4.9.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 227/1

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MINUTES

(2008/C 227 E/01)

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SITTING

IN THE CHAIR: Hans-Gert PÖTTERING

President

1.   Resumption of session

The sitting opened at 15.05.

2.   Tribute

On behalf of Parliament, the President paid tribute to the memory of Fausto Correia, Member of the European Parliament, former member of the Portuguese Government and of the Portuguese Parliament, who had died on 09.10.2007, and to the memory of Christian de La Malène, former Member of the European Parliament and former member of the French Government and of the French Senate, who had died on 26.09.2007.

Parliament observed a minute's silence.

3.   Statement by the President

The President made a statement to mark the International Day against the Death Penalty, which had also been declared European Day against the Death Penalty by the Council of Europe. He welcomed to the gallery a group of Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had recently been released after having been sentenced to death in Libya. He reaffirmed that Parliament and the European Union opposed the death penalty in all its forms, praised countries such as Rwanda that had recently abolished the death penalty and encouraged other countries in which the death penalty was still in force to follow this example.

Parliament observed a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the death penalty.

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The following spoke: Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, who condemned the attitude of the Russian authorities that had refused to grant the necessary visas to allow his group and, the previous week, the Subcommittee on Human Rights to hold meetings in Moscow. He called on the President to write to the Russian Ambassador and the Russian Government. (The President agreed to do so.)

4.   Approval of Minutes of previous sitting

The Minutes of the previous sitting were approved.

5.   Membership of Parliament

Following the death of Fausto Correia (Minutes of 10.10.2007, Item 2), Parliament established, under Rule 4(1) and (7), that a vacancy existed with effect from 10.10.2007 and informed the Member State concerned thereof.

The Spanish authorities had given notice of the appointments of Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón to replace Rosa Díez González as Member of Parliament with effect from 27.09.2007.

The Greek authorities had given notice of the appointment of:

—	Margaritis Schinas to replace Konstantinos Hatzidakis

—	Emmanouil Angelakas to replace Antonis Samaras

—	Anni Podimata to replace Panagiotis Beglitis

—	Costas Botopoulos to replace Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou

—	Maria Eleni Koppa to replace Nikolaos Sifunakis

—	Georgios Georgiou to replace Georgios Karatzaferis

as Members of the European Parliament with effect from 1.10.2007.

Under Rule 3(2), until such time as their credentials had been verified or a ruling had been given on any dispute, and provided that they had previously made written declarations stating that they did not hold any office incompatible with that of Member of the European Parliament, these new Members would take their seats in Parliament and on its bodies and would enjoy all the rights attaching thereto.

6.   Verification of credentials

At the proposal of the JURI Committee, Parliament validated the mandate of Francesco Ferrari with effect from 05.07.2007.

7.   Membership of committees and delegations

The President had received the following requests for appointments from the PSE Group.

—	AFET Committee: Maria Eleni Koppa

—	Subcommittee on Security and Defence: Maria Eleni Koppa

—	BUDG Committee: Costas Botopoulos

—	CONT Committee: Costas Botopoulos

—	IMCO Committee: Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón

—	AGRI Committee: Anni Podimata to replace Katerina Batzeli

—	CULT Committee: Katerina Batzeli

—	FEMM Committee: Anni Podimata to replace Katerina Batzeli

—	Delegation to the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee:Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón

The appointments would be deemed ratified if there were no objections before the approval of these Minutes.

8.   ‘Dys’crimination and social exclusion affecting children with ‘dys’abilities (written declaration)

Written declaration 64/2007 submitted by Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Richard Howitt, Kathy Sinnott, Roberta Angelilli and Anna Záborská on ‘dys’crimination and social exclusion affecting children with ‘dys’- abilities had been signed by the majority of Parliament's component Members. Consequently, in accordance with Rule 116(4), it would be forwarded to its addressees and published, together with the names of the signatories, in the Texts Adopted of the sitting of 12.11.2007.

9.   Agenda

The order of business had been established (Minutes of 24.09.2007, Item 14) and a corrigendum to the agenda had been distributed (PE 395.008/OJ/COR).

The agenda was thus established.

10.   Documents received

The following documents had been received:

1)

from the Council and Commission: — Proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Moldova on the facilitation of issuance of short-stay visas (COM(2007)0488 — C6-0339/2007 — 2007/0175(CNS)) referred to responsible: LIBE   opinion: AFET — Proposal for a Council decision concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Moldova on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation (COM(2007)0504 — C6-0340/2007 — 2007/0182(CNS)) referred to responsible: LIBE   opinion: AFET

2)

from committees: 2.1) reports: — * Report on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the Common Fisheries Policy (COM(2007)0369 — C6-0235/2007 — 2007/0127(CNS)) — PECH Committee. Rapporteur: Paulo Casaca (A6-0317/2007) — * Report on the recommendation for a Council decision concerning the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Convention on the Law applicable to Contractual Obligations, opened for signature in Rome on 19 June 1980 (COM(2007)0217 — C6-0157/2007 — 2007/0077(CNS)) — JURI Committee. Rapporteur: Cristian Dumitrescu (A6-0319/2007) — * Report on the proposal for a decision of the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States of the European Union, meeting with the Council, on the conclusion of the Air Transport Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and the United States of America, on the other hand (COM(2006)0169 — C6-0210/2007 — 2006/0058(CNS)) — TRAN Committee. Rapporteur: Saïd El Khadraoui (A6-0320/2007) — * Report on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy (COM(2007)0122 — C6-0116/2007 — 2007/0045(CNS)) — AGRI Committee. Rapporteur: Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (A6-0321/2007) — ***I Report on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (COM(2006)0599 — C6-0348/2006 — 2006/0199(COD)) — ECON Committee. Rapporteur: Sharon Bowles (A6-0327/2007) — ***I Report on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a European Advisory Committee on Community Statistical Information Policy (COM(2006)0653 — C6-0379/2006 — 2006/0217(COD)) — ECON Committee. Rapporteur: Ieke van den Burg (A6-0328/2007) — Report on the implications of the agreement between the Community and the Member States with Philip Morris on intensifying the fight against fraud and cigarette smuggling and progress made in implementing the recommendations of Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into the Community Tansit System (2005/2145(INI)) — CONT Committee. Rapporteur: Bart Staes (A6-0337/2007) — Report on the murders of women (feminicides) in Central America and Mexico and the role of the European Union in fighting this phenomenon (2007/2025(INI)) — FEMM Committee. Rapporteur: Raül Romeva i Rueda (A6-0338/2007) — * Report on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion of the relevant agreements under Article XXI GATS with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Separate customs territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei), Columbia, Cuba, Ecuador, Hong Kong China, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Switzerland, and the United States, on the necessary compensatory adjustments resulting from the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union (11507/2007 — C6-0239/2007 — 2007/0055(CNS)) — INTA Committee. Rapporteur: Helmuth Markov (A6-0340/2007) — Report on airport capacity and ground handling: towards a more efficient policy (2007/2092(INI)) — TRAN Committee. Rapporteur: Anne E. Jensen (A6-0349/2007) — Report on the composition of the European Parliament (2007/2169(INI)) — AFCO Committee. Co-rapporteurs: Alain Lamassoure and Adrian Severin (A6-0351/2007)

3)

from Members: 3.1) motions for resolutions (Rule 113): — Frank Vanhecke, Philip Claeys and Koenraad Dillen. Motion for a resolution on the wearing of headscarves in Turkey (B6-0374/2007) referred to responsible: FEMM   opinion: AFET, LIBE 3.2) proposals for recommendations (Rule 114): — Janusz Onyszkiewicz, on behalf of the ALDE Group. Proposal for a recommendation to the Council on relations between the European Union and Russia (B6-0373/2007) referred to responsible: AFET   opinion: ITRE, INTA

11.   Written declarations (tabling)

The following Members had submitted written declarations for entry in the register (Rule 116):

—	Jim Allister, Neil Parish, Mairead McGuinness, James Nicholson and Ville Itälä on dogfighting in the EU (86/2007),

—	Adriana Poli Bortone on violations of privacy and phone tapping (87/2007),

—	Caroline Lucas, Gyula Hegyi, Janusz Wojciechowski, Harlem Désir and Hélène Flautre on investigating and remedying the abuse of power by large supermarkets operating in the European Union (88/2007),

—	Frank Vanhecke, Philip Claeys and Koenraad Dillen on the statements by members of the Commission concerning internal political developments in the Member State Belgium (89/2007).

12.   Lapsed written declarations

In accordance with Rule 116(5), written declarations 53, 55 and 56/2007 lapsed as they had not obtained the required number of signatures.

13.   Texts of agreements forwarded by the Council

The Council had forwarded certified true copies of the following:

—	Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and Iceland concerning the provisional application of the Agreement on the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Economic Area and the provisional application of four related agreements;

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Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and the Principality of Liechtenstein concerning the provisional application of the Agreement on the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Economic Area and the provisional application of four related agreements;

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Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Community and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the provisional application of the Agreement on the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Economic Area and the provisional application of four related agreements;

—	Agreement on the participation of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania in the European Economic Area.

14.   Transfers of appropriations

The Committee on Budgets had considered the Commission's proposal for transfer of appropriations DEC 33/2007 (C6-0270/2007 — SEC(2007)1068).

It had authorised the transfer in full under Article 24(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation of 25.06.2002, as amended on 13.12.2006.

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The Committee on Budgets had considered the Commission's proposal for transfer of appropriations DEC 34/2007 (C6-0271/2007 — SEC(2007)1069).

Having noted the Council's opinion, it had authorised the transfer in full under Article 24(3) of the Financial Regulation of 25.06.2002, as amended on 13.12.2006.

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The Committee on Budgets had considered the Commission's proposal for transfer of appropriations DEC 35/2007 (C6-0272/2007 — SEC(2007)1070).

Having noted the Council's opinion, it had authorised the transfer in full under Article 24(3) of the Financial Regulation of 25.06.2002, as amended on 13.12.2006.

15.   Action taken on Parliament's positions and resolutions

The Commission communication on the action taken on the positions and resolutions adopted by Parliament during the July 2007 part-session had been distributed.

16.   Preparation of the informal summit of heads of state and government (Lisbon, 18/19 October 2007) (debate)

Council and Commission statements: Preparation of the informal summit of heads of state and government (Lisbon, 18/19 October 2007)

Manuel Lobo Antunes (President-in-Office of the Council) and Margot Wallström (Vice-President of the Commission) made the statements.

The following spoke: Elmar Brok, Enrique Barón Crespo and Andrew Duff, Parliament's representatives at the IGC, Joseph Daul, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Martin Schulz, on behalf of the PSE Group, Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Konrad Szymański, on behalf of the UEN Group, Monica Frassoni, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Francis Wurtz, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Jens-Peter Bonde, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Frank Vanhecke, on behalf of the ITS Group, Maciej Marian Giertych, Nonattached Member, João de Deus Pinheiro, Jo Leinen, Sophia in 't Veld, Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski, Johannes Voggenhuber, Pedro Guerreiro, Patrick Louis, Jim Allister, Timothy Kirkhope, Edite Estrela and Alexander Lambsdorff.

IN THE CHAIR: Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS

Vice-President

The following spoke: Miguel Portas, Alessandro Battilocchio, Josef Zieleniec, Robert Goebbels, Roberta Alma Anastase, Hannes Swoboda, Zbigniew Zaleski, Richard Corbett, Othmar Karas, Bernard Poignant, Jerzy Buzek, Csaba Sándor Tabajdi, David Casa, Andrzej Jan Szejna, Maria da Assunção Esteves, Józef Pinior, Panayiotis Demetriou, Alexander Stubb, Manuel Lobo Antunes and Margot Wallström.

The debate closed.

17.   Composition of the European Parliament (debate)

Report on the composition of the European Parliament [2007/2169(INI)] — Committee on Constitutional Affairs.

Corapporteurs: Alain Lamassoure and Adrian Severin (A6-0351/2007)

Alain Lamassoure and Adrian Severin presented the report.

The following spoke: Ingo Friedrich, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, and Richard Corbett, on behalf of the PSE Group.

IN THE CHAIR: Mechtild ROTHE

Vice-President

The following spoke: Andrew Duff, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Brian Crowley, on behalf of the UEN Group, Johannes Voggenhuber, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Bernard Wojciechowski, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Luca Romagnoli, on behalf of the ITS Group, Irena Belohorská, Non-attached Member, Gunnar Hökmark, Sérgio Sousa Pinto, Henrik Lax, Cristiana Muscardini, Roberto Musacchio, Jens-Peter Bonde, Philip Claeys, Sylwester Chruszcz, Alexander Stubb, Jo Leinen, Margarita Starkevičiūtė, Bogdan Pęk, Gerardo Galeote, Carlos Carnero González, Alexander Lambsdorff, Jean-Luc Dehaene, Genowefa Grabowska, Alfonso Andria, Riccardo Ventre, Libor Rouček, Jacek Protasiewicz, Stavros Lambrinidis and Reinhard Rack.

IN THE CHAIR: Marek SIWIEC

Vice-President

The following spoke: Panayiotis Demetriou, Proinsias De Rossa, Simon Busuttil and Adrian Severin.

The debate closed.

Vote: Minutes of 11.10.2007, Item 6.6.

18.   The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip (debate)

Council and Commission statements: The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip

Manuel Lobo Antunes (President-in-Office of the Council) and Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Member of the Commission) made the statements.

The following spoke: Jana Hybášková, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Thijs Berman, on behalf of the PSE Group, Chris Davies, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Ryszard Czarnecki, on behalf of the UEN Group, Margrete Auken, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Luisa Morgantini, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Bastiaan Belder, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Edward McMillan-Scott, Véronique De Keyser, Elizabeth Lynne, Hélène Flautre, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, Charles Tannock, Richard Howitt, Miroslav Mikolášik, Proinsias De Rossa, Zbigniew Zaleski, Béatrice Patrie, Nickolay Mladenov, Jamila Madeira, Christopher Beazley, Eija-Riitta Korhola, Manuel Lobo Antunes and Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Motion for a resolution tabled to wind up the debate pursuant to Rule 103(2):

—

José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, João de Deus Pinheiro, Edward McMillan-Scott and Jana Hybášková, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Pasqualina Napoletano, Thijs Berman and Véronique De Keyser, on behalf of the PSE Group, Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, Thierry Cornillet and Elizabeth Lynne, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Ryszard Czarnecki, Adam Bielan, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka and Roberta Angelilli, on behalf of the UEN Group, Margrete Auken, Hélène Flautre, Caroline Lucas, David Hammerstein, Johannes Voggenhuber and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, and Luisa Morgantini, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, on the humanitarian situation in Gaza (B6-0375/2007).

The debate closed.

Vote: Minutes of 11.10.2007, Item 8.1.

19.   A Maritime Policy for the EU (Commission communication)

Commission communication: A Maritime Policy for the EU

Joe Borg (Member of the Commission) presented the communication.

The following spoke: Matthias Groote, to ask a question.

IN THE CHAIR: Rodi KRATSA-TSAGAROPOULOU

Vice-President

The following spoke: to ask questions, to which Joe Borg replied: Marios Matsakis, Struan Stevenson, Margie Sudre, Paulo Casaca, Philippe Morillon, Luís Queiró, Georgios Toussas, Gerard Batten, Avril Doyle, Silvia- Adriana Ţicău, Josu Ortuondo Larrea, initially to criticise the organisation of the debate (the President noted this) and Eija-Riitta Korhola.

The item closed.

20.   Murder of women in Mexico and Central America (debate)

Report on the murder of women (feminicide) in Mexico and Central America and the role of the European Union in fighting the phenomenon [2007/2025(INI)] — Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

Rapporteur: Raül Romeva i Rueda (A6-0338/2007)

Raül Romeva i Rueda introduced the report.

The following spoke: Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Member of the Commission).

The following spoke: Anna Záborská, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Edite Estrela, on behalf of the PSE Group, Marios Matsakis, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Eva Lichtenberger, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Eva-Britt Svensson, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Zita Gurmai, Ilda Figueiredo, Maria Badia i Cutchet and Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The debate closed.

Vote: Minutes of 11.10.2007, Item 8.2.

21.   One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Pursuant to Rule 144, the following Members who wished to draw the attention of Parliament to matters of political importance spoke for one minute:

—	Tunne Kelam, Eduard Raul Hellvig and Andrzej Tomasz Zapałowski.

IN THE CHAIR: Luigi COCILOVO

Vice-President

The following spoke: Gerard Batten, Jim Allister, Monica Maria Iacob-Ridzi, Marian Harkin, Urszula Krupa, Sylwester Chruszcz, Mairead McGuinness, Pierre Pribetich, Marios Matsakis and Maria Petre.

22.   Financing the common agricultural policy * (debate)

Report on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy [COM(2007)0122 — C6-0116/2007 — 2007/0045(CNS)] — Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

Rapporteur: Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (A6-0321/2007)

The following spoke: Siim Kallas (Vice-President of the Commission).

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis introduced the report.

The following spoke: Albert Deß, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Bernadette Bourzai, on behalf of the PSE Group, Marian Harkin, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Janusz Wojciechowski, on behalf of the UEN Group, Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Kartika Tamara Liotard, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Hélène Goudin, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Jean-Claude Martinez, on behalf of the ITS Group, Jim Allister, Non-attached Member, Ioannis Gklavakis, Csaba Sándor Tabajdi, Hannu Takkula, Andrzej Tomasz Zapałowski, Esther De Lange, Gyula Hegyi, Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański, Monica Maria Iacob-Ridzi, Zbigniew Krzysztof Kuźmiuk, Mairead McGuinness, Czesław Adam Siekierski and Siim Kallas.

The debate closed.

Vote: Minutes of 11.10.2007, Item 6.4.

23.   Combating cigarette smuggling (EC-Philip Morris agreement) (debate)

Report on the repercussions of the agreement between the Community-Member States/Philip Morris on the combating of cigarette smuggling and further consideration of the recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry into the Community Transit System [2005/2145(INI)] — Committee on Budgetary Control.

Rapporteur: Bart Staes (A6-0337/2007)

Bart Staes introduced the report.

The following spoke: Siim Kallas (Vice-President of the Commission).

The following spoke: Jean-Pierre Audy, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Herbert Bösch, on behalf of the PSE Group, Ingeborg Gräßle, Paulo Casaca, Monica Maria Iacob-Ridzi, Szabolcs Fazakas, Bogusław Liberadzki and Siim Kallas.

The debate closed.

Vote: Minutes of 11.10.2007, Item 8.3.

24.   Agenda for next sitting

The agenda for the next day's sitting had been established (‘Agenda’ PE 395.008/OJJE).

25.   Closure of sitting

The sitting closed at 23.40.

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