David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, has died at the age of 65. He was admitted to hospital in his native Italy on December 26th after a "dysfunction of his immune system", his spokesperson said, and passed away at 1.15am on Tuesday.
The Italian Democrat was elected in 2019 and was due to step down next week under a power-sharing deal with the centre-right European People’s Party that divided the five-year presidential term between two parliamentary groupings.
Politicians across the political spectrum paid tribute to the former journalist and centre-left MEP.
Ursula von der Leyen, the centre-right president of the European Commission, wrote on Twitter in Italian: "I am deeply saddened by the death of a great European and Italian.
“Sassoli was a passionate journalist, an extraordinary president of the European parliament and above all a dear friend. My thoughts go out to his family. Rest in peace, dear David.”
European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans wrote: "David Sassoli, EP president and dear friend, has died. I'm at a loss for words. His kindness was an inspiration to all who knew him. My heartfelt sympathies to his family and all his loved ones. Addio amico mio."
President Michael D Higgins also paid tribute to Mr Sassoli, extending his sympathies to Mr Sassoli’s family, friends and European Parliament colleagues.
"Mr Sassoli had a distinguished career as a journalist and carried his ideals and experience from that time into his work in politics, where he made a valuable contribution in highlighting the importance of the European Union being closer to the people of Europe, " Mr Higgins said.
The European Parliament is the only directly elected EU body but its powers are dwarfed by those of the commission, which proposes most legislation, and the council of member states who have the final say. MEPs amend legislation, however, and have a role in setting the budget and approving top appointments.
Mr Sassoli continued to demand a greater role for the parliament and succeeded in getting a budget increase for its priorities such as vaccines for developing countries and the new European public prosecutor’s office.
‘Heartbroken’
The parliament has also pushed the bloc towards ambitious climate targets and generally supports a greater role for Brussels in developing areas such as justice, health and defence.
Mr Sassoli recently launched legal action against the commission for failing to halt funding to Poland for alleged breaches of judges' independence.
Mr Sassoli beat Sergei Stanishev, a former Bulgarian prime minister, and several other candidates to the job. He is likely to be succeeded by Roberta Metsola, a Maltese MEP selected by the EPP as its candidate for president.
“I am heartbroken. Europe has lost a leader, I have a lost a friend, democracy has lost a champion,” she wrote on Twitter. “David Sassoli dedicated his life to making the world a better, fairer place.”
Mario Draghi, Italy's prime minister, expressed his condolences in a written statement, saying Mr Sassoli was "a man of the institutions, a profound pro-European", whose untimely and sudden was "shocking".
Born in Florence in 1956, Mr Sassoli joined Italian national broadcaster RAI in 1992. He became a household name presenting the main evening news and was the broadcaster’s deputy director.
He entered politics in 2009, joining the Democratic Party, formed from the two principal parties of the left. He was elected to the European parliament the same year.
During the coronavirus pandemic, he developed hybrid sessions with remote voting and temporarily scrapped the monthly commute for sessions in Strasbourg.
Mr Sassoli is survived by his wife Alessandra, and two children. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022