The Pole, who already uses social-networking site Facebook for professional purposes, said Twitter represented "another format" for communication with the public.
Stressing that "it is a pleasure and a need to use all forms of communication," Buzek said "the European Parliament is increasingly influential and must be increasingly present".
The institution has grown in importance since the entry into force on 1 December of the Lisbon Treaty, which sees the EU assembly become co-legislator in the majority of policy areas.
"Modern technology, including social media, gives people the opportunity to interact and have their say," said Buzek.
The Parliament president explained that the success of his Facebook page, which had 2,208 fans this morning, was a key factor in his decision to launch a Twitter account.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Buzek's move will encourage colleagues in the Parliament to follow in his footsteps.
Last autumn, a survey carried out by StrategyOne and public affairs consultancy Edelman found that members of the European Parliament are lagging behind when it comes to online engagement with EU citizens (EurActiv 10/11/09).
Despite high levels of Internet awareness, many parliamentary officials still prefer traditional text or graphics-based websites for professional applications, and primarily embrace Web 2.0 innovations like blogs, wikis, video, social networks and podcasts only for personal use, the survey found.
Indeed, traditional means of online communication dominate the digital media strategies of assistants in the European Parliament, with three-quarters identifying websites as most effective in this regard and 30% declaring them "very effective".
Nevertheless, 62% of MEP assistants consider online videos an effective means of communicating, compared with blogs and micro-blogs at 45% and 27% respectively.
As for constituents, email remains by far and away their most effective means of contacting their MEP (87%).
New media tools like blogs (31%) and social networks (22%) trail behind here, perhaps reflecting their relatively low level of usage by EU assembly staff themselves.
Buzek's first tweet on the site read: "EP is working on hearings of commissioners-designate, we will vote on Commission on 9 February, more on my website."
By yesterday evening, the Pole had attracted 268 followers.
