Speeches

I give the floor to any colleague that would like to speak against this proposal. Otherwise we go straight to the vote by roll call. (Parliament rejected the proposal) So, the agenda is unchanged. The agenda is now adopted and the order of business is thus established. Have a good afternoon.

We now come to the order of business. The final draft agenda, as adopted by the Conference of Presidents on 5 February pursuant to Rule 163, has been distributed. With the agreement of the political groups, I wish to put to the House the following proposals for changes to the final draft agenda. For today, Monday, Parliament statement on the situation in Sweden in the midst of the recent mass shooting in Örebro, with one round of political group speakers, is added as the first point. For tomorrow, a formal sitting with an address by Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is added at 12:00. As a result, the voting session will start at 12:30. For Thursday, the order of debates will change as follows. The debate on 'EU-Mercosur trade agreement' will be taken as the first point on the agenda, whereas the debate on 'Threats to EU sovereignty through strategic dependencies and communication infrastructure' will be the second point. If there are no objections, then these changes are approved. We will move now to a change requested by a political group. For Wednesday, the ESN Group has requested that a Commission statement on ‘Condemning all politically motivated violence, in particular the slingshot attack in Germany and other violent attacks in Europe’ be added as the third point in the afternoon. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended to 23:00. I give the floor to Christine Anderson to move the request on behalf of the ESN Group.

I would like to inform you that, together with the President of the Council, I shall, on Tuesday, sign one act adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, in accordance with Rule 81 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure. The title of the act will be published in the minutes of this sitting. ⁂ I would also like to inform the House that I have received three requests for points of order. I will give the floor in the order that we have received them, first with Petras Auštrevičius. Please quote the rule under which you are making the point of order.

First of all, pursuant to Rules 10 and 183 of the Rules of Procedure, and after taking into account the observations of the Member concerned, I have decided to impose a penalty on Grzegorz Braun. At the sitting of 27 November 2024, Mr Brown repeatedly used offensive and discriminatory language in the framework of the debate of the recent legislation targeting LGBTQI persons. This penalty consists of the forfeiture of his entitlement to the daily subsistence allowance for a period of two days, as well as a temporary suspension from participation in all the activities of Parliament for a period of two days on which Parliament meets, starting from today, 10 February 2025, without prejudice to his right to vote in plenary and subject to strict compliance with the Members' standards of conduct. The Member concerned has been notified of these decisions and has not launched an internal appeal with the Bureau pursuant to Rule 184. The penalties are therefore final.

(Interruptions off mic by Mr Braun) Thank you, Ms Hermann, for that moving speech. I must also inform you, Ms Hermann, the father of Simone Veil was on the same train as your father, so the connection with this Parliament is very deep. Please, dear colleagues, can I ask you now to join me in observing one minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Can I please ask for silence from the gallery? We will now stand for a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. (The House observed a minute’s silence) (Interruptions off mic by Mr Braun) Thank you. As the last part of this ceremony, I now invite Sam Lucas and Sadie Fields to play 'Kaddish' by Maurice Ravel, which is based on a Jewish prayer of the same name. (Interruption off mic by Mr Braun) Mr Braun, you leave the Chamber now! I ask that the Member is escorted out of the Chamber now! Please! I think an apology is due to Ms Hermann, and to Mr Lucas and Ms Fields. Please go ahead. (Sam Lucas, cello, and Sadie Fields, violin, performed 'Kaddish' by Maurice Ravel) (Sustained applause) Thank you very much. As this solemn ceremony draws to a close, may we each carry forward the torch of memory, so that hatred has no sanctuary and humanity prevails. Europe remembers! Never again!

The next item is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on the presentation of the programme of activities of the Polish Presidency (2024/2970(RSP)). Dear colleagues, on 1 January, Poland took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and today we are honoured to welcome the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, to introduce his Presidency's priorities to this House. Dear Prime Minister, dear Donald, witamy – welcome. (Applause) It is good to see you back in the European Parliament. A strong Poland means a strong Europe, and Poland is ready for the challenge of this Presidency. Under your leadership, Poland entered 2025 as a European front runner in economic growth and a leading voice for collective European action on competitiveness and security. Dear Prime Minister, you take the reins as the world around us has become more unpredictable. Increasingly, Europe's way and our unity will come under renewed pressure and I know that in those moments, as we collectively face down these global challenges, Europe will be able to rely on Polish courage and spirit to anchor our Union, and you will find this Parliament as a solid partner in your journey. When we see what Russia did in Ukraine, the dictatorship in Belarus, the instability in the Middle East, Europe will be called upon to do more, to stand up for our way, to lead. And Europe will be ready for this new reality. We must step up and act with determination to ensure that our Union continues to thrive, to ensure that we are able to generate the prosperity our European way relies on, to make people's lives easier, to ensure our people can live securely and in safety. This also means taking steps to ensure Europe secures its own frontiers, protects its critical infrastructure and builds its defence readiness to counter very real external threats and defend our strategic autonomy. And we must go even further, working together to increase our collective security across our Union in all areas, from migration to energy and economy. With Poland at the helm of this Presidency, guided by your leadership and your vision, dear Donald, I am confident our Union can tackle these critical issues and emerge even stronger, even more secure, even more prosperous. The steps we choose to take together in the next six months will be decisive for our Union, and there is no time to lose. The time to act is now. In the words of that great Pole, Pope John Paul II, the future starts today, not tomorrow. So, dear Prime Minister, dear Donald, the floor is yours. (Applause)

The next item is European Council and Commission statements on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 December 2024 (2024/2879(RSP)). By way of a reminder, after the first round of speakers on behalf of the groups, Members who have received speaking time from their political groups or the non‑attached Members' Secretariat will be called to speak and will be reminded of their allotted speaking time. This means that I ask you to keep an eye on the screens where the current speaker and the next two speakers will be displayed, and then you will be called to come up to the lectern. The normal rules regarding blue cards and the catch‑the‑eye procedure will apply during the debate. Now, I have the pleasure to invite the President of the European Council, for the first time in his office, to address us in this Parliament on the conclusions of the last meeting of 19 December. António, the floor is yours.

OK, that you cannot say. Mr Uhrík, I have to cut off your microphone now. I'm sorry, no matter what, you do not tell your colleagues to shut up, even if you disagree.

I have received a request from the ECON Committee, pursuant to Rule 151(2), to consult the European Economic and Social Committee in the context of the procedure relating to facilitating the financing of investments and reforms to boost European competitiveness and creating a capital markets union. This request for consultation will be deemed to have been approved unless, within 24 hours, a political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold request that it be put to the vote. * * * I would like to inform the House that I have received two requests for points of order. I will give the floor first to João Oliveira. As always, please quote the rule that you are making your point on.

I have received a request from the competent authorities in Poland for the parliamentary immunity of Daniel Obajtek to be waived. I have also received a request from the competent authorities in Belgium for the parliamentary immunity of Jaak Madison to be waived. These requests are referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs.

The minutes and the texts adopted of the sitting of 19 December 2024 are available. Are there any comments? I see that is not the case. Therefore, the minutes are approved.

Dear colleagues, we are joined today by the President of Georgia, Salomé Zourabichvili. President, welcome back to the European Parliament. When you last visited this House, we discussed your country's progress towards joining our European family. Today, this journey is under threat. The European Parliament condemns any repression of the opposition and the imprisonment of peaceful protesters. These actions roll back the successful steps we have taken together in recent years. In response to this situation, this House has called for decisive action and we reiterate that now. I know that there are many in Georgia who fear for their country's future. And I also know that I speak for this entire House when I say to all those Georgians who look to Europe for support and for their future that they are not alone. We see you, we hear you. We are with you. So this House stands strong with the people of Georgia and your journey towards Europe. And our door will always remain open. So I give the floor to you, dear President Salomé Zourabichvili. (Applause)

The next vote is on the report by Alex Agius Saliba on the activities of the European Ombudsman – annual report 2023 (see minutes, item 8.8).

The next vote is on the report by Christine Schneider on the Deforestation Regulation: provisions relating to the date of application (see minutes, item 8.3).

The first vote is to elect the European Ombudsman (see minutes, item 8.1). This will be held in accordance with Rule 237 of our Rules of Procedure. I remind you that, pursuant to this Rule, the Ombudsman shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast. If no candidate is elected after the first two ballots, only the two candidates obtaining the largest number of votes in the second ballot may continue to stand. I have received the following nominations: Teresa Anjinho, Emilio De Capitani, Marino Fardelli, Julia Laffranque, Claudia Mahler and Reinier van Zutphen. I'd like to remind you that the vote is taken by electronic secret ballot and that, in accordance with Rule 237(7) of the Rules of Procedure, in order to be elected a candidate must obtain a majority of the votes cast. Abstentions are not regarded as votes cast, and you can only vote for one candidate. As it is a secret ballot, you will only see a blue light on your terminal, regardless of the way you vote. Pursuant to Rule 237(8), we would need to ensure that at least half of Parliament's component Members are present. We can do this visually; no need to do it electronically. So we can proceed. The information – and this is important – concerning the electronic voting system has been sent to you by email and you also have it on your desk. Once the vote has been declared open, you will see on your screen, first of all, the subject of the vote; secondly, the list of candidates. Position the cursor on the name of the candidate of your choice by activating the blue keys located on the bottom right-hand side of the screen, and cast your vote by pressing the plus button, the left-hand button. The blue voting light will come on, and an asterisk will appear against the name. To safeguard voting confidentiality, move the cursor to make the asterisk disappear from the screen. If you wish to indicate your presence in the ballot without voting for a candidate, just press the zero button, in other words, the central button. You can change your choice until the vote has been declared closed by repositioning the cursor on the name of the candidate and pressing the plus button again to cancel your vote. Then position the cursor on the name of another candidate and press the plus button. We have 653 members voting: 105 blank; 548 votes cast. The absolute majority is 275. I will now read out in the order of the votes the results: Teresa Anjinho, 225; Reinier van Zutphen, 122; Julia Laffranque, 81; Marino Fardelli, 52; Emilio De Capitani, 42; Claudia Mahler, 26. Since no candidate has obtained a majority of the votes cast, a second ballot must be held. We will pause now. You will be given a few minutes. Please don't leave the room until you tell me, via your political group leaders, that we are ready to proceed. So we hold the second ballot. I will check whether anyone has withdrawn. No candidate has withdrawn. And therefore same candidates as before: Teresa Anjinho, Emilio De Capitani, Marino Fardelli, Julia Laffranque, Claudia Mahler and Reinier van Zutphen. So I'll read it out as I did before. We have 654 members voting: 51 blank; 603 votes cast. The absolute majority is 302. Teresa Anjinho has received 344 votes and therefore is elected. (Applause) Reinier van Zutphen, 177; Julia Laffranque, 47; Claudia Mahler, 15; Marino Fardelli, 14; Emilio De Capitani, 6. Therefore, Teresa Anjinho has obtained a majority of the votes cast, and I declare her elected European Ombudsman. I congratulate her on her election. Congratulations! (Applause)

I have received a request for a point of order, and I will give the floor to Dario Nardella. Please, colleagues, quote the Rule that you are going to make the point on.

Dear colleagues, I'll start by saying that, in agreement with the political groups and in accordance with Rule 164(2), I wish to put to the House the following additions to the agenda. Tomorrow's sitting will now start at 08:30 in the morning with a formal sitting with Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia.

I give the floor now to María Corina Machado, leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela. Very nice to see you, María. You will take the floor remotely.

The LIBE and ENVI committees have transmitted a corrigendum to a text adopted by the Parliament. Pursuant to Rule 251, this corrigendum will be deemed approved unless, no later than 24 hours after its announcement, a request is made by a political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold that it be put to the vote. The corrigendum is available on the plenary webpage. Its title will be published in the minutes of this sitting.