2. Tribute

Verbatim reports

On behalf of Parliament, the President paid tribute to the memory of Simone Veil, the first President of the directly elected European Parliament.

Parliament observed a minute's silence.

The President announced that a ceremony to commemorate the life of Simone Veil would be held at 12.00 on Tuesday 4 July 2017 in the Chamber and that Members' attendance at the funeral, on Wednesday, 5 July 2017 in Paris, would be considered a justified reason for their absence.

The following spoke: Terry Reintke, on the German Bundestag's passing, on 30 June 2017, of the law on same-sex marriage, Franck Proust, on behalf of the PPE Group, Nathalie Griesbeck, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Christine Revault d'Allonnes Bonnefoy, on behalf of the S&D Group, and Ulrike Lunacek, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, on Simone Veil as a political figure, and Patrizia Toia, on the same subject and to stress the critical situation with the influx of refugees in Italy.