Dobesedni zapisi razprav

Četrtek, 15. januar 2015 - Strasbourg

12. Obrazložitev glasovanja

  Jonathan Arnott (EFDD). - Mr President, I would like to point out, under Rule 162(6), that last night in various debates, including the one on Egypt, blue cards and catch-the-eye were cancelled. We did not have genuine debate but a series of prepared statements.

These things need to be scheduled better in future, but I would just like to draw your attention specifically to the wording of Rule 162(6), which says ‘shall’, not ‘may’. I believe that there is no rationale which entitles Parliament to cancel catch-the-eye. This is a part of parliamentary debate and people should be allowed to have their say. I just wanted to make that point.

  President. - I take note of your point and we will come back to discussing it. However, let me say that there was a very lively debate and it lasted until midnight, and whoever is in the chair, whether it is myself or a colleague – and we had this little exchange yesterday as well – has a responsibility to ensure that the debate does not last until 3 in the morning. There is some discretion that the chair can exercise in allowing blue cards or not. We will also always ensure, and that is correct in Rule 162(6), that there is a diversity of views in both the blue cards and the catch-the-eye procedure, but we have taken note of your point and we will happily discuss it in the Bureau.