Speeches

Let me tell you that, due to time constraints, I will close the request for ‘catch the eye’, respecting the requests that have already been made.

Madam President, for the first time ever, the European Commission is proposing to activate the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation and suspend Hungary's access to important EU funds. The first thing to say is that this is a significant and very important initiative that sets a precedent for the future. It's only late, by the way. Mr Orbán must realise that the values of the rule of law, enshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon, are to be taken seriously and that it is not enough to announce measures. Necessary and sufficient policy and legislative measures need to be effectively implemented. This Parliament, which has fought so hard for the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, can now only demand that the Council approve the Commission's proposal and live up to its responsibilities.

The next item is Question Time to the Commission on Tackling depopulation through the cohesion policy instrument. I would like to welcome Commissioner Ferreira to this Question Time. This question time will last about 90 minutes. There will be one minute to ask a question, two minutes for the answer, 30 seconds for a supplementary question and two minutes for the answer. I would remind you that any supplementary question will only be allocated if it is strictly related to the main question. We must respect this rule and not take this opportunity for entirely new questions. If you wish to ask a question, we invite colleagues to register this request now, using the catch-the-eye function on the voting machine, after inserting their voting card. During Question Time, speeches take place from the place where you sit. I invite all speakers to respect the allocated speaking time. Colleagues may need some time to register the question request, so I would ask you again to submit your request.

Mr President, speaking as the European Parliament rapporteur for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, my message to the British Government is clear: there is no such thing as a unilateral change to a bilateral international agreement. The bill announced in the House of Commons they say to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol is no more than a confession of political will to breach the international law commitments recently negotiated and agreed by Boris Johnson himself. Instead, the British Government should engage constructively in discussing the concrete proposals made by Vice—President Šefčovič and the European Commission to introduce additional flexibility in the implementation of the protocol, as is the wish of the majority of the elected representatives in Northern Ireland. But make no mistake: this line of action will have serious consequences, forcing the European Commission to launch legal actions against the UK and possibly activate trade sanctions that would harm the smooth implementation also of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

The debate is closed. The vote on this report will take place tomorrow. The session is suspended for a few minutes. It will resume at 15.00 with Question Time to the Commission on the agenda. Written declarations (Rule 171)

The next item on the agenda is: The report by Jordi Cañas - EU Action Plan for the Social Economy (2021/2179(INI)) (A9-0192/2022) I would remind you that seats are free, with the exception of the first two rows, which are allocated to the heads of the political groups. You will be able to request catch-the-eye and blue cards through your voting device after you have inserted your voting card. I would also like to remind you that speeches in the Chamber will continue to be made from the central rostrum, except for spontaneous requests to speak, blue cards and points of order.

We now turn to the debates.The next item on the agenda is: Council and Commission statements – EU initiatives to address the rising cost of living, including the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (2022/2749(RSP)). I would remind you that seats are free, with the exception of the first two rows, which are allocated to the heads of the political groups. You will be able to request catch-the-eye and blue cards through your voting device after you have inserted your voting card. I would also like to remind you that speeches in the Chamber will continue to be made from the central rostrum, except for spontaneous requests to speak, blue cards and points of order.

Madam President, Commissioner, flexibility. This is the key word to respond to the uncertainties and shockwaves that are hitting the European economy, an economy hard hit by the war, when it was still taking its first steps in the recovery process and starting its investment programme. Moreover, it was with flexibility in monetary policy that the European Central Bank immediately responded to the first signs of turmoil in sovereign debt markets, after the negative effects of its anti-inflation measures. And it is also flexibility that we now need in the implementation of the recovery plans to respond to the new situation created by inflation. The world has changed and rising inflation radically changes the economic and financial conditions for implementing recovery plans, which also means changing targets and timetables. Let it not be for lack of flexibility that Europe fails in its recovery and recovery plans for the European economy.

Mr President, citizens' concerns go far beyond the revision of the Treaties and there are certainly many things that we can and must do right now, exploiting the potential still available in the Treaty of Lisbon. But it is also a fact that several of the citizens' proposals that have become conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe entail a one-off revision of the Treaties. Taking those conclusions seriously therefore means allowing those proposals to be discussed at least in the proper place, which is a convention. It therefore makes sense to adopt this resolution, so that a convention can discuss the limitation of the unanimity rule, the strengthening of European competences, the European Parliament's right of legislative initiative and the mechanisms for upholding the rule of law. Other topics, such as the institutional architecture, which makes it possible to reconcile deepening integration with enlargement scenarios, should also be discussed. But for this the first step is to convene a convention, and that is what we must do.

The next item is the topical debate. I have received a proposal from the Commission on attracting skills and talent to the European Union, in particular Talent Partnerships with North African countries (2022/2706(RSP)). I would like to remind you that in this debate there will be no catch-the-eye procedures or blue card questions. I would remind you that the seats are free, with the exception of the first two rows allocated to the heads of the political groups. I would also like to remind you that speeches in the Chamber will continue to be made from the central rostrum, except for spontaneous requests to speak on points of order. I give the floor to the author of the request Bernhard Zimniok.

The competent authorities of France have addressed two requests to the President for the waiver of parliamentary immunity. The first concerns Mrs Nadine Morano, in the context of a judicial information procedure initiated by the Prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, and the second Mr Nicolas Bay, in the context of a preliminary investigation initiated by the Prosecutor of the Republic of Évreux. The President also received a request from the competent German authorities for the waiver of parliamentary immunity in connection with the opening of an investigation by the Berlin Prosecutor General against Mr Nicolaus Fest. Under the Rules of Procedure, these requests will be referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs, which is the committee responsible.

The next item on the agenda is the Commission statement entitled ‘REPowerEU Plan: European solidarity and energy security in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including recent gas cuts to Poland and Bulgaria’ (2022/2654(RSP)). I remind you that the seats are free and that you can ask for cards for the procedures catch the eye and ‘blue card’. Interventions in the Chamber shall be made from the central rostrum, except in the case of requests for spontaneous use of the floor.

Thank you very much. For sure we take note of the fact that the Council is now with us, and we welcome you. I will now give the floor to Idoia Villanueva Ruiz for one minute.

Thank you very much. No blue—cards are allowed. I would like to say that this language and insults are not proper arguments in a discussion in this Chamber.

Thank you very much, I’d like to let you know that the Council has informed us that they will join us later on and will still intervene in this debate.

We now start the next item on the agenda which is the key debate on the use of Pegasus software by the Member States of the European Union to spy on people, including Members of the European Parliament, and the resulting violation of fundamental rights (2022/2659(RSP)). I would remind our colleagues that there will be no catch-the-eye procedure or blue card questions in this debate. Seats are free except for the first two rows which are allocated to the heads of political groups according to the new rules. Speeches in the Chamber will continue to be made from the central rostrum, except for spontaneous requests to speak, in this case points of order only. Let us then start our debate. Let me start by giving the floor to Saskia Bricmont.

The minutes of yesterday's sitting and the texts adopted have already been distributed. I see that there is no comment and therefore the minutes are deemed to have been approved.