EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: MEPS ELECT PAT COX PRESIDENT.

Mr Cox won on the third ballot, winning 298 votes (235 out of the final 568 votes cast were needed for an absolute majority), with nearest rival Mr Martin gathering 237 votes, and the only other candidate in the third round, Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD, Denmark), getting just 33 votes. It came after two earlier rounds which eliminated the two other contenders Francis Wurtz (EUL/NGL, France) and Gerard Onesta (Greens/EFA, France).Mr Cox hailed the Presidential debates in recent weeks which, he said, had been unprecedented and spotlighted the genuine concerns about where the Parliament was going. When it came to overhauling some of the Parliament's more arcane procedures, he said he was willing to listen and learn, but already he wanted to streamline activities, including the number of reports and debates which littered the plenary session agendas. This implied, "less voting, less technicality and more vitality." He said his Presidency would focus on equal opportunities and on offering user-friendly contributions to the EU reform debates. He would not pretend to be "the 16th President or Prime Minister in Europe", but rather to promote parliamentary democracy making Europe fit for the future.Mr Cox, 49, has been an MEP since 1989, representing the constituency of Munster, and has been chairman of the ELDR group since 1998. Before entering politics he worked both as an economics lecturer and as a...