Speeches

Chancellor Scholz, for that inspiring speech. I will now give the floor to the representatives of the political groups, starting with the President of the PPE Group, Manfred Weber. I would like to make an appeal for everyone to stick to their speaking time.

The next item is‘This is Europe – Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz’ (2023/2665(RSP)). Herr Bundeskanzler, the floor is yours.

I don’t see any colleague wishing to speak against and therefore I put the request to the vote by roll call. (Parliament rejected the request) The agenda remains unchanged. The agenda is adopted and the order of business is thus established. (The sitting was suspended at 17.19)

I don’t see any colleague wishing to speak against, and therefore I put this to the vote by roll call. (Parliament approved the request) We will therefore have Council and Commission statements on the impact of the interest rate increase decided by the ECB on households and workers added as the last item in the afternoon. For Thursday, The Left Group has requested that the debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Stop Finning – Stop the trade’ be wound up with a resolution to be voted in the May II part—session. I give the floor to Ms Anja Hazekamp to move the request on behalf of The Left Group.

We will put the request of the EPP to the vote by roll call. (Parliament rejected the request) Also for Wednesday, The Left Group has requested that the Council and Commission statements on the impact of the interest rate increase decided by the ECB on households and workers be added as the last item in the afternoon. I give the floor to João Pimenta Lopes to move the request on behalf of The Left Group.

Thank you indeed, Mr Gahler. This incident was extremely regrettable. We will defend, as a House, the right of every Member of the European Parliament to be able to fulfil their mandate. I will be in touch with the representatives of the state in question to make this point very clearly.

The competent authorities of Greece have notified me of the election of Nikos Papandreou to the European Parliament, replacing Nikos Androulakis with effect from 3 May 2023. I wish to welcome our new colleague and recall that he takes his seat in Parliament and its bodies in full enjoyment of his rights pending the verification of his credentials.

The minutes and the texts adopted at the sitting of 28 April 2023 are available. Are there any comments? No, that does not seem to be the case. Therefore, the minutes are approved.

Good afternoon, dear colleagues, can you please take your seats so that we can start. Welcome to the opening of the session. There are a few announcements from my end – not too long, but important. First of all, dear colleagues, since we last met we have been confronted by yet more members of this House being sanctioned by the Iranian regime. I know that those concerned wear this as a badge of honour and that our determination to make our voices heard in support of women, life and freedom in Iran will only grow stronger. This message is clear: that no threats, no sanctions and no attempt at intimidation will ever silence this parliament. (Applause) Last weekend, we also saw the execution of a Swedish Iranian national in Iran. As the situation becomes more difficult, all hostages – including Professor Ahmad Reza Jalali – must be immediately and unconditionally released. This parliament stands with the people of Iran. Colleagues, also last week, on World Press Freedom Day, the European Parliament launched its third edition of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism – a prize that rewards outstanding journalism in defence of the European Union’s core values. This year, as Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich remains detained in Russia, our prize takes on an even more important significance. From here, in this spirit, I will reiterate our call for his safe release, because journalists must be able to do their job without fearing for their lives or their freedom. Also, dear colleagues, last week we saw two consecutive deadly shootings in Serbia. The perpetrators of these indiscriminate attacks must be brought to justice. To the families and friends of all the victims, many of which were only children, the European Parliament extends its sincere condolences. Our thoughts remain with the families of those killed and with the injured. I would ask you to stand for a moment of silence to commemorate those that we have lost. (The House rose and observed a minute’s silence)

Good morning, we have with us today the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel. Prime Minister, dear Xavier, welcome to the European Parliament, and thank you for accepting our invitation to be part of our ‘This is Europe’ series of debates. I take this opportunity to thank you and the people of Luxembourg for your steadfast belief in Europe and your resounding commitment to our shared values; for your leadership in pushing our project forward; and for showing that the limitations of geography are no limit to the potential of a people. We will not forget your unwavering support for Ukraine, for welcoming displaced Ukrainians to your homes, schools and communes and for earmarking almost one fifth of your defence budget to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion. Allow me to praise you, Prime Minister, for your strong position on holding perpetrators of war crimes to justice. The European Parliament will always push for peace – a real peace, with justice and accountability. And we know that for there to be a peace, there must be a Ukraine. As your government said in a statement earlier this year, Luxembourg ‘will never resign itself to a world in which force prevails over law’. And that is why we have also been able to count on Luxembourg to show firm support for Ukraine on its path to EU membership. For this, Prime Minister, and for so much more, I would like to thank you and assure you that this Parliament will continue to stand for these causes and for our common values with Luxembourg and with you.

Based on the conclusions of the advisory committee dealing with harassment complaints between accredited parliamentary assistants and Members of the European Parliament and after taking into account the observations of the Member concerned, I have decided to impose a penalty on Monica Semedo, pursuant to Rule 10(6) and Rule 176, as a result of her behaviour towards her accredited parliamentary assistant, which constituted psychological harassment. The penalty consists of the forfeiture of entitlement to the daily subsistence allowance for a period of 10 days. The Member concerned has been notified of the decision today and is entitled to lodge an internal appeal with the Bureau under Rule 177. The penalty would be suspended for the duration of any such appeal.

There seems to be massive support, Mr Guetta. (Parliament agreed to the request) The deadlines are: motions for resolutions – Tuesday, 18 April at noon; amendments to motions for resolutions, and joint motions for resolutions – Wednesday, 19 April at 13.00; and amendments to joint motions for resolutions – Wednesday, 19 April at 14.00. The agenda is adopted. The order of business is thus established.

So we will vote on the request as amended by the EPP Group. (Parliament rejected the request) The agenda therefore remains unchanged. For Wednesday, the EPP Group has requested that a debate under Rule 144 on the rule of law in Russia be added as the second debate with resolution under Rule 144 in the evening. I give the floor to Michael Gahler to move the request on behalf of the EPP Group.

We will put the request of the EPP Group to the vote by roll call. (Parliament rejected the EPP Group’s request) Ms García Pérez, would you still like to keep your proposal? I see that is the case, so we will put the request of the S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups to a vote by roll call. (Parliament agreed to the proposal from the S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups) Therefore we will have a Council and Commission statement on ‘the need for European solidarity in saving lives in the Mediterranean, in particular in Italy’. That will be added as the fourth item in the afternoon and the sitting will be extended until 23.00. Also for Tuesday, the ECR Group has requested that an oral question on ‘unjustified interference by the Commission in the chosen nature policy of a Member State’ be added as the fourth item in the afternoon after the debate on the guidelines for the 2024 budget. I give the floor to Mr Ruissen to move the request on behalf of the ECR Group.

I would also like to inform you, finally, that, together with the President of the Council, I shall, on Wednesday, sign five acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure in accordance with Rule 79 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. The titles of the acts will be published in the minutes of this sitting.

Several committees have decided to enter into interinstitutional negotiations, pursuant to Rule 71(1) of the Rules of Procedure. The reports, which constitute the mandates for the negotiations, are available on the plenary webpage and their titles will be published in the minutes. Pursuant to Rule 71(2), Members or political groups reaching at least the medium threshold may request in writing by tomorrow, Tuesday, 18 April, at midnight, that the decisions be put to the vote. If no request for a vote in Parliament is made within the deadline, the committees may start the negotiations.