Education
He studied medicine at university in Prague.
He studied medicine at university in Prague.
He was elected on the Civic Democratic Party ticket and sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists group. He worked as a surgeon and director of a hospital in Kadaň. Thereafter, he served in a city council.
On 20 July 2004 he was elected one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament.
In February 2007, he became the Chair of the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament, succeeding Karl-Heinz Florenz.
In 1998 he was elected as a member of the Czechoslovakian Parliament until 2004. Since then he has been a member of the European Parliament.