What László spoke about.

Although more than 25 years have passed since the Barcelona Declaration, and more than 10 years since the events of the Arab Spring, the Mediterranean region is still facing a number of serious economic, environmental and security challenges. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) must serve the interest of the Union, its Member States and the ENP partners at the same time. We must help our partner countries in the Southern Neighbourhood, based on shared interests. We cannot let the ENP become an educational exercise: there needs to be equality, spirit of partnership and we must turn our common challenges into opportunities. The stability of the Mediterranean region has an outstanding importance for the stability of Europe. We need to invest in education, in research and development, and in creating jobs for the region’s growing population, while also committing to combating ‘brain drain’. Furthermore the European Union must acknowledge countries like Morocco, which serve as regional examples with their results and stability. The protection of persecuted Christians is of utmost importance as well: this is another area, where we need effective cooperation with out Southern Neighbourhood partners.

One of the proposals in the Bischoff report amending Parliament's Rules of Procedure is the deletion of Rule 197 of the Rules of Procedure. The possibility for one-twentieth of all Members of Parliament to initiate a vote to remove a debate from the agenda will be abolished. An article protecting smaller factions and independents, which aims to protect political diversity and the principle of democracy, has been removed from the House Rules. Without it, Members sitting in an independent and smaller political group will not be able to propose, even in the event of a serious legal error, that items supported by larger groups be removed from the agenda, even though the situation of these Members is fundamentally more difficult due to the rules restricting political diversity. Meanwhile, legal concerns about the functioning of the EP were also raised during the pandemic situation. Although I suggested that the Court examine the validity of the December amendment to the Rules of Procedure due to the pandemic situation, it was rejected. Parliament switched to digital remote voting without a legal basis in February 2020 and, due to its own omission, only adopted new rules to remedy the situation 10 months after the start of the pandemic situation. However, it still amended its Rules of Procedure by remote voting, although it could only have been amended by a vote in person. It also failed to comply with the contractual provisions on the number of plenary part-sessions in Strasbourg, limiting the rights of Members by reference to the pandemic situation. There has been a clear increase in the democratic deficit during the pandemic.