Brussels, Rome In the past few months, his employees had to send messages about sick days and hospital stays of the EU Parliament President David Sassoli again and again. So on Monday: He has been in the hospital since December 26th “because of a serious complication due to a dysfunction of the immune system,” his office reported. That’s why all of his appointments have been canceled. The following night Sassoli died in his native Italy. He was 65 years old.
There is now mourning in Brussels. “I am deeply saddened by the terrible loss of a great European and proud Italian,” tweeted EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday morning. “David Sassoli was a compassionate journalist, an excellent President of the European Parliament and, above all, a dear friend.” Her Vice-President Frans Timmermans, like Sassoli a Social Democrat, wrote: “His warmth was an inspiration to everyone who knew him.”
Members of Parliament speak of a “rhetorical titan”, of someone “who was used to appearing in public and thereby making an impact”, of a “convinced, passionate democrat”. He is described as “charming”, “lovable” and “creative”. A great compromise finder who burned for his office and the European idea, but at the same time was unable to fully develop in the role of Parliamentary President.
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Sassoli was Italy’s “Mr. Daily News”
Sassoli was a career changer in politics, having previously worked as a journalist. His career began in 1986, first with local newspapers and a news agency, and later with the national daily newspaper “Il Giorno”. He became known to the general public in Italy when he switched to state television in 1992. First he worked as a reporter for the broadcaster Rai3, later he switched to the most watched news program in Italy: Tg1 on the broadcaster Rai1.
For years he ran the evening news there, became vice-chief of the show, her face – and thus something like Italy’s “Mr. Tagesschau “, a Roman Jo Brauner.
He only switched to politics in 2009, when he became a MEP. In 2013 he wanted to become mayor of Rome – but narrowly failed in the nomination. In the end, another candidate entered the race for the center-left parties. “He was a man of the institutions, a staunch pro-European, a passionate journalist,” condoled Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Tuesday morning. Sassoli was a symbol of balance, humanity and generosity.
Sassoli leaves behind his wife, the architect Alessandra Vittorini, and two children. He was a fan of the football club Fiorentina – his home. Even if Sassoli was born in Tuscany, he lived most of the time in Rome. But whenever he could, according to the Italian media, he went to his house in Sutri, a tranquil community about an hour’s drive north of Rome. There he gardened and read, two of his favorite hobbies.
Despite his popularity, even across party lines, there had been criticism of Sassoli again and again during his lifetime: his chaotic way of working was often talked about, his lack of decisive action was criticized, as was his frequent absence and poor knowledge of foreign languages. That is why many parliamentarians were more or less relieved that Sassoli’s term of office was drawing to a close.
Next week, Sassoli’s two-and-a-half-year term of office was due to end and the parliamentarians elect their new president. In 2019 it was planned that Christian Democrat Manfred Weber would then take over the office. At that time he would actually have liked to become EU Commission President and therefore had the Christian Democratic EPP put him in the running as the top candidate for the European elections.
It turned out differently: the office of Commission President went to Ursula von der Leyen. Weber was consoled by being at the head of the European Parliament in the second half of the legislative period. That was the refinement of the personnel package of the European heads of state and government, in which the top EU positions are distributed according to regional and party propriety.
It also has a tradition that a social democrat and a conservative share the highest office in parliament in one legislative period, so that the chairmanship changes after two and a half years.
But Weber withdrew from the project. It is now assumed that the Maltese Roberta Metsola will win the election next week. “Anything but choosing Metsola would be a big surprise. That is not to be expected, ”said the chairman of the SPD delegation in the European Parliament, Jens Geier, in front of journalists on Tuesday morning. The 42-year-old is currently the First Vice-President of the EU Parliament and will therefore now act on a provisional basis.
The fact that, despite Weber’s withdrawal, a Christian Democrat should lead the EU parliament in the future is causing displeasure within other party families. Because apart from the European Council, whose president Charles Michel is a liberal, all of the important EU institutions are headed by Christian Democrats. That is why talks have been going on behind closed doors for months as to whether a majority could be found for a candidate from non-EPP ranks.
Sassoli also planned not to just leave the field to Metsola, but to run against her. Since his health deteriorated immensely at the end of the year, he gave up this project in December.
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