation.
Likewise, from 1990 to 1992 he was vice-president of the Group of the European People's Party.
The appointment, in May 1996, of Abel Matutes as Minister of Foreign Affairs left him free to present his candidacy for the presidency of the European Parliament.
On January 14, 1997, he was elected president of the Eurocámara by a large majority, obtaining 338 votes.
On June 13, 1999, he renewed his act as MEP in the elections and on July 20, French Nicole Fontaine succeeded him as the EP presidency. That year he was named president of the International European Movement, a position he held until 2005.
On May 4, 2004, he said goodbye to the Chamber, after 15 years of service, with a speech in which he highlighted the presence of 10 new members in the EU.
In November 2008 he was appointed President of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, based in Switzerland.
Among other distinctions, he had the medal of the Royal Institute of European Studies (1998); the Jean-Monnet Gold Medal for Europe (1998); the Great Cross of Isabel la Católica (2000); Gold Medal of the European Parliament (2000); the insignia of Officer of the Order of the French Legion of Honor (2000), and the Grand Crosses of the Order of Isabel la Católica, as well as the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (2005), "Medalla a la trabajo por European Integration" and the Grand Cross for Civil Merit (2005).
Married to Magdalena Casanueva, granddaughter of the one who was Minister of Justice with her father, they had four children.
The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has lamented the death this Monday of the politician and lawyer José María Gil-Robles, who has stressed that he was a great defender of democracy and the values of the European Union.
"My condolences and all my affection to the family of José María Gil-Robles. A great president of the European Parliament, defender of democracy and EU values. Rest in peace", the PP leader has published on his account Twitter official.
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