Speeches

Thank you very much, your time is up. Mr Garicano, would you like also to express a personal statement in this regard? You can make it from your own place.

– Thank you very much, Mr Logar, for closing the debate. I remind all the colleagues that Mr Comín i Oliveres has asked under Rule 173 to make a personal statement. You can now do it for one minute.

– I would like to inform this House that Mr Comín i Oliveres has asked to make a personal statement, which I will allow under Rule 173 of the Rules of Procedure, and that means at the end of this agenda item it can be made.

The next item is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on preparation of the European Council meeting of 21-22 October 2021 (2021/2888(RSP)). I would like to remind all colleagues that for all the debates of this part—session there is not going to be a catch—the—eye procedure and blue cards will not be accepted. And also, as has happened, we will see some interventions remotely from different Liaison Offices of the Parliament in the different Member States.

I would also like to announce that as regards the decisions by the various Committees to enter into interinstitutional negotiations, in accordance with Rule 71(1), announced at the opening of the sitting on Monday 18 October: I received requests for two votes in Parliament under Rule 71(2) from the Greens and the Left Group following LIBE decisions to enter into negotiations on the proposal for a regulation on strengthening Europol’s mandate and on the proposal for a regulation on also strengthening Europol’s mandate - the first one on cooperation with private parties, processing of personal data and support for research and innovation, and the second one on entering alerts in SIS. The votes will take place tomorrow at the first voting session from 9.45 to 11.00. As regards the other decisions to enter into negotiations, I have not received any request for a vote in Parliament from Members or from a political group or groups reaching at least the medium threshold. The Committees can therefore start negotiations on the basis of these reports.

Mr President, Madam President, Mr Prime Minister, Europe can never be one of ‘us’ and ‘them’. Poland is us, that has always been our point, and if there is a deficiency in one Member State it affects us all. Poland is a crown jewel of our Union. My generation looked to your country as the embodiment of moral leadership in the struggle against authoritarianism, courage in the face of decades of totalitarianism. The nation of freedom-fighters who showed us all how not to be afraid. Where a girl from Warsaw can win two Nobel Prizes, a trade unionist from Gdansk can bring down an Iron Curtain, where a priest from Krakow can inspire the world. So this was a nation that joined the EU and demanded a guarantee of democracy, equality, justice, meritocracy, because it lived with the opposite for far too long. And that is what we saw on the street 10 days ago. The question of primacy of EU law is a pillar of our union. It is how we have equality. It is how we have a single market, how we function, and what we see in Poland is not comparable to what is happening in other courts of other states. Because when the judiciary is purposely weakened to become a vassal of the administration of the day, it is no longer a legal question, it is a political one. It is a political direction from your government, Prime Minister, to move away your Poland from Europe. No one is attacking Poland. What we are asking for is that the direction is reversed before it is too late. Your companies, your farmers, your students, your judges, your artists, entrepreneurs, your citizens believe ... (the Chair cut off the speaker)

– First of all, I would like to inform you that the services and the President are aware of these unfortunate incidents, and there will be an investigation and follow—up by the President. That’s a message to all the colleagues here.

I would now like to inform the House that I have received requests for points of order. I will give the floor to the following colleagues. First of all to colleague Salima Yenbou, for one minute.

I would like to inform you that on Wednesday, the President, together with the President of the Council, will sign two 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 hearing.

The S&D and ID groups informed the President about decisions related to changes in appointments within committees and delegations. These decisions will be recorded in the minutes of today's sitting and shall enter into force on the date of this announcement.

The Chair received a request from the competent authorities in Greece for the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Mr Ioannis Lagos in order to initiate criminal proceedings against him. This request is referred to Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, as the committee responsible, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

The Chair received notice from the competent authorities in Germany of the election of Ms Karolin Braunsberger-Reinhold as Member of the European Parliament to replace Mr Sven Schulze with effect from 7 October 2021. The President would like to welcome the new colleague and indicate that she will take up her seat in Parliament and its bodies in order to fully enjoy her rights as foreseen in the Rules of Procedure. Following the resignation of Mr. Norbert Neuser, Parliament takes note that, under the Rules of Procedure, his seat will be vacant as from 11 January 2022 and will inform the national authority concerned accordingly.

The minutes and adopted texts of the sittings of 4, 5, 6 and 7 October were distributed. I understand that there are no comments so I will declare that the minutes have been approved.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Commission and Council statements on Pandora Papers: implications on efforts to combat money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance (2021/2922(RSP)).

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Commission and Council statements on the EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority: ensuring a coordinated EU approach to future health crises and the role of the European Parliament in this regard (2021/2916(RSP)).

Thank you very much, Mr Mato. With that we have concluded the short discussion on the situation on the island of La Palma which, as our colleagues have said, is indeed very difficult and challenging.

We now come to the order of business. The revised final draft agenda, as adopted by the Conference of Presidents by written procedure today on 4 October 2021, pursuant to Rule 157, is available. Furthermore, following consultations with the political groups, we wish to report to the House the following proposal for changes to the revised final draft agenda. The debate on the Commission statement on the increased efforts to fight money laundering is postponed to the October II part-session, and therefore as a consequence the 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. debate slot on Thursday is cancelled. Finally, I would like to inform you that the votes will be distributed across different voting sessions taking into account the number of amendments tabled and the number of requests for split and separate votes. Please note that this distribution could still be subject to changes. The relevant information concerning the distribution of votes is available on the website of the European Parliament under the section ‘priority information’. With this, the agenda is therefore deemed adopted and the order of business is thus established. I would, however, now also like to inform the House that I have received two requests for a point of order and I will give the floor to the following colleagues in the order received by the President. First, Mr Juan Fernando López Aguilar, and then Mr Gabriel Mato.

Madam President, we should not have to have these debates. The checks and balances that are expected in every Member State by every citizen should ensure that issues like media freedom and the rule of law, that are so fundamental to the legitimacy of our European project, are not subject to debate. Member States are not all the same. We do not want them to be all the same. Europe is about celebrating differences, but it can only work in harmony because we are bound by our common values system. A system that, if allowed to come under threat anywhere, puts us all at risk. And this is why it is correct to take action because this joint project of ours is only as strong as our defence of European values. And when Polish citizens look to the European Union, they expect the promise for Europe to deliver for them, too. You cannot have a free and open democracy when state—controlled media freedom feeds streams of propaganda, when independent media is intimidated, when judges’ independence is threatened. And we in Europe know how slippery the slope can be when loyalty to the party is placed above loyalty to the nation, above meritocracy, above truth. And so we must act and we must do so in a way that draws a difference between the Polish authorities and the Polish people. Poland’s place is not on the sidelines of Europe because the ideals that Poland embodied when my generation was growing up inspired by Lech Wałęsa speaking of justice, law and equality, or St John Paul forcing a change in the axes of global history, that is the Poland that we know. That is the Poland that we look to for inspiration. A European Poland that understands that the fight for democracy and freedom did not end with the revolution and that the struggle is continuous and is constant. So my appeal is one: don’t move further away from these ideals that moved a continent only a generation ago, that changed the world. My appeal is: please come back.