At present the official nominations for president of the European Parliament, to be appointed in Strasbourg on Tuesday 16th January in replacement of the Spanish Josep Borrell, are four. The agreement reached in 2004 between the People’s Party and the Socialists for a mid-term changeover between two leaders of the main groups of the EU Parliament should lead to the appointment of the German People’s Party leader Hans-Gert Poettering. "Out of a total of 13 Presidents of Parliament explains a note from the press office , since he was elected by universal suffrage (1979), Poettering would be the third German to take such office after the Socialist Klaus Hansh (1994-1997) and the People’s Party leader Egon Klepsch (1992-1994)". The other three nominations, supported by some minor groups, are the following: the Italian Monica Frassoni, co-president of the Green Party group; the French leader of the Unitarian Left party Francis Wurtz; the Danish president of the Independence and Democracy group Jens-Peter Bonde. Other nominations can be submitted by Monday 15th January. On that day at the opening of the session, the floor will welcome the new Bulgarian and Rumanian members who will follow their national flags as they reach the floor. "With the arrival of the new MEPs, the Parliament members will temporarily rise from 732 to 785, then they will drop to 736 from next term", in 2009.
