Speeches

The next item is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on the single market: how to move from an incomplete single market to one market for one Europe (2026/2636(RSP)). Before I give the floor to the Commissioner, I will let you know that we are under time pressure today. We have a celebration of International Women's Day at 12:00 or around that, and therefore we will be under pressure. So you cannot have both: if you get a blue card, you will not get catch-the-eye. So you have to consider what you prefer. Even then, I cannot guarantee everyone will get the floor. While the Commissioner is speaking, you can ask for catch-the-eye and I will close the option afterwards in order to be able to consider how we spend the time in a good manner.

Thank you very much, Mr Mavrides. I know it is difficult. We try to accommodate as many as possible. During the debate we don't know how many will ask for catch-the-eye, so we try to balance. We will look into it. But thank you for your understanding. I know it's difficult.

Thank you very much and I apologise to those colleagues who could not speak now. (Inaudible comments from a number of Members) I know that many of you have been here the whole debate. We are aware and we did not have enough time to give the floor to all of you. We have a celebration at 12:00 that we need to stick to. We also have other debates. So I do apologise. It doesn't help shouting, I have to say. We took a common decision about giving the floor to those of you who asked for the floor first. So it's based on time – when you push the button. We do not have more time, so I will not be able to give more of you speaking time in the catch-the-eye. But of course, on a point of order – if you can refer to a specific paragraph – I will give you the floor. I will give the floor to Costas Mavrides on a point of order.

The next item is the debate on the report by Stefano Bonaccini, on behalf of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cooperation among enforcement authorities responsible for the enforcement of Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain (COM(2024)0576 – C10‑0208/2024 – 2024/0318(COD)) (A10-0153/2025).

The EPP Group has notified the President of a decision relating to changes to appointments within committees. This decision will be set out in the minutes of today's sitting and takes effect on the date of this announcement.

The next item is the debate on the Commission statement on the International Day of Education, fighting inequalities in access to education (2026/2608(RSP)).

Thank you very much, Commissioner. I will already start by warning you, because we are under time pressure, we have a formal sitting after this debate and therefore we don't have that much time. So I, first and foremost, ask you to please stick to your speaking time. And secondly, during the next speaker, you have a chance to ask to speak under catch-the-eye. But I already have far too many and I will close it after the first speaker. And I will just let you know that not everyone will be able to speak during catch-the-eye as well.

The next item is the debate on the Commission statement on building a stronger European defence in light of an increasingly volatile international environment (2026/2600(RSP)).

The next meeting is tomorrow, Thursday, 22 January 2026, at 09:00. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament's website.

We now move to the explanations of vote on human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union’s policy on the matter – annual report 2025.