Speeches

Madam President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, we have had a strategic partnership with ASEAN for two years already, and we in the EU and ASEAN indeed share important objectives in the new geopolitical landscape. We can mutually benefit from alignment in important policy areas, not least in sustainable development and sustainable trade. The worsening situation in Myanmar since the military coup of 1 February 2021 must feature as an important topic in the summit tomorrow. Even ASEAN must clearly and unequivocally take a stance early on regarding an exercise that the State Administrative Council, i.e. the military junta, has planned for August 2023. They call it an election, but it is not an election and it cannot be called as such. In the recent ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, we saw an opening for other stakeholders and the international community to work together to solve the crisis of Myanmar. This is very welcome. Indonesia, as the next holder of the ASEAN chairmanship, is in a key position. The EU needs to extend capacity building development to the democratic forces in Myanmar, and I am talking about the National Unity Government, the National Unity Coordination Council and the ethnic organisations. Capacity to govern and uphold an administration requires knowledge, skills and resources, and we need to do this to make real the vision of a genuine federalist and inclusive democracy that Myanmar will one day be. This needs putting the building blocks in place today.

Thank you for your question, Ms Melchior. First of all, the simple thing that we could have done on that day we could still do today: we obliged foreign embassies and diplomats and other foreign actors to be registered in the transparency register. And then, of course, this question of wild unauthorised election observation should be tackled because we have in our Rules the protection of the dignity of the Parliament. So Members should not be allowed in activities that damage the reputation of the Parliament, and we should give a broad interpretation to this, including electoral observation missions that only are in favour of strengthening autocrats that we as an institution do not want to defend.

Mr President, colleagues, some have already pointed out that stricter ethics rules would not have prevented the kind of serious criminal acts that we have now seen. But I want to convince you that lax rules, on the other hand, can create opportunities for corruption. An organisational culture that turns a blind eye to smaller indiscretions of Members only serves to enable more serious abuses of office. Parliament has been, until now, light-handed in dealing with dodgy friendship groups, false electoral observation missions and questionable use of Members’ allowances. The free mandate of an MEP is not an excuse to act against the core values of our Union. The proposed committee of inquiry must have a strong mandate for far-reaching reforms to protect this House from undue foreign influence and other abuses of power. Importantly, new rules on Members’ conduct must include enforcement and sanctions. Until now, they are just symbolic. And back in 2021, may I remind you, I wrote a letter to President Sassoli, together with colleague Mr Glucksmann, and made concrete proposals on undue foreign influence. We received no reply. The threat of foreign influence must now, finally, be taken seriously. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue-card speech)

The next item is the report by Isabel Carvalhais, on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, on a long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas (2021/2254(INI)) (A9-0269/2022).

The next item is the report by José Manuel Fernandes and Valérie Hayer, on behalf of the Committee on Budgets, on the implementation of the borrowing strategy to finance Next Generation EU (2021/2076(INI)) (A9 0250/2022).

The debate is over. The deadline for tabling motions for resolutions at the end of the session will be 12 noon tomorrow, 22 November 2022. The vote will take place on Thursday 24 November 2022. Written statements (Rule 171)

Ms Aubry, I need to say that banners are not allowed in the plenary. Two colleagues already voluntarily agreed to the rule, so perhaps you will as well. Thank you.

Before we move on to the following point, I will make a few announcements: On a proposal from the Committee on Legal Affairs, Parliament shall confirm the validity of the credentials as follows: Eva-Maria Poptcheva as of 15 September 2022, Carina Ohlsson as of 26 September 2022, Matthias Ecke as of 3 October 2022, Theresa Muigg as of 10 September 2022 and Johan Nissinen as of 11 October 2022.

The next sitting will take place tomorrow, Wednesday 19 October 2022, at 9 a.m. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament’s website.

I apologise for confusing this last speech. The debate is over. The vote will take place at the November II part-session. Written statements (Rule 171)

The next item is the Council and Commission statements on the designation of the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism (2022/2896(RSP)).

The next item is the Commission statement on establishing a comprehensive framework for missing children and persons at risk (2022/2884(RSP)).

The next item is the report by Nicolae Ştefănuță and Niclas Herbst, on behalf of the Committee on Budgets, on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023 - all sections (12108/2022 - C9-0306/2022 - 2022/0212(BUD)) (A9-0241/2022).

Discussions continue. First, I have an announcement. The ECR Group has forwarded to the President decisions on changes to the appointments of members of committees and delegations. These decisions shall be recorded in the minutes of today's sitting and shall enter into force on the date of this notification.