Press release – Briefing for media on the 2024 European Elections
When: 29 April, from 10.00-11.00Where: Anna Politkovskaya press room in Brussels and via Interactio, Parliament’s webstreaming and EbS+
Parliament’s Spokesperson Jaume Duch Guillot will open the media briefing, summarising Parliament’s main legislative achievements during its ninth term, as well as unfinished business for the new Parliament after the elections.
This will be followed by a briefing on practical information for the media by the EP Press and Audiovisual services, on:
9 May – One month to go
23 May – Eurovision debate with the lead candidates to the EU Commission Presidency in Parliament’s hemicycle in Brussels
9 June – Election night from Parliament’s premises in Brussels.
Delphine Colard, Parliament’s Deputy Spokesperson, will then speak about how the EU is working to protect the 6-9 June elections from disinformation.
Closing the session, Philipp Schulmeister, Parliament’s director for campaigns, will present the EP’s election campaign, including the screening of its TV advertising spot.
Find the detailed programme here.
Information for the media – Use Interactio to ask questions
Interactio is only supported on iPad (with the Safari browser) and Mac/Windows (with the Google Chrome browser).
When connecting, enter your name and the media you are representing in the first name / last name fields.
For better sound quality, use headphones and a microphone. Interpretation is only possible for interventions with video, so you should switch on your camera when asking a question. It is recommended to use one of these microphones to ensure that questions can be interpreted.
Journalists who have never used Interactio before are asked to connect 30 minutes before the start of the press conference to perform a connection test. IT assistance can be provided if necessary.
When connected, open the chat window (upper right corner) to be able to see the service messages.
For more details, check the connection guidelines and recommendations for remote speakers.
Press release – Parliament condemns Iran’s attack on Israel and calls for de-escalation
Condemning the Iranian strikes on13 and 14 April, Parliament voices serious concern over the escalation and threat to regional security. MEPs reiterate their full support for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens and condemn the simultaneous rocket launches carried out by Iran’s proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen against the Golan Heights and Israeli territory before and during the Iranian attack.At the same time, they deplore the attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on 1 April, which is widely attributed to Israel. The resolution recalls the importance of the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises, which must be respected in all cases under international law.
Need for de-escalation, put Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on EU terror list
While calling on all parties to avoid any further escalation and to show maximum restraint, Parliament expresses deep concerns over the destabilising role that the Iranian regime and its network of non-state actors play in the Middle East. MEPs welcome the EU’s decision to expand its current sanctions regime against Iran, including by sanctioning the country’s supply and production of unmanned drones and missiles to Russia and the wider Middle East. They demand that these sanctions be urgently put in place and call for more individuals and entities to be targeted.
The resolution also reiterates Parliament’s long-standing call to include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the EU list of terrorist organisations, stressing that such a decision is long overdue due to malign Iranian activities. It similarly calls on the Council and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell to add Hezbollah in its entirety to the same list.
Iran must abide by its obligations under the country’s nuclear deal
With Iran persistently failing to comply with its legal safeguard obligations under its nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – MEPs urge the Iranian authorities to immediately abide by these requirements and address all related outstanding issues. They also condemn Iran’s use of hostage diplomacy – keeping foreign nationals jailed as bargaining chips – and urge the EU to launch a strategy to counter it with a dedicated task force to better assist detainees’ families and effectively prevent further hostage-taking.
The resolution finally welcomes the Council’s decision to launch the EU Naval Force Operation ASPIDES to safeguard freedom of navigation off the coast of Yemen, while calling on Iran and entities under its control to ensure the release and safe return of captured European crewmembers taken from vessels passing in the region.
For the full details, the resolution, adopted by 357 votes in favour, 20 against with 58 abstentions, will be available in full here (25.04.2024).
Press release – Parliament signs up for new EU Body for Ethical Standards
The agreement was reached between Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the European Central Bank, the European Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the European Committee of the Regions. It provides for the joint creation of a new Body for Ethical Standards. This Body will develop, update, and interpret common minimum standards for ethical conduct, and publish reports on how these standards have been reflected in each signatory’s internal rules. The institutions participating in the Body will be represented by one senior member and the position of Chair of the Body will rotate every year between the institutions. Five independent experts will support its work and be available for consultation by the participating institutions and bodies about standardised written declarations, including declarations of interest.A successful push for watchdog functions
Parliament was represented in the negotiations by Vice-President Katarina Barley (S&D, DE), Chair of the Constitutional Affairs Committee Salvatore De Meo (EPP, IT), and rapporteur Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, DE). They improved significantly the Commission’s proposal, described as “unsatisfactory” by MEPs in July 2023, by adding to the tasks of the independent experts the competence to examine individual cases and issue recommendations. The agreement was approved by the Conference of Presidents.
Only the first step
The accompanying report by Daniel Freund (approved with 301 votes in favour, 216 against, and 23 abstentions) underlines that final decision-making rests with the signatories and that any consultation of the independent experts on an individual case begins with a request by a signatory. MEPs also point out that the declarations of financial interests of Commissioners-designate should as a rule be subject to examination by the independent experts.
Parliament reiterates its commitment to developing the independent ethics body in the future so it would be capable of carrying out investigations on its own initiative and of issuing recommendations for sanctions. A body like this should be composed of independent experts as full members, and cover members of EU institutions and bodies before, during, and after their term of office or service, as well as staff. MEPs are disappointed the European Council declined to join the agreement, and regret the unwillingness of the Council to allow the Body to cover at least the representatives at ministerial level of the member state holding the Council Presidency, and provides arguments against the relevant reasoning.
The text includes Parliament’s positions on financing provisions, the criteria for the consensus-based appointment of the experts, the existing legal pathways for the Body’s information-gathering, and the modalities of the independent experts’ work. It also sets out the need for the Body to lead by example by publishing its work-related information in a machine-readable open data format accessible to citizens, while protecting the privacy of the individuals concerned to an appropriate extent, and the presumption of innocence.
Finally, MEPs stress the need to define how the mandate of the Vice-President (and the alternate member) representing Parliament will be determined, and to put in place accountability mechanisms (which should include the Constitutional Affairs Committee) to ensure MEPs will have a say in the development of standards that will be binding for them.
Quote
Rapporteur Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, DE) commented: “Without the tireless efforts of the European Parliament pushing for more transparency, we would not have come this far. The fact that the new body can also deal specifically with individual cases is an enormous negotiating success. Today, we are creating more transparency, laying the foundation for greater citizen confidence in European democracy.”
Next steps
The agreement needs to be signed by all parties before it can enter into force. The agreement will be reviewed three years after its entry into force to improve and enhance the Body.
Background
The European Parliament has been calling for the EU institutions to have an ethics body since September 2021, one with real investigative authority and a structure fit for purpose. MEPs reiterated the call in December 2022, in the immediate aftermath of the allegations of corruption involving former and current MEPs and staff, alongside an array of internal improvements to enhance integrity, transparency, and accountability.
Press release – MEPs adopt plans to boost Europe’s Net-Zero technology production
The “Net-Zero industry Act”, already informally agreed upon with the Council, sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of its annual deployment needs in net-zero technologies by 2030, based on National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and to capture 15% of the global market value for these technologies.Technologies to be supported include all renewable technologies, nuclear, industrial decarbonisation, grid, energy storage technologies, and biotech. The law will simplify the permitting process, setting maximum timelines for projects to be authorised depending on their scope and output.
The agreement provides for the creation of “Net-Zero Acceleration Valleys” initiatives, speeding up the permitting process by delegating parts of the evidence collection for environmental assessments to member states.
Sustainability and resilience criteria
National support schemes aiming to get households and consumers to move over to technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps more quickly will have to take into account sustainability and resilience criteria. Public procurement procedures and auctions to deploy renewable energy sources should also meet such criteria, albeit under conditions to be defined by the Commission, and for a minimum of 30% of the volume auctioned per year in the member state, or alternatively for a maximum of six Gigawatt auctioned per year and per country.
The legislation will encourage funding from national Emission Trading System (ETS) revenues and for most strategic projects through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and it is a step towards a European Sovereignty fund.
Quote
“This vote is good news for European industry and sets the tone for the next term. To achieve all our economic, climate and energy ambitions, we need industry in Europe. This Act is the first step to making our market fit for this purpose”, said lead MEP Christian Ehler (EPP, DE).
Next steps
The legislation was adopted with 361 votes to 121, with 45 abstentions. It will now have to be formally adopted by Council in order to become law.
Background
A considerable amount of clean energy technology is needed to support reaching Europe’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets. Europe largely imports these technologies, and many non-EU countries have stepped up their efforts to expand their clean energy manufacturing capacity.
Conference on the future of Europe
The “Net Zero Industry Act” aligns with the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe through several key proposals and measures.. Specifically, the Act reflects Proposal 3 (measures 1, 3, 5, 6), Proposal 11 (measure 1), Proposal 12 (measure 5), Proposal 17 (measure 1), and Proposal 18 (measure 2), which collectively aim to foster a sustainable, resilient, and independent energy framework within the EU.
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Press release – EP TODAY
Debate and vote on boosting Europe’s Net-Zero technology productionIn a debate at around 10.30 with Commissioner Sinkevičius, MEPs will review legislation intended to bolster Europe’s production in technologies needed for decarbonisation. The so-called “Net-Zero Industry Act” sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of net-zero technologies such as solar panels, heat pumps, or electrolysers by 2030 and to capture 15% of the global market value for these technologies. The vote on the agreed text with Council will take place at noon.
Baptiste CHATAIN(+32) 498 98 13 37EP_Industry
Setting up a Body for Ethical Standards: debate and vote
Following a debate at 9.00 with Commissioner Sinkevičius, MEPs will vote at noon on the deal between EU institutions and bodies to set up a Body for Ethical Standards, which would develop and oversee common minimum standards of ethical conduct, as well as publish reports on how these have been applied in internal rules.
Kyriakos KLOSIDIS(+32) 470 96 47 35EP_Institutional
Alleged Russian interference in the European Parliament: vote on a resolution
In a vote at noon, MEPs will take stock of revelations about Russian influence campaigns targeting the European Parliament. They are set to call for a firm response to counter Russian interference and to demand that the German AfD publicly declare their financial dealings, especially with the Kremlin. To beef up Parliament’s own defences, they want to enhance its internal security.
Viktor ALMQVIST(+32) 470 88 29 42EP_ForeignAff
Iran’s attack on Israel, the need for de-escalation and an EU response: vote on a resolution
Following yesterday’s debate, MEPs will vote on a resolution on Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, calling on all parties to avoid any further escalation and demanding maximum restraint and de-escalation. The text welcomes the EU’s decision to expand the current sanctions regime against Iran and calls for more individuals and entities to be sanctioned.
Viktor ALMQVIST(+32) 470 88 29 42EP_ForeignAff
Votes
During the final voting session of this legislature, starting at noon, MEPs will vote, among other things, on
Russia’s undemocratic presidential elections and their illegitimate extension to the occupied territories;
a €5.8 billion increase for the 2024 EU budget, mainly to support Ukraine;
Attempts to reintroduce a foreign agent law in Georgia and its restrictions on civil society;
Azerbaijan, in particular the repression of civil society and the cases of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu and Ilhamiz Guliyev;
the proposed repeal of the law banning female genital mutilation in The Gambia;
the new security law in Hong Kong and the cases of Andy Li and Joseph John; and
advance passenger information: enhancing and facilitating external border controls.
Live coverage of the plenary session can be found on Parliament’s webstreaming and on EbS+.
For detailed information on the session, please also see our newsletter.
All information regarding plenary, can be found here.
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