The President made a statement on the political situation in Zimbabwe. He condemned the violence being carried out against the opposition by Robert Mugabe's regime and called for the establishment of genuine democracy in the country.

The following spoke: Glenys Kinnock, Chairwoman of the delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

The President announced that he had been notified by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic of the decision that had been taken to appoint Jan Zahradil to represent the Prime Minister during consultations on the Berlin Declaration, and, more generally, in the context of the relaunch of the constitutional process during the German Presidency of the EU.

At its meeting of 19 and 20 March 2007, the JURI Committee, to which the matter had been referred under Rule 4(5), had concluded that the assignment was compatible with the letter and spirit of the Act concerning the election of representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage and that as a result it was not incompatible with the office of Member of the European Parliament. Jan Zahradil could therefore continue to carry out his mandate as an MEP.

On behalf of Parliament, The President welcomed members of a delegation from the Iraqi Parliament — led by Hamid Mousa — who had taken their seats in the distinguished visitors' gallery.

The President had received the following requests for appointments from the PPE-DE, PSE, ALDE and Nonattached Members Groups:

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

In accordance with Rule 116(5), written declarations 85, 86/2006 lapsed as they had not obtained the required number of signatures.

The Commission communication on the action taken by the Commission on Parliament's resolution on the Commission's legislative and work programme for 2007 had been distributed.

The order of business had been established (Minutes of 12.03.2007, Item 15) and a corrigendum to the agenda had been distributed (PE 385.050/OJ/COR).

Angela Merkel (President-in-Office of the Council) and José Manuel Barroso (President of the Commission) made the statements.

The following spoke: 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, Cristiana Muscardini, on behalf of the UEN Group, Monica Frassoni, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Gabriele Zimmer, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Jens-Peter Bonde, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Bruno Gollnisch, on behalf of the ITS Group, Jim Allister, Non-attached Member, Hartmut Nassauer, Edite Estrela, Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Konrad Szymański, Johannes Voggenhuber, Roberto Musacchio, Vladimír Železný, Timothy Kirkhope, Bernard Poignant, Andrew Duff, Mario Borghezio, Rebecca Harms, Pedro Guerreiro, Antonio Tajani, Stephen Hughes, Bronisław Geremek, Angela Merkel, Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski, József Szájer, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo and Ioannis Varvitsiotis.

The following spoke: Margie Sudre, Bogusław Sonik, Elmar Brok and José Manuel Barroso.

Oral question (O-0125/2007) by Pervenche Berès, on behalf of the ECON Committee, to the Council:

Oral question (O-0126/2007) by Pervenche Berès, on behalf of the ECON Committee, to the Commission:

Günter Gloser (President-in-Office of the Council) and Charlie McCreevy (Member of the Commission) answered the questions.

The following spoke: Karsten Friedrich Hoppenstedt, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Joseph Muscat, on behalf of the PSE Group, Margarita Starkevičiūtė, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Piia-Noora Kauppi and Charlie McCreevy.

Report on the future of Kosovo and the role of the EU [2006/2267(INI)] — Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The following spoke: Günter Gloser (President-in-Office of the Council) and Olli Rehn (Member of the Commission)

The following spoke: Erika Mann (draftsman of the opinion of the INTA Committee), Bernd Posselt, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Csaba Sándor Tabajdi, on behalf of the PSE Group, Lapo Pistelli, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Brian Crowley, on behalf of the UEN Group, Gisela Kallenbach, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Tobias Pflüger, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Bastiaan Belder, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, and Alojz Peterle.

The following spoke: Hannes Swoboda, Jelko Kacin, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Erik Meijer, Doris Pack, Jan Marinus Wiersma, Andrzej Tomasz Zapałowski, Adamos Adamou, Francisco José Millán Mon, Adrian Severin, Ioannis Kasoulides, Józef Pinior, Peter Šťastný, Monika Beňová and Olli Rehn.

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

Zita Pleštinská, Martin Schulz, Marios Matsakis, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka and Věra Flasarová.

Jim Allister, Atanas Paparizov, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Marco Cappato, Mario Borghezio, Bairbre de Brún, Martin Dimitrov, John Attard-Montalto, Danutė Budreikaitė, Milan Gaľa, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Brian Crowley, Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Jörg Leichtfried, Avril Doyle, Neena Gill, Robert Evans, Carlo Fatuzzo and Dimitar Stoyanov, to make a point of order (the President cut him off as his remarks did not constitute a point of order).

Report on the proposal for a Council regulation on organic production and labelling of organic products [COM(2005)0671 — C6-0032/2006 — 2005/0278(CNS)] — Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

The following spoke: Roberto Musacchio (draftsman of the opinion of the ENVI Committee), Agnes Schierhuber, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, María Isabel Salinas García, on behalf of the PSE Group, Kyösti Virrankoski, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Roberta Angelilli, on behalf of the UEN Group, Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Vincenzo Aita, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Luca Romagnoli, on behalf of the ITS Group, Ioannis Gklavakis, Marc Tarabella, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Bernadette Bourzai, Gábor Harangozó and Mariann Fischer Boel.

Report on the future of the European Union's own resources [2006/2205(INI)] — Committee on Budgets.

The following spoke: Elisa Ferreira (draftsman of the opinion of the ECON Committee), Gerardo Galeote (draftsman of the opinion of the REGI Committee), Carlos Carnero González (draftsman of the opinion of the AFCO Committee), Salvador Garriga Polledo, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Catherine Guy-Quint, on behalf of the PSE Group, Jan Mulder, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Zbigniew Krzysztof Kuźmiuk, on behalf of the UEN Group, Gérard Onesta, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Esko Seppänen, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Hélène Goudin, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Petre Popeangă, on behalf of the ITS Group, Hans-Peter Martin, Non-attached Member, Richard James Ashworth, Jutta Haug, Gérard Deprez, Pierre Jonckheer, Jeffrey Titford, Sergej Kozlík, Valdis Dombrovskis, Neena Gill, Kyösti Virrankoski and José Albino Silva Peneda.

The following spoke: Göran Färm, László Surján, Herbert Bösch, Monica Maria Iacob-Ridzi, Szabolcs Fazakas and Mariann Fischer Boel.

Report on the guidelines for the 2008 budget procedure — Sections II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX — and on the European Parliament's preliminary draft estimates (Section I) for the 2008 budget procedure:

Section IX — European Data Protection Supervisor [2007/2013(BUD)] — Committee on Budgets.

The following spoke: Valdis Dombrovskis, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Vladimír Maňka, on behalf of the PSE Group, Anne E. Jensen, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Esko Seppänen, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Louis Grech and Nathalie Griesbeck.

19. Future of Professional Football in Europe — Security at Football Matches * (debate)

Report on the future of professional football in Europe [2006/2130(INI)] — Committee on Culture and Education.

Report on the initiative by the Republic of Austria with a view to the adoption of a Council decision amending Decision 2002/348/JHA concerning security in connection with football matches with an international dimension [10543/2006 — C6-0240/2006 — 2006/0806(CNS)] — Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

The following spoke: Jean-Luc Bennahmias (draftsman of the opinion of the EMPL Committee), Toine Manders (draftsman of the opinion of the IMCO Committee), Gary Titley (draftsman of the opinion of the JURI Committee), Thomas Mann, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Guy Bono, on behalf of the PSE Group, Karin Resetarits, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Dariusz Maciej Grabowski, on behalf of the UEN Group, Ian Hudghton, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Věra Flasarová, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Jeffrey Titford, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group, Patrick Gaubert, Pier Antonio Panzeri, Luciana Sbarbati, Christopher Heaton-Harris, Christa Prets, Sharon Bowles, Luis Herrero-Tejedor, Emine Bozkurt, Manolis Mavrommatis, Joseph Muscat and Giuseppe Castiglione.

The following spoke: Richard Corbett, Jacek Protasiewicz, Maria Badia i Cutchet, Vasco Graça Moura, Mario Mantovani and Ján Figeľ.

20. Compliance with the obligations of Flag States ***I — Civil liability and financial guarantees of shipowners ***I (debate)

Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on compliance with flag State requirements [COM(2005)0586 — C6-0062/2006 — 2005/0236(COD)] — Committee on Transport and Tourism.

Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the civil liability and financial guarantees of shipowners [COM(2005)0593 — C6-0039/2006 — 2005/0242(COD)] — Committee on Transport and Tourism.

The following spoke: Luis de Grandes Pascual (draftsman of the opinion of the JURI Committee), Georg Jarzembowski, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Willi Piecyk, on behalf of the PSE Group, Paolo Costa, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Mary Lou McDonald, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Bogusław Liberadzki, Josu Ortuondo Larrea and Jacques Barrot.

Report on the integration of the new Member States into the CAP [2006/2042(INI)] — Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

The following spoke: Albert Deß, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group, Bogdan Golik, on behalf of the PSE Group, Tchetin Kazak, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Janusz Wojciechowski, on behalf of the UEN Group, Dumitru Gheorghe Mircea Coşea, on behalf of the ITS Group, Peter Baco, Non-attached Member, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański, Dimitar Stoyanov, Andreas Mölzer and Mariann Fischer Boel.

The agenda for the next sitting had been established (‘Agenda’ PE 385.050/OJJE).

ATTENDANCE REGISTER

The following signed:

Adamou, Agnoletto, Albertini, Ali, Allister, Anastase, Andersson, Andria, Andrikienė, Angelilli, Antoniozzi, Arif, Arnaoutakis, Ashworth, Athanasiu, Atkins, Attard-Montalto, Attwooll, Aubert, Audy, Ayala Sender, Aylward, Bachelot-Narquin, Baco, Badia i Cutchet, Bărbuleţiu, Barsi-Pataky, Batten, Battilocchio, Batzeli, Bauer, Beaupuy, Beazley, Becsey, Belder, Belet, Belohorská, Bennahmias, Beňová, Berend, Berès, van den Berg, Berlato, Berman, Birutis, Bliznashki, Blokland, Bloom, Bobošíková, Böge, Bösch, Bonde, Bono, Borghezio, Borrell Fontelles, Bourlanges, Bourzai, Bowles, Bozkurt, Bradbourn, Braghetto, Brejc, Brepoels, Březina, Brie, Brok, Brunetta, Budreikaitė, Buitenweg, Bulfon, Bullmann, van den Burg, Buruiană-Aprodu, Bushill-Matthews, Busk, Busuttil, Buzek, Cabrnoch, Calabuig Rull, Callanan, Camre, Capoulas Santos, Cappato, Carlotti, Carlshamre, Carnero González, Carollo, Casa, Casaca, Cashman, Casini, Caspary, Castex, Castiglione, Catania, Cederschiöld, Cercas, Chatzimarkakis, Chichester, Chiesa, Chmielewski, Christensen, Christova, Chruszcz, Ciornei, Cioroianu, Claeys, Clark, Coelho, Cohn-Bendit, Corbett, Cornillet, Correia, Coşea, Costa, Cottigny, Cramer, Corina Creţu, Gabriela Creţu, Crowley, Marek Aleksander Czarnecki, Daul, Davies, De Blasio, de Brún, Degutis, De Keyser, Demetriou, Deprez, De Rossa, Descamps, Désir, Deß, Deva, De Veyrac, Dičkutė, Didžiokas, Díez González, Dillen, Dimitrakopoulos, Konstantin Dimitrov, Martin Dimitrov, Dîncu, Dobolyi, Dombrovskis, Doorn, Douay, Dover, Doyle, Drčar Murko, Duchoň, Dührkop Dührkop, Duff, Dumitrescu, Ebner, Ehler, Ek, El Khadraoui, Esteves, Estrela, Ettl, Jill Evans, Jonathan Evans, Robert Evans, Färm, Fajmon, Falbr, Fatuzzo, Fazakas, Ferber, Fernandes, Fernández Martín, Anne Ferreira, Elisa Ferreira, Figueiredo, Flasarová, Florenz, Foglietta, Foltyn-Kubicka, Fontaine, Ford, Fraga Estévez, Frassoni, Freitas, Friedrich, Fruteau, Gahler, Gál, Gaľa, Galeote, Ganţ, García-Margallo y Marfil, García Pérez, Gargani, Garriga Polledo, Gaubert, Gauzès, Gawronski, Gebhardt, Gentvilas, Geremek, Geringer de Oedenberg, Gewalt, Gibault, Gierek, Gill, Gklavakis, Glattfelder, Goebbels, Goepel, Golik, Gomes, Gomolka, Gottardi, Grabowska, Grabowski, Graça Moura, Graefe zu Baringdorf, Gräßle, de Grandes Pascual, Grech, Griesbeck, Gröner, de Groen-Kouwenhoven, Groote, Grosch, Grossetête, Gruber, Guardans Cambó, Guellec, Guerreiro, Guidoni, Gurmai, Gutiérrez-Cortines, Guy-Quint, Gyürk, Hammerstein, Hamon, Handzlik, Harangozó, Harbour, Harkin, Harms, Hasse Ferreira, Hassi, Haug, Hazan, Heaton-Harris, Hedh, Hegyi, Hellvig, Henin, Hennicot-Schoepges, Herczog, Herranz García, Herrero-Tejedor, Hieronymi, Higgins, Holm, Honeyball, Hoppenstedt, Horáček, Howitt, Hudacký, Hughes, Hutchinson, Iacob-Ridzi, Ibrisagic, Ilchev, in 't Veld, Itälä, Iturgaiz Angulo, Jäätteenmäki, Jałowiecki, Janowski, Járóka, Jarzembowski, Jeggle, Jensen, Joan i Marí, Jöns, Jonckheer, Jordan Cizelj, Juknevičienė, Kacin, Kaczmarek, Kallenbach, Kamiński, Karas, Karim, Kasoulides, Kaufmann, Kauppi, Kazak, Tunne Kelam, Kelemen, Kilroy-Silk, Kindermann, Kinnock, Kirilov, Kirkhope, Klamt, Klaß, Klich, Koch, Koch-Mehrin, Kohlíček, Konrad, Kónya-Hamar, Kósáné Kovács, Koterec, Kozlík, Krahmer, Krasts, Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Kreissl-Dörfler, Kristovskis, Krupa, Kuc, Kuhne, Kułakowski, Kušķis, Kusstatscher, Lagendijk, Lamassoure, Lambert, Lambrinidis, Langen, Langendries, Laperrouze, La Russa, Lavarra, Lax, Lehideux, Lehne, Lehtinen, Leichtfried, Leinen, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen, Le Rachinel, Lévai, Liberadzki, Libicki, Lienemann, Liotard, Locatelli, Lombardo, Losco, Louis, Lucas, Ludford, Lulling, Lynne, Lyubcheva, Maat, Maaten, McAvan, McCarthy, McDonald, McGuinness, McMillan-Scott, Madeira, Maldeikis, Manders, Maňka, Erika Mann, Thomas Mann, Manolakou, Mantovani, Marinescu, Markov, Marques, Martens, David Martin, Hans-Peter Martin, Martinez, Martínez Martínez, Masiel, Masip Hidalgo, Maštálka, Mastenbroek, Mathieu, Mato Adrover, Matsakis, Matsouka, Mauro, Mavrommatis, Mayer, Mayor Oreja, Medina Ortega, Meijer, Méndez de Vigo, Menéndez del Valle, Meyer Pleite, Miguélez Ramos, Mihăescu, Mihalache, Mikko, Mikolášik, Millán Mon, Mitchell, Mölzer, Mohácsi, Montoro Romero, Moreno Sánchez, Morgan, Morgantini, Morillon, Morţun, Moscovici, Mote, Musacchio, Muscardini, Muscat, Musotto, Musumeci, Myller, Nassauer, Nattrass, Newton Dunn, Nicholson, Nicholson of Winterbourne, Niebler, van Nistelrooij, Novak, Occhetto, Öger, Olajos, Olbrycht, Ó Neachtain, Onesta, Onyszkiewicz, Oomen-Ruijten, Ortuondo Larrea, Őry, Ouzký, Oviir, Pack, Pafilis, Pahor, Paleckis, Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Pannella, Panzeri, Papadimoulis, Paparizov, Papastamkos, Parish, Parvanova, Paşcu, Patriciello, Peillon, Pęk, Alojz Peterle, Petre, Pflüger, Piecyk, Pieper, Pīks, Pinheiro, Pinior, Piotrowski, Pirilli, Pirker, Piskorski, Pistelli, Pittella, Pleguezuelos Aguilar, Pleštinská, Podestà, Podgorean, Podkański, Pöttering, Poignant, Polfer, Pomés Ruiz, Popeangă, Posselt, Post, Prets, Vittorio Prodi, Protasiewicz, Purvis, Queiró, Quisthoudt-Rowohl, Rack, Radwan, Ransdorf, Rapkay, Remek, Resetarits, Reul, Reynaud, Ribeiro e Castro, Riera Madurell, Ries, Riis-Jørgensen, Rizzo, Rogalski, Roithová, Romagnoli, Rosati, Roszkowski, Roth-Behrendt, Rothe, Rouček, Roure, Rudi Ubeda, Rübig, Rühle, Rutowicz, Ryan, Sacconi, Saïfi, Sakalas, Saks, Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Salinas García, Sánchez Presedo, dos Santos, Sârbu, Sartori, Saryusz-Wolski, Savary, Savi, Sbarbati, Schaldemose, Schapira, Scheele, Schenardi, Schierhuber, Schlyter, Olle Schmidt, Frithjof Schmidt, Schmitt, Schnellhardt, Jürgen Schröder, Schroedter, Schuth, Schwab, Seeber, Seppänen, Şerbu, Severin, Shouleva, Siekierski, Silaghi, Silva Peneda, Simpson, Sinnott, Siwiec, Skinner, Škottová, Smith, Sofianski, Sommer, Søndergaard, Sornosa Martínez, Sousa Pinto, Spautz, Speroni, Staes, Stănescu, Staniszewska, Starkevičiūtė, Šťastný, Stauner, Sterckx, Stevenson, Stihler, Stockmann, Stoyanov, Strejček, Strož, Stubb, Sturdy, Sudre, Sumberg, Svensson, Swoboda, Szabó, Szájer, Szent-Iványi, Szymański, Tabajdi, Tajani, Tannock, Tarabella, Tarand, Tatarella, Thomsen, Ţicău, Titford, Titley, Toia, Toubon, Toussas, Trakatellis, Trautmann, Triantaphyllides, Turmes, Tzampazi, Ulmer, Väyrynen, Vaidere, Vakalis, Vălean, Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, Vanhecke, Van Lancker, Varela Suanzes-Carpegna, Varvitsiotis, Vatanen, Vaugrenard, Veneto, Veraldi, Vergnaud, Vernola, Vidal-Quadras, Vigenin, Vincenzi, Virrankoski, Vlasák, Vlasto, Voggenhuber, Wallis, Walter, Watson, Henri Weber, Manfred Weber, Westlund, Wieland, Wiersma, Wijkman, Willmott, Wise, von Wogau, Wohlin, Bernard Wojciechowski, Janusz Wojciechowski, Wortmann-Kool, Wurtz, Xenogiannakopoulou, Yáñez-Barnuevo García, Záborská, Zaleski, Zapałowski, Zappalà, Zatloukal, Ždanoka, Zieleniec, Zīle, Zimmer, Zvěřina, Zwiefka