What Roberta spoke about.

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10 year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh (statement by the President)

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.

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Order of business

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.

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2023

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Order of business

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.

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Order of business

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.

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2023

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Order of business

So just to clarify, Mr Auštrevičius, your proposal is now to move it to June?

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2023

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Order of business

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.

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2023

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Signing of acts adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 79)

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.

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Composition of committees and delegations

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.

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2023

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Resumption of the session

I declare resumed the session of the European Parliament adjourned on Thursday 11 May 2023.

11

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2023

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Voting time

The next item is the vote. (For the results and other details concerning the vote: see minutes)

11

May

2023

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Resumption of the sitting

Dear colleagues, just before the vote I understand that Ms García Pérez would like to make a brief point.

10

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2023

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Formal sitting – Address by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal

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.

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This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

Thank you very much, Chancellor Scholz, thank you dear colleagues. The debate is closed. Written statements (Rule 171)

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2023

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This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

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.

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This is Europe - Debate with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz (debate)

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

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Order of business

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)

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2023

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Order of business

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.

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2023

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Order of business

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.

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Order of business

Thank you, Mr Dorfmann. I give the floor to Mr Waitz to speak against.

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2023

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Order of business

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.

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Composition of Parliament

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.

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Approval of the minutes of the previous sitting

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.

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Statements by the President

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)

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Resumption of the session

I declare resumed the session of the European Parliament adjourned on Thursday, 20 April 2023.

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This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel (debate)

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.