Speeches

OK, so we will vote on the compromise title, ‘Council and Commission statements – Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29—30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent steps towards concluding the Migration Pact. I put it to the vote by roll call. (The House agreed to the compromise title) For Wednesday, the ID Group has requested that Council and Commission statements on ‘Protecting citizens against an uncontrolled immigration policy’ be added as the second item in the afternoon after the topical debate. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended to 23.00. I give the floor to Jordan Bardella to move the request, but also to ask whether now that we have changed the title of the discussion on the European Council, you would still ask to have a separate item – just to know?

Does anybody want to speak against? I see that is not the case. Then we put the request to the vote by roll call. (The House rejected the request) For Wednesday I have received several proposals for the change of the title of the Council and Commission statements on the preparation of the European Council of 29 and 30 June 2023. I will read all the requests out. The EPP Group has requested that the title be changed to ‘Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of recent progress on the Migration Pact’. The Renew Group has requested that the title be changed to ‘Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular the ways to put the European economy at the service of the middle class’. The Left Group has requested that the title be changed to ‘Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of the de facto abolition of the right to asylum following the JHA Council deal on the Migration Pact’. The Greens Group has requested that the title be changed to ‘Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of the agreement on the Migration Pact and the EU migration deal with Tunisia’. And finally, the S&D Group has requested that the title be changed to ‘Preparation of the European Council meeting of 29-30 June 2023, in particular in the light of the general approach on the Migration Pact’. Now I understand that there might be some proposals to bring these titles together, and then if there is an agreement we will put this to a joint vote, rather than vote on each of them individually. Let’s have a look.

Doesanybody want to speak against? I see that is not the case, so I put the request to the vote by roll call. (The House agreed to the request) Therefore there will be a resolution to be voted during the July part-session. For Tuesday, The Left Group has requested that the debate on the Council and Commission statements on ‘the state of the EU-Cuba PDCA in the light of the recent visit of the High Representative to the island’ no longer be wound up with a resolution. I give the floor to Manu Pineda to move the request.

The EPP and S&D groups have notified me of decisions relating to changes to appointments within committees and delegations. These decisions will be set out in the minutes of today’s sitting and take effect on the date of this announcement.

The competent authorities of France have notified me of the election of Christophe Clergeau to the European Parliament replacing Eric Andrieu with effect from 2 June 2023. I wish to welcome our new colleague and recall that he takes his seat in Parliament and on its bodies in full enjoyment of his rights pending the verification of his credentials.

In relation to the decisions by the LIBE Committee to enter into interinstitutional negotiations pursuant to Rule 71(1) announced at the opening of the session on Wednesday, 31 May, I have received no requests for a vote in Parliament by Members or political groups reaching at least the medium threshold. The committee may therefore start the negotiations.

The minutes and the texts adopted of the sittings of 31 May and 1 June are available. Are there any comments? I see that is not the case, so they are approved.

Good afternoon, dear colleagues. It is with great sadness that we learnt today of the death of former Member of this House and former Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi. On behalf of the European Parliament, I want to extend our condolences to his children, to his political colleagues and to his family and loved ones at this difficult time. This week the Council also finally agreed on a general approach on important migration and asylum files. This a welcome step forward, if by no means the end. I think this is a breakthrough that we welcome and we are ready to begin negotiations immediately to reach a deal before the end of this mandate. We also expect a strong signal from Council on the crisis and force majeure regulation. I am convinced that we can find a way forward and that people around Europe expect a way forward that is fair and humane with those who are in need of protection, firm with those who are not eligible and strong with those traffickers exploiting the most vulnerable. Also, dear colleagues, six days ago the world witnessed yet another barbaric, horrific attack against innocent Ukrainians by Russia. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine flooded dozens of villages and parts of a nearby city, leaving thousands of people in the most dire humanitarian and ecological situation. They need our practical help and support. And they need justice. It cannot stay unanswered. In Annecy, France, the world witnessed a horrific attack against children and toddlers with a man wielding a knife, stabbing indiscriminately. In the midst of the panic and the horror, men and women, passers-by, stood up and prevented further bloodshed and tragedy. Strangers putting themselves in harm’s way and showing the very best of France and of Europe. Colleagues, this weekend we bid a heart-breaking farewell to another young woman violently stolen from us too soon. Giulia was a young woman who was seven months pregnant living near Milan in Italy. On 27 May she was beaten, stabbed, murdered and her body burned. This shocking case is not isolated in Europe. We have seen too many examples of women being killed. Just in the last weeks we have Ana Vanessa in Spain, Délia in Portugal, Fatiha in France – the list goes on. We cannot become immune to the horror of domestic abuse, femicide and violence against women. We cannot allow the cycle to continue. So for every woman who has been killed let us say from here: Not. One. More. (Applause)

The next item is a statement on the 10-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh (2023/2708(RSP)). Dear colleagues, you will recall that 10 years ago, in spring 2013, an eight-story commercial building called Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed. Thousands of tons of metal and concrete came crashing down, killing 1 134 people. Hundreds of lives. Garment workers. Factory workers. Mostly women, who only hours earlier protested about the lack of safety of their working conditions before being told to get back to work. The Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh was a wake-up call for the Western world. Ten years on, I would like to give the floor to a round of speakers to speak up about lessons learnt and about what the European Union has done to own up to the consequences of consumer preferences for abundance and affordability ahead of moderation and sustainability. Because we have a responsibility here.

I put the request from the Greens and The Left groups to the vote. (Parliament rejected the request) With that the agenda is adopted and the order of business is this established.

I need to check whether the other groups agree with this alternative proposal. I see that the Green Group does, Renew does, the EPP does. OK, so I will put the compromise request to the vote. (Parliament agreed to the request) So we will have that proposal, and therefore the sitting will be extended to much later than originally foreseen. The EPP, S&D, Renew and Greens groups have requested that Council and Commission statements on ‘Threat to democracy and the rule of law in Poland, in particular through the creation of an investigative committee’ be added as the fourth item this afternoon. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended again. I give the floor to Jeroen Lenaers to move the request.

I have received an alternative proposal from the Renew and EPP groups, so I give the floor to Nicola Danti to present on behalf of both groups.

The next item is the order of business. The final draft agenda as adopted by the Conference of Presidents on 11 May pursuant to Rule 157 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 Thursday, the report by Ms Cicurel on the requests for the waiver of the immunity of Maria Spyraki and the report by Mr Halicki on the request for the waiver of the immunity of Alexis Georgoulis are added to the votes. If there are no objections, these changes are approved. We now move to changes requested by political groups. For today, Wednesday, the Renew and ECR groups have requested that Council and Commission statements on ‘Reconstruction and integration of Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic community’ be added in the afternoon. The debate is to be wound up with a resolution to be voted in June. The ECR Group has requested that the debate be added as a third point before the debate on ‘Breaches of the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary and frozen EU funds’. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended to 23.00. I give the floor first to Petras Auštrevičius to move the request on behalf of the Renew Group.

I would like to inform you that, together with the President of the Council, I shall today sign four acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure in accordance with Rule 79. The titles of the acts will be published in the minutes of this sitting. I would also like to inform the House that I have received a request for a point of order and I will give the floor to Susanna Ceccardi.

The EPP, S&D and The Left groups have notified me of decisions relating to changes to appointments within committees and delegations. These decisions will be set out in the minutes of today’s sitting and take effect on the date of this announcement.

Presidente, bem-vindo! Obrigada por estar aqui hoje. When you last addressed this House, in 2016, you anticipated many of our common challenges and spoke of issues that continue to be relevant today. In the face of adversity, you called for unity and solidarity. Because you understood, already then, that we had more to gain by working together. That is how we dealt with the pandemic. That is how we stood up to the Russian aggression in Ukraine. President, I would like to commend you on your efforts in protecting our European values and in fighting social exclusion. The social and economic impact of the war in Ukraine, the energy prices and an increased inflation rate across our Union are once again testing our unity and commitment towards those values. The call for more unity and solidarity is perhaps today more pressing than ever before. This is the moment to stand together. This is Europe’s moment to stay united. New political and security challenges pose a greater, more complex threat to our democracies. The rise of populism and Euroscepticism, fuelled by information warfare and disinformation campaigns, seek to erode trust in democratic institutions by hampering citizens from making informed decisions. How we responded to this, and how we will continue to respond to those looking to undermine our democracy, will be the litmus test of our values. Here I am convinced that Portugal will continue to play its part. Surveys after surveys show that the Portuguese population is exceedingly euro—optimistic especially about the future of the European Union. This is encouraging – and yet we must keep doing more. More to bring the message of Europe closer to our people. More to show that the values that bind us as Europeans, is still so much greater than what can ever seek to divide us. And more to assure our citizens that their vote at the European elections next year does in fact matter. Estimado Presidente, the floor is yours.