Santer and Bonino elected as MEPs

Jacques Santer: Resigned with other commissioners in March

The disgraced former president of the European Commission Jacques Santer is to become a MEP,

Mr Santer was the top candidate for Luxembourg's leading centre-right Christian Democrat party.

He will be joined in the parliament by the European Commissioner for humanitarian affairs Emma Bonino.

Mass resignation

Mr Santer will now be joining the body which brought about his downfall from the European Commission through a motion of censure.

The European Commission resigned en masse in March in the wake of a damning corruption report into fraud and mismanagement.

Emma Bonino is deciding whether to take her seat

The report cleared the former Luxembourg prime minister of accusations of personal wrongdoing, but said he failed to run his administration properly

At the time Mr Santer said he had "no guilt whatsoever" about the worst crisis in the European Union's 42 year history.

However, the commissioners stayed on in a caretaking role until their replacements were found.

EU governments have appointed Italy's former premier Romano Prodi to succeed Mr Santer but they have yet to name the 19 other commissioners for the new commission.

A spokeswoman for Mr Santer said he will stay on at the commission until the EU assembly holds its first monthly session after the elections on 20 July.

Ms Bonino was elected on a strong 8.5% of the vote by leading an offshoot of Italy's Radical Party.

Her spokesman Pietro Petrucci said she will decide by 20 July whether she takes her seat in the European Parliament.

Her decision will depend on whether Italy puts her name forward again for a commission job or not.