6. Announcements by the President

Verbatim reports

The President made the following announcements:

'I wish to inform you that the Court of Justice of the European Union today established that the European Parliament may exercise some of its budgetary powers in Brussels, instead of Strasbourg, if that is required for the proper functioning of the budgetary procedure. This means that the European Parliament was entitled to adopt the annual budget of the EU for 2017 in Brussels, at second reading.'

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'On 10 September 2018, I imposed penalties on Georges Bach, Guillaume Balas, José Bové, Edouard Martin, Claude Rolin, Maria Arena and Isabelle Thomas on account of their actions at the plenary sitting of 3 July 2018 which seriously disrupted Parliament's business and led to the sitting having to be suspended.

On 11 September 2018, Maria Arena, George Bach, Guillaume Balas, Edouard Martin and Isabelle Thomas appealed against that decision.

At its meeting yesterday, the Bureau considered those appeals and upheld the decision to impose the penalties which, in the case of Georges Bach, Guillaume Balas, Maria Arena and Isabelle Thomas, consisted of withdrawal of their entitlement to five days' subsistence allowance and, without prejudice to their right to vote in plenary, withdrawal of the right to participate in any of the activities of Parliament or its bodies for a period of five consecutive days on which Parliament, its bodies, committees or delegations met and, in the case of Edouard Martin, of withdrawal of his entitlement to eight days' subsistence allowance and, without prejudice to the right to vote in plenary, withdrawal of the right to participate in any of the activities of Parliament or its bodies for a period of eight consecutive days on which Parliament, its bodies, committees or delegations met. Those penalties, which had been suspended upon the filing of the appeal, will now apply as from today.'

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'In view of the findings of the Advisory Committee dealing with harassment complaints between Accredited Parliamentary Assistants and Members of the European Parliament, and after considering the written statements made by the Member concerned, I have decided to impose a penalty on Giulia Moi under Rule 166 as a result of her behaviour towards her accredited parliamentary assistants, which was such as to constitute psychological harassment. The penalty will consist of withdrawal of her entitlement to twelve days' subsistence allowance. The Member concerned has been notified of this decision today. Under Rule 167, she may file an internal appeal against that decision with the Bureau. The filing of such an appeal will have the effect of suspending application of the penalty.'

IN THE CHAIR: David-Maria SASSOLI
Vice-President

The following spoke: Bruno Gollnisch (the President gave explanations), Eleonora Forenza, Udo Bullmann, Edouard Martin and Cécile Kashetu Kyenge.