Speaking of the sharp rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, President Metsola spoke of Stars of David being spray-painted onto Jewish homes, Molotov cocktails thrown at a Jewish synagogue and a community centre, Jewish cemeteries being desecrated and vandalised, and parents asking their children to hide their religious beliefs for fear of retribution.
On the eve of the 85th anniversary of Pogromnacht (the November pogroms), anti-Semitism is a warning sign that matters to us all, said the President, underlining that Jewish communities in Europe must feel safe. The European Parliament remains committed to combatting anti-Semitism; urgent and immediate measures are needed to fight hate and discrimination, she concluded.
You can watch group speakers’ interventions following the President’s statement here.
European Charlemagne Youth Prize
For the past fifteen years, Parliament and the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation have jointly awarded the European Charlemagne Youth Prize to youth-led projects supporting democracy and promoting cooperation in Europe, said the President. This year, the first place prize went to AILEM from Belgium, a language app tailored for refugees and asylum seekers, she said, congratulating the winners.
Changes to the agenda
Wednesday
A Statement by the President on the Urgent need for immediate measures against the rise of antisemitism is added as the first point in the afternoon and followed by one round of political groups speakers.
The European Council and Commission statements on Humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need for a humanitarian pause is added in a joint debate with the European Council and Commission statements on Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 26-27 October 2023.
A Commission statement on EU enlargement policy 2023 is added after the debate on the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 26-27 October 2023.
The report by Mr Fernandes and Ms Hayer on System of own resources of the European Union is moved to Thursday morning, as the second point.
The sitting is extended to 22:00.
Thursday
The debate on the Council and Commission statements on European Economic Security Strategy is postponed to a next part-session.
The following reports are added to the votes on Thursday:
- Mr García Del Blanco on the request for the defence of the privileges and immunities of Stefano Maullu, and
- Mr Lebreton on the requests for the waiver of the immunity of Patryk Jaki, Beata Kempa, Beata Mazurek and Tomasz Piotr Poręba.
The following reports are taken out from the votes on Thursday:
- Ms Adamowicz on Road vehicles: maximum dimensions in national and international traffic and maximum weights in international traffic, and
- Mr Winkler on EU/China Agreement: modification of concessions on all the tariff rate quotas included in the EU Schedule CLXXV.
Request by several committees to start negotiations with Council and Commission
Decisions by committees to enter into inter-institutional negotiations (Rule 71) are published on the plenary website.
If no request for a vote in Parliament on the decision to enter into negotiations is made by Thursday 12.00 midnight, the committees may start negotiations.
Information concerning the distribution of votes is available under the section “Priority information”.
Outgoing MEPs
Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg) as of 23 October 2023
Michal Šimečka (Renew, Slovakia) as of 24 October 2023
Bartosz Arłukowicz (EPP, Poland) as of 18 October 2023
Krzysztof Hetman (EPP, Poland) as of 18 October 2023
Zbigniew Kuźmiuk (ECR, Poland) as of 18 October 2023
Incoming MEPs
Martine Kemp (EPP, Luxembourg) as of 24 October 2023
Josef Mihál (Renew, Slovakia) as of 26 October 2023
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First published in this link of The European Times.
