Press release – Opening – March I plenary session

Opening the plenary session in Brussels, EP President David Sassoli said: “The decision to hold the session here in Brussels was taken in the spirit and intention of giving continuity to Parliament’s work”.

He added: “We must do everything, for as long as possible, to ensure the continuity of the EP’s legislative and budgetary function, the decisions to fight the COVID-19, to support jobs and the economy that have been hit hard. We also need to continue our work on the Green Deal, immigration and the Multiannual Financial Framework. All this requires us to stay in our place”.

He concluded: “We must honour our parliamentary mandate and pay tribute to all those in Europe and around the world who are carrying out their daily duties to contain the spread of the disease”.

That is why today the Conference of Presidents held and extraordinary meeting and decided to change the final draft agenda as follows.

Changes to the agenda

The March I part session will take place only on Tuesday 10 March.

From 9am until noon, there will be Council and Commission statements on Coronavirus outbreak, state of play and ensuring a coordinated European response to the health, economic and social impact.

At 3pm, there will be Council and Commission statements on the Conclusions of the special European Council meeting of 20 February 2020 on the Multiannual Financial framework.

Following this, there will be Council and Commission statements on the migration situation at the Greek-Turkish border and the EU’s common response to it.

“These changes were approved by the Conference of Presidents and the European Parliament wants to stay open and functional – but we need to take all necessary precautions and reduce activities to a minimum.”, said the President.

To watch the statement in full, click here

Outgoing Members

Matt CARTHY (GUE/NGL, Ireland) from 8 February

Incoming Members

Chris MACMANUS (NI, Ireland) from 6 March