Rapporti verbatim tad-dibattiti

Il-Ħamis, 13 ta' Diċembru 2007 - Strasburgu

1. Ftuħ tas-seduta

(La seduta è aperta alle 9.00)

  Richard Corbett (PSE). – Mr President, on a point of order, I rise to inquire about the potential use of Rule 147 of our Rules of Procedure, following the disgraceful events of yesterday where some of our colleagues behaved, frankly, like hooligans. I would urge the President and the Conference of Presidents to look into this – to take their time and do it properly, but this, surely, is an instance where the imposition of penalties as foreseen under Rule 147 should be, at least, considered.

We revised this rule last year to distinguish very clearly between protests that are measured, that are visual but do not disrupt the sitting, and those sorts of behaviour which actually disrupt the parliamentary sitting. Yesterday, speakers – including our guest, the Prime Minister of Portugal – were shouted down so that they could not be heard. That is no way to behave in a pluralist, democratic parliament where we thrive on proper debate, not shouting people down.

I would urge the President to look into this and, perhaps at the January sitting, announce what penalties he intends to impose: at the very least a reprimand, as foreseen, but perhaps some of the more vigorous penalties that are provided for in our Rules of Procedure.

  Presidente. On. Corbett, al di là delle opinioni personali che convergono sulla sua sensibilità e sulla sua opinione, sicuramente, ai sensi dell'articolo 147, di questo problema sarà investito l'Ufficio di presidenza e, sono certo, che il Presidente darà seguito conformemente alle previsioni dello stesso articolo 147.

  Joseph Daul (PPE-DE). – Monsieur le Président, sur ce sujet, je souscris tout à fait à ce que nous a dit Richard Corbett. Je voudrais simplement ajouter que j'étais là, ce matin, à la séance, pour écouter les excuses du président de groupe, M. Bonde, pour ce qui s'est passé hier vis-à-vis des huissiers.

Ce qui est inacceptable, c'est qu'on attaque, avec des mots ou des phrases, je ne dirais même pas trop forts, mais franchement dégueulasses - excusez-moi du terme, mais j'utilise le même langage -, le personnel de notre Parlement, qui n'a fait que son devoir comme le lui demandaient le Président et la Présidence.

Je vois qu'il n'y a pas d'excuses officielles, donc nous devrons prendre les mesures qui s'imposent pour défendre le personnel du Parlement. Voilà pourquoi je suis là ce matin.

  Presidente. Grazie on. Daul, concludo le richieste di intervento su questo punto, che è una questione regolamentare, dando la parola all'on. Beazley.

  Christopher Beazley (PPE-DE). – Mr President, I shall be very brief. I just wanted to agree wholeheartedly with both Mr Corbett and my group chairman, Mr Daul. What happened yesterday was utterly inexcusable. However, I would caution, perhaps, that the Conference of Presidents remembers the – perhaps wise – advice of Mr Cohn-Bendit not to give these people the prominence they seek through their quite unacceptable behaviour.

I was wondering whether, perhaps, the services of Parliament might investigate whether additional facilities for Parliament’s crèche might be found, so that those suffering from what apparently is described as ‘offensive Faragia’ syndrome – the symptoms of which are feeling far out and outrageous; it can, in its extreme form, become contagious – but for those who feel obliged to go to this crèche, and I propose Mr Farage as its custodian, the only known therapy is for them to march up and down with a placard with single words on it and shout at each other at the top of their voice. When the fever subsides, they may rest and rejoin the grown-ups. So, I wish those who held up those absurd posters yesterday and those who behaved appallingly a merry Christmas; if they have time over the yuletide to reflect on their behaviour, they might even think what they would like to do when they grow up.

  Presidente. Teniamo conto anche del suo suggerimento, anche se personalmente ho qualche difficoltà a immaginare questi colleghi all'asilo, perché, vista la propensione violenta manifestata da alcuni, potremmo correre il rischio di una "strage degli innocenti". Ci muoveremo esattamente secondo quanto previsto dall'articolo 147 del regolamento e sicuramente si procederà in coerenza con lo stesso.