Speeches

I thank President Michel for being with us today. I also thank President von der Leyen and Vice-President Schinas and, of course, all the speakers who have enriched our debate. The debate is closed. I now leave the Chair to Vice-President Silva Pereira for the results of the votes.

The next item is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on the European Council conclusions of 21 and 22 October 2021 (2021/2895(RSP)). I greet President Charles Michel and President Ursula von der Leyen who are here with us today. I would like to inform the honourable Members that this debate takes place with a round of speeches by speakers from the political groups. I would remind you that there is no catch-the-eye and blue card procedure for all the debates in this part-session. In addition, as was the case during recent meetings, remote interventions are planned from Parliament’s Liaison Offices in the Member States. I shall now give the floor to President Charles Michel.

Let us now move on to the order of business. The final draft agenda, as amended by the Conference of Presidents by written procedure pursuant to Rule 157 on Friday 19 November, has been circulated. No requests were received to change the final order of business. I would like to inform you that votes are divided between different voting sessions, depending on the number of amendments and the number of requests for separate and split votes. Please note that this breakdown may still be subject to change. Information on the distribution of votes can be found on the European Parliament’s website under ‘Priority information and documents’. The agenda is therefore deemed to have been adopted.

I would like to inform the House, and this is the last announcement, that on Wednesday I will sign, together with the President of the Council, four acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure in accordance with Rule 79 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure. The titles of these acts will be published in the minutes of this sitting.

The EMPL Committee sent a corrigendum to a text adopted by Parliament. In accordance with Rule 241(4) of the Rules of Procedure, this corrigendum shall be deemed to have been adopted unless, within 24 hours of the announcement, a political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold request that it be put to the vote. The corrigendum is available on the plenary website and the title will be published in the minutes of this sitting.

Pursuant to Rule 72 of the Rules of Procedure, the JURI Committee decided to open interinstitutional negotiations prior to the Council's first reading. The position adopted by Parliament at first reading, which constitutes the mandate for these negotiations, is available on the plenary webpage and its title will be published in the minutes of the sitting.

Several committees decided to enter into interinstitutional negotiations under Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure. The reports, which constitute the mandates for these negotiations, are available on the plenary website and their titles will be published in the minutes of the sitting. A number of Members or one or more political groups reaching at least the average threshold may request in writing, by midnight tomorrow, Tuesday 23 November, that decisions on the opening of negotiations be put to the vote. If no request for a vote in plenary is submitted within this deadline, committees may start negotiations.

Following the decision of the ITRE Committee to enter into interinstitutional negotiations under Rule 71(1) announced on Wednesday 10 November, I have not received any request for a vote. The committee has therefore already been able to start negotiations.

The EPP, S&D and Renew Europe Groups have informed me of some amending decisions regarding appointments in committees and delegations. These decisions will be included in the minutes of today's sitting and will enter into force as of this announcement.

The minutes and approved texts of the sittings of 10 and 11 November 2021 are available. Are there any comments? There were no comments and therefore the minutes were approved.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. At the opening of this plenary, I wanted to thank the vice-presidents, the group presidents, the political groups and the administration. Unfortunately, I have been absent because of illness, I have had very bad pneumonia, but Parliament's activities have continued and I naturally wanted to thank everyone for that.

The next item is the joint debate. - the report by Joanna Kopcińska, 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 amending Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 establishing a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (COM(2020)0726 - C9-0366/2020 - 2020/0320(COD)) (A9-0253/2021), and - the report by Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, 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 on serious cross-border threats to health and repealing Decision No 1082/2013/EU (COM(2020)0727 - C9-0367/2020 - 2020/0322(COD)) (A9-0247/2021).

As I said before, these are discussions that are open, there has been no decision at the moment. And it is right to discuss this, but I also invite colleagues to learn about the competences of our Parliament bodies, because behind closed doors the Conference of Presidents does not discuss this: The competences are of the Bureau Parliament, which has the competence to discuss measures and organisation, so I would ask colleagues to clarify the competences of our bodies. This is very important, because talking about the Conference of Presidents and confusing it with the Bureau Parliament's decision, namely the Conference of Vice-Presidents, is a mistake, personally a little unacceptable. The debate will take place there and of course all parliamentarians and all political groups will be interested in making their contribution. If I have something to announce, we will announce it in accordance with the powers that our bodies have to manage Parliament. Thank you very much.

The debate on the vaccination certificate is an open debate and this afternoon it will be addressed by Parliament, which is the competent body for this debate. So we will see what will be the discussion and what will be the measures that will be required.

Let us now move on to the order of business. The final draft agenda, drawn up by the Conference of Presidents, pursuant to Rule 157 of the Rules of Procedure, at its meeting on Thursday 9 September, has been circulated. The following requests for amendments have been submitted: Monday I would like to inform you that I have received a request for the application of the urgency procedure under Article 163 of the Regulation concerning the following legislative document on the extension of the validity of safety certificates and licences of railway undertakings operating in the Channel Tunnel. This request will be voted on today. Under the Rules of Procedure, the author of the request and a speaker against, as well as the Chair or rapporteur of the committee responsible, may be heard. If anyone in this House wishes to speak on this request for an urgent procedure, they have the right to do so. Both to intervene in favour and to intervene against. But I see there are no demands. Tuesday So, following the consultations with the political groups, I would also like to put to the House another proposal for amendment to the final draft agenda. It concerns Tuesday and the deadlines for statements by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative for Foreign Affairs on: The situation in Afghanistan and the situation in Lebanon. The terms are as follows: motions for resolutions on Tuesday 14 September at 7 p.m.; amendments to motions for resolutions and joint motions for resolutions on Wednesday 15 September at 10 a.m.; amendments to the joint motions for resolutions on Wednesday 15 September at 11 a.m.; split votes on Wednesday 15 September at 7 p.m. I would like to inform you that the votes were distributed in different voting sessions, taking into account the number of amendments tabled and the number of requests for split and separate votes. This distribution, however, as you know, may be subject to change. Information on the distribution of votes will be available on the European Parliament’s website under ‘Priority information and documents’. The agenda is therefore deemed to have been adopted. The agenda is thus set. I would like to inform the House that I have received two points of order and I will give the floor to the two Members who have asked for the floor: Mr Joachim Kuhs has the right to do so, please.

Thank you, Mr Aguilera. Of course we are all very close to the victim, but also to all the people who have suffered disasters due to this devastating fire.

I would like to inform the House that, following the interruption of the session on 8 July, I signed with the President of the Council five acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure in accordance with Rule 79 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure. I would like to inform the House that on Wednesday I will sign with the President of the Council an act adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure. The titles of these proceedings will be published in the minutes of this sitting. *****

I would like to inform the House that, during the Conference of Presidents on 9 September, I decided, together with the Chairs of the political groups, that an extraordinary part-session will be held on 27 January 2022 to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. This session will be organized as every year on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Shoah. The revised provisional calendar for 2022 will be available on the Plenary webpage.

The ITRE and ECON Committees decided to open interinstitutional negotiations under Rule 71 of the Rules of Procedure. The reports, which constitute the mandates for these negotiations, are available on the plenary website and their titles will be published in the minutes of the sitting. A number of Members or one or more political groups reaching at least the average threshold may request in writing, by midnight tomorrow, Tuesday 14 September, that decisions on the opening of negotiations be put to the vote. If no request for a vote in plenary is submitted within this deadline, committees may start negotiations.

I have received from the Council its position at first reading concerning the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPA III and the reasons which led the Council to adopt it and the Commission's positions and opinions. The full title will be listed in the minutes of this sitting. Parliament's three-month speaking time starts tomorrow, 14 September. The recommendation for second reading will be included on the agenda of this part-session, subject to its adoption by AFET.

The EPP, ID and ECR Groups have informed me of some amending decisions regarding appointments in committees and delegations. These decisions will be included in the minutes of today's sitting and will enter into force on the date of this announcement.

The competent authorities of Greece have sent me a request for the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Mr Emmanouil Fragkos in order to initiate criminal proceedings against him. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, such a request shall be forwarded to Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, which shall be responsible for the matter.