Speeches

The next item is the debate on the statements by the Council and the Commission on the 10th consecutive increase in reference interest rates decided by the ECB and its consequences (2023/2891(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the report by Maria Spyraki, on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on Classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (COM(2022)0748 – C9-0433/2022 – 2022/0432(COD)) (A9-0271/2023).

The next item is the oral question to the Commission, tabled by Bernd Lange on behalf of the Committee on International Trade, on the opening of negotiations of an agreement with the United States of America on strengthening international supply chains of critical minerals (2023/2772(RSP)) (O-000037/2023 – B9-0027/2023).

I think, colleague, you had a logo on the end of your paper, as I was informed. This is not according to the rules, so please refrain from doing that.

The next item is the report by Nicola Beer, on behalf of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials and amending Regulations (EU) 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1724 and (EU) 2019/1020 (COM(2023)0160 – C9-0061/2023 – 2023/0079(COD)) (A9-0260/2023).

The non-attached Members have notified the President of a decision relating to changes to appointments within a committee. This decision will be set out in the minutes of today’s sitting and takes effect on the date of this announcement.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, our fantastic single market must remain operational at all times. And unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has shown that this wasn’t the case. Therefore, we need new tools to allow us to react fast and collectively while respecting the rule of law. The single market emergency instrument is such a new tool to prevent the future disruption of our single market. For the Socialists and Democrats, it is crucial to respect the democratic process by including Parliament in the advisory group and by putting Parliament on an equal footing with the Council to activate the emergency mode in cases of crisis. In addition, it is crucial that the workers’ representatives play a key role in case of an emergency that has an impact on goods, services but also our workforce. And therefore, we must ensure that the activation of the emergency mode cannot affect the right and freedom to strike, the right to negotiate, conclude and enforce collective agreements, and to take collective action. The social dimension also needs to be preserved, especially in relation to the free movement of persons. I am glad that the S&D Group has been able to ensure that restrictions to the free movement of goods, services and persons are prohibited unless they are justified on grounds of legitimate public interest objectives such as public policy, public security or public health, and that the instrument also has to comply with the principle of proportionality. The final agreement reached under your auspices, dear Andreas, establishes new, well-balanced rules that preserve these rights and grant the free movement of goods and services and persons in case of crisis. Once again, thanks to all the shadow rapporteurs in the Employment Committee for the opinion, but especially for the excellent collaboration with Andreas Schwab, the rapporteur in the IMCO Committee.

President, dear Commission Vice-President, dear colleagues, I am very glad that the recommendations in the excellent report of Ms Loiseau and Mr Bilčík will introduce a stronger integrity culture within the European Parliament. And this was always a clear and strong request of my political group. And at the same time we must acknowledge that this is an additional step which also complements the set of measures taken by and being prepared by the European Parliament Bureau. We, the Socialists and Democrats, are committed to enhancing transparency, integrity and accountability also in our group, in the European Parliament and in the European institution as a whole. We take very seriously this reform package and, as promised, we also did our homework. We presented our S&D 15-point plan for preventing corruption and political interference already in January, and we decided to undertake an internal inquiry. And this four-month inquiry, led by three independent renowned experts, resulted in several recommendations that we will that we will implement in our work. And I also believe that the re-winning of trust will need more ambitious actions, as still required. And therefore we must all continue our relentless work on transparency, integrity, accountability, anti-corruption, as well as on the fight against foreign interferences and disinformation. And finally, please allow me to thank the important work done by my colleague, the chair of the ING 2 Committee, Raphaël Glucksmann, as well as our S&D shadow rapporteur, Andreas Schieder.

The next item is Council and Commission statements on ‘The need to adopt the “Unshell” Directive on rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes’ (2023/2752(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on ‘Putting the European economy at the service of the middle class’ (2023/2751 (RSP)).

I have received four motions for resolutions to wind up the debate*. The debate is closed. The vote will take place tomorrow. ______________ * See minutes.

Before closing the sitting, I would like to thank our interpreters for their excellent work and all the other European Parliament staff who are here to make this session possible. (The sitting closed at 22.46)

The next item is the debate on the report by Alessandra Moretti, on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for setting eco-design requirements for sustainable products and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC (COM(2022)0142 – C9-0132/2022 – 2022/0095(COD)) (A9-0218/2023).