Speeches

I’m really sorry, we will need to suspend for a minute because apparently the Croatian interpreting booth is not well connected to the other language booths. I do apologise – this is not sabotage against Croatian MEPs! You can trust me. We will suspend for a minute or two and then resume once the connection is established. Thank you, and I do apologise. (The sitting was suspended at 20.15 for technical reasons.)

I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but I’m getting a message that the sound is not very good for the interpreters. Can I ask you to start again, and hopefully the sound improves?

The next item is the Commission statement on the Rights of children in rainbow families, and in particular of same-sex parents in Italy (2023/2629(RSP)).

Thank you very much, especially to the interpreters, for staying until such a late hour, and have a good night everyone. (The sitting closed at 23.28)

The minutes of this sitting will be submitted to Parliament for approval tomorrow at the beginning of the afternoon sitting. This concludes the negotiation.

The next sitting will take place tomorrow, Thursday 16 March 2023 at 9:00 a.m. The agenda has been published and is available on the European Parliament’s website.

The next item is the debate on six motions for a resolution on Tunisia: recent attacks on freedom of expression and association and trade unions, in particular the case of journalist Nouraddin Boutar (2023/2588(RSP)).

Colleagues, just a quick announcement: because we are over half an hour delayed, there will be no catch-the-eye procedure or blue cards for the rest of the evening so that all of us, especially the interpreters can make it on time.

The next item is the debate on six motions for a resolution on Iran: in particular the poisoning of hundreds of schoolgirls (2023/2587(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the following items: – the oral question to the Council on combating discrimination in the EU – the long-awaited horizontal anti-discrimination directive by Juan Fernando López Aguilar, on behalf of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (O-000010/2023 – B9-0013/23) (2023/2582(RSP)), and – Oral question to the Commission on combating discrimination in the EU – the long-awaited horizontal anti-discrimination directive by Juan Fernando López Aguilar, on behalf of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (O-000011/2023 – B9-0013/23) (2023/2582(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the following items: – the oral question to the Council by Robert Biedroń, on behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, on EU priorities for the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (O-000004/2023 – B9-0011/2023) (2022/2839(RSP)), and – Oral question to the Commission on EU priorities for the 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women by Robert Biedroń, on behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (O-000005/2023 – B9-0012/2023) (2022/2839(RSP)).

Madam President, Commissioner, roughly speaking, three out of four people on the planet have seen their human rights deteriorate in the past year, which is also why this report makes for very sad reading. On the one hand, we see an intensifying pushback against democracy, against human rights, women’s rights globally. But what we also see is the more severe breach of human rights here in Europe, on our continent, the most severe since the Second World War. With its aggression against Ukraine, Russia has trashed the entire concept of human rights because it’s waging a war against the civilian population to cause maximum suffering and misery. The European Union thinks of itself and aspires to be the global leader in protecting freedom, human rights and democracy. Now, today, the single best way to prove that, is to help Ukraine win this war.