Speeches

We turn to the next item on the agenda, namely the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the situation in Venezuela (2023/3032(RSP)), and I once again invite the High Representative, Mr Josep Borrell, to take the floor.

The next item is the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the attempted coup d’état in Guatemala (2023/3031(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the report by Domènec Ruiz Devesa and Sven Simon, on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, on the European Elections 2024 (2023/2016(INI)) (A9-0332/2023).

Madam President, let me be very clear: with this report we make the fight against all forms of discrimination and inequality a priority of this House and of this Union. And by supporting the mandate, we defend the European core values enshrined in our Treaties and we give a clear signal to our citizens that this House stands behind them. Deepening the Union of Equality is the best instrument to protect and to promote our democracy, and we are here in the house of democracy so I invite everybody to vote for this report. It is a good report. Thank you to the European Disability Forum, to Equinet and to all the civil society organisations and human rights defenders that supported us and helped us make this report a good report. And thank you to my co-rapporteur Sirpa and to our teams and all the shadow rapporteurs. Let us be on the right side of history.

The next item is the debate on Council and Commission statements on 30 years of Copenhagen criteria – giving further impetus to EU enlargement policy (2023/2987(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on Council and Commission statements on Cyprus Confidential – the need to curb enablers of sanctions-evasion and money-laundering rules in the EU (2023/2986(RSP)).

The next item is the debate on the statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the destruction of judicial independence and the persecution of democrats in Hong Kong (2023/2984(RSP)). Commissioner Dubravka Šuica is standing in for the High Representative this evening.

The next item is the debate on the report by Guy Verhofstadt, Sven Simon, Gabriele Bischoff, Daniel Freund and Helmut Scholz, on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, on proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties (2022/2051(INL)) (A9-0337/2023). This reminds us that the Conference on the Future of Europe, which took place in this room during two years, has not been forgotten by the representatives of the citizens.

Pursuant to Rule 158(2), on a proposal from the President and with the agreement of the political groups, I would like to inform the House that due to the length of the voting session, the sitting on Wednesday is extended until 23.00.

The minutes of yesterday’s sitting and the texts adopted are available. Are there any comments? As that is not the case, then the minutes are approved.

Just before I give the floor to the next speaker I would like to announce that we have nine people for the catch-the-eye already. I will take them all, but I will close the list now for the catch-the-eye.

The next item is the debate on the recommendation by Daniel Caspary, on behalf of the Committee on International Trade, on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (06600/2023 – C9-0247/2023 – 2023/0038(NLE)) (A9-0305/2023).

Following the appointment of our colleagues Ernest Urtasun and Sira Rego to the Spanish Government, Parliament takes note of the vacancy of their seats from 21 November 2023 in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

The next item is the joint debate on the European Council and Commission statements on: – Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 26-27 October 2023 (2023/2888(RSP)), and – Humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need for a humanitarian pause (2023/2958(RSP)).