2. Election of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament
The President said that no candidate had secured an absolute majority of the votes cast the previous day.
The following spoke: Indrek Tarand, to say that he was withdrawing his candidacy.
The following spoke: Robert Atkins, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Thomas Mann (The President reminded the House of the provisions of Rule 13(1)).
Following Indrek Tarand's withdrawal, the number of candidates did not exceed the number of seats to be filled, so the President proposed electing the Vice-Presidents by acclamation in accordance with Rule 15 and then holding a ballot to establish the order of precedence of the Vice-Presidents.
The House agreed to the proposal.
The President said that Doris Pack was replacing Vladko Todorov Panayotov as a teller.
The vote was held.
(The sitting was suspended at 9.30 for the count and resumed at 10.00.)
IN THE CHAIR: Martin SCHULZ President
3. Danish Presidency Programme (debate)
Council and Commission statements: Danish Presidency Programme
The following spoke: Licia Ronzulli.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt (President-in-Office of the Council) made the statement.
4. Election of the Vice-Presidents of Parliament (continued)
The President read out the results of the third ballot:
- number voting: 672
- blank or spoilt ballot papers: 17
- votes cast: 655
(The list of Members voting is annexed to these Minutes: Annex 1 to the Minutes of 18 January 2012)
Votes were cast as follows in descending order:
- Gianni Pittella 319 votes
- Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez: 295 votes
- Anni Podimata: 281 votes
- Alejo Vidal-Quadras: 269 votes
-Georgios Papastamkos: 248 votes
- Roberta Angelilli: 246 votes
- Othmar Karas: 244 votes
- Edward McMillan-Scott: 239 votes
- Isabelle Durant: 238 votes
- Alexander Alvaro: 235 votes
- Rainer Wieland: 230 votes
- Oldřich Vlasák: 223 votes
- Jacek Protasiewicz: 206 votes
- László Surján: 188 votes
The 14 candidates were elected Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament by acclamation.
In accordance with Rule 15(2) the Vice-Presidents take precedence in the order in which they were elected.
5. Danish Presidency Programme (continuation of debate)
Council and Commission statements: Danish Presidency Programme
José Manuel Barroso (President of the Commission) made the statement.
The following spoke: Joseph Daul, on behalf of the PPE Group, Hannes Swoboda, on behalf of the S&D Group, Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the ALDE Group.
IN THE CHAIR: Gianni PITTELLA Vice-President
The following spoke: Rebecca Harms, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, who also replied to a blue-card question by Krisztina Morvai, Martin Callanan, on behalf of the ECR Group, Søren Bo Søndergaard, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Morten Messerschmidt, on behalf of the EFD Group, who also replied to a blue-card question by Nicole Sinclaire, Barry Madlener, Non-attached Member, Bendt Bendtsen, Dan Jørgensen, who also replied to a blue-card question by William (The Earl of) Dartmouth, Jens Rohde, Emilie Turunen, Anna Rosbach, Paul Murphy, Niki Tzavela, Philip Claeys, Werner Langen, Claude Moraes who also replied to a blue-card question by Krisztina Morvai, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Claude Turmes and Mara Bizzotto.
IN THE CHAIR: Martin SCHULZ President
The following spoke: Nicole Sinclaire, Mario Mauro, Edite Estrela, Ewald Stadler, Jean-Pierre Audy, Cătălin Sorin Ivan, Pablo Zalba Bidegain, Liisa Jaakonsaari, Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, Zita Gurmai, Othmar Karas, Gunnar Hökmark and Krišjānis Kariņš.
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Giuseppe Gargani, Ana Gomes, Sarah Ludford, Mirosław Piotrowski, Nikolaos Salavrakos, Margrete Auken, Sophie Auconie and Frédéric Daerden.
The following spoke: José Manuel Barroso and Helle Thorning-Schmidt (President-in-Office of the Council).
The debate closed.
6. Composition of Parliament
The President welcomed Maria Auxiliadora Correa Zamora, Juan Naranjo Escobar, Daniël van der Stoep, Ana Miranda and Younous Omarjee (minutes of 16.1.2012, item 3, Composition of Parliament)
° ° ° °
The Portuguese authorities had given notice of the election of Inês Cristina Quintas Zuber to replace Ilda Figueiredo as Member of Parliament with effect from 18 January 2012.
Under Rule 3(2), until such time as her credentials had been verified or a ruling had been given on any dispute, and provided that she had previously made a written declaration stating that she did not hold any office incompatible with that of Member of the European Parliament, Inês Cristina Quintas Zuber would take her seat in Parliament and on its bodies and would enjoy all the rights attaching thereto.
7. Composition of committees and delegations
The President had received the following requests for appointments from the ALDE and GUE/NGL Groups:
REGI Committee: Younous Omarjee
PETI Committee: Nikolaos Chountis to replace Bairbre de Brún
Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly: Younous Omarjee
Delegation for relations with Israel: Alexandra Thein to replace Michael Theurer
Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries: Alexandra Thein to replace Andrea Zanoni
The appointments would be deemed ratified if there were no objections before the approval of these minutes.
8. Composition of political groups
Tadeusz Cymański, Jacek Olgierd Kurski, Jacek Włosowicz and Zbigniew Ziobro had joined the EFD Group with effect from 29 December 2011.
9. Signature of acts adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure
The President announced that, together with the President of the Council, he had that day signed the following act adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 74):
- Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (Recast) (00061/2011/LEX - C7-0013/2012 - 2010/0258(COD))
10. Delegated acts (Rule 87a)
The following delegated acts had been forwarded to Parliament:
- Commission delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. of 21.12.2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 1569/2007 establishing a mechanism for the determination of equivalence of accounting standards applied by third country issuers of securities pursuant to Directives 2003/71/EC and 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council- (C(2011)9585) - deadline: 21.3.2012 committee responsible: ECON asked for an opinion: JURI
- Commission delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. of 21.12.2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 809/2004 implementing Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards elements related to prospectuses and advertisements - (C(2011)9591) - deadline: 21.3.2012 committee responsible: ECON asked for an opinion: JURI
- Commission delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. of 6.1.2012 amending Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 510/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the data source and the data parameters to be reported by Member States - (C(2011)9986) - deadline: 6.3.2012 committee responsible: ENVI asked for an opinion: ITRE
- Commission delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. of 16.1.2012 supplementing Directive 2010/31/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the energy performance of buildings (recast) by establishing a comparative methodology framework for calculating cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements for buildings and building elements - (C(2011)10050) - deadline: 16.3.2012 committee responsible: ITRE
11. Implementing measures (Rule 88)
The following draft implementing measures falling under the regulatory procedure with scrutiny had been forwarded to Parliament:
- Commission Regulation (EU) No …/.. amending Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 as regards emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 6) (D016983/03 - 2012/2507(RPS) - deadline: 11/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI opinion: IMCO
- Commission Regulation (EU) No …/.. of XXX amending Regulation (EC) No 692/2008, as regards type-approval requirements for motor vehicles fuelled by hydrogen and mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas with respect to emissions, and the inclusion of specific information regarding vehicles fitted with an electric power train in the information document for the purpose of EC type-approval (D016995/01 - 2012/2508(RPS) - deadline: 11/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI opinion: IMCO
- Commission Regulation (EU) No …/.. of XXX amending Annexes I and IX , replacing Annex VIII to Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a framework for the approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles (Framework Directive), and amending Annexes I and XII to Commission Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 implementing and amending Regulation (EC) Nº 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on type-approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information (D017002/01 - 2012/2510(RPS) - deadline: 12/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI opinion: IMCO
- Commission Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 62/2006 concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the telematic applications for freight subsystem of the trans-European conventional rail system (D017247/02 - 2012/2503(RPS) - deadline: 05/04/2012) referred to responsible: TRAN
- Commission Directive ../…/EU of XXX amending Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council to include methyl nonyl ketone as an active substance in Annex I thereto (D017345/02 - 2012/2518(RPS) - deadline: 12/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI
- Commission Decision concerning the non-inclusion of dichlorvos for product type 18 in Annex I, IA or IB to Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market (D017594/01 - 2012/2514(RPS) - deadline: 12/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI
- Commission Decision concerning the non-inclusion of naled for product type 18 in Annex I, IA or IB to Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market (D017613/01 - 2012/2515(RPS) - deadline: 12/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI
- Commission Directive ../…/EU of XXX amending Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council to include hydrochloric acid as an active substance in Annex I thereto (D017615/02 - 2012/2516(RPS) - deadline: 12/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI
- Commission Directive ../…/EU of XXX amending Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council to include margosa extract as an active substance in Annex I thereto (D017619/02 - 2012/2517(RPS) - deadline: 12/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI
- Commission Decision on the second set of common safety targets as regards the rail system (D017639/02 - 2012/2504(RPS) - deadline: 10/04/2012) referred to responsible: TRAN
- Draft Commission Regulation (EU) No .../.. laying down, pursuant to Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, detailed rules regarding the calculation of recycling efficiencies of the recycling processes of waste batteries and accumulators (Text with EEA relevance) (D017728/01 - 2012/2502(RPS) - deadline: 05/04/2012) referred to responsible: ENVI
12. Documents received
The following documents had been received from Members: motion for a resolution (Rule 120)
- Sergio Paolo Francesco Silvestris. Motion for a resolution on the protection of the historical, economic, productive and cultural heritage of sheep tracks in the Mediterranean (B7-0002/2012)
referred to
responsible:
CULT
opinion:
TRAN
13. Conclusions of the European Council meeting (8-9 December 2011) (motions for resolutions tabled)
Council and Commission statements: Conclusions of the European Council meeting (8-9 December 2011)
Motions for resolutions to wind up the debate tabled under Rule 110(2):
- Manfred Weber, Corien Wortmann-Kool, Elmar Brok and Marietta Giannakou, on behalf of the PPE Group, on the European Council of 8-9 December 2011 (B7-0003/2012);
- Roberto Gualtieri, Stephen Hughes, Enrique Guerrero Salom and Udo Bullmann, on behalf of the S&D Group, on the European Council of 8-9 December 2011 (B7-0004/2012);
- Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, on the European Council of 8-9 December 2011 (B7-0005/2012);
- Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the ALDE Group, on the European Council of 8-9 December 2011 (B7-0011/2012);
- Søren Bo Søndergaard, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Miguel Portas, Marisa Matias, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, Paul Murphy, Cornelis de Jong, Willy Meyer, Patrick Le Hyaric, Mikael Gustafsson, Nikolaos Chountis, Marie-Christine Vergiat and Ilda Figueiredo, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, on the conclusions of the European Council meeting (8-9 December 2011) on a draft international agreement on a Fiscal Stability Union (B7-0012/2012).
The political groups gave their views before the vote.
The following spoke: Elmar Brok, on behalf of the PPE Group, Roberto Gualtieri, on behalf of the S&D Group, Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Martin Callanan, on behalf of the ECR Group, Søren Bo Søndergaard, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Nigel Farage, on behalf of the EFD Group, and Andreas Mölzer, Non-attached Member.
The following spoke: José Manuel Barroso (President of the Commission).
Elmar Brok, to move an oral amendment to paragraph 4, which was accepted.
17. Explanations of vote
Written explanations of vote:
Explanations of vote submitted in writing under Rule 170 appear in the Verbatim Report of Proceedings for the sitting.
18. Corrections to votes and voting intentions
Corrections to votes and voting intentions appear on the 'Séance en direct' website under 'Votes'/'Results of votes'/'Roll-call votes'. They are published in hard copy in the Result of roll-call votes annex.
The electronic version on Europarl will be regularly updated for a maximum of two weeks after the day of the vote concerned.
After the two-week deadline has passed, the list of corrections to votes and voting intentions will be finalised so that it can be translated and published in the Official Journal.
Piotr Borys said his voting machine had not worked during the vote on the joint motion for a resolution joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0003/2012.
IN THE CHAIR: Gianni PITTELLA Vice-President
19. Election of the Quaestors of the European Parliament
The President announced there were seven candidates.
As the number of candidates exceeded the number of seats to be filled, the President proposed electing the Quaestors by secret ballot in accordance with Rule 16.
The President said that Vladko Todorov Panayotov was replacing Doris Pack as a teller.
The vote was held.
(The sitting was suspended at 13.30 for the count and resumed at 15.00.)
IN THE CHAIR: Martin SCHULZ President
20. Election of the Quaestors of the European Parliament (continued)
The President read out the results of the first ballot.
- Members voting: 684
- Blank or void: 15
- Votes cast: 669
- Absolute majority: 335
Votes were cast as follows in descending order:
- Astrid Lulling 297 votes
- Jim Higgins 284 votes
- Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg 237 votes
- Jiří Maštálka 232 votes
- Bogusław Liberadzki 222 votes
- Bill Newton Dunn 177 votes
- Francesco Enrico Speroni 106 votes
The President said that no candidate had obtained an absolute majority and a second ballot was thus necessary.
The President said that no candidate had withdrawn.
He proposed an electronic vote should be held. Parliament approved the proposal.
The President set out the voting procedure.
A secret ballot was held using the electronic voting system.
The President read out the results of the second ballot.
- Members voting: 606
- Blank or void: 13
- Votes cast: 593
- Absolute majority: 297
Votes were cast as follows in descending order:
- Astrid Lulling 280 votes
- Jim Higgins 263 votes
- Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg 234 votes
- Jiří Maštálka 226 votes
- Bogusław Liberadzki 209 votes
- Bill Newton Dunn 170 votes
- Francesco Enrico Speroni 114 votes
The President said that no candidate had obtained an absolute majority and a third ballot was thus necessary.
The President said that no candidate had withdrawn.
A secret ballot was held using the electronic voting system.
The President read out the results of the third ballot.
- Members voting: 613
- Blank or void: 13
- Votes cast: 600
- Absolute majority: 301
Votes were cast as follows in descending order:
- Astrid Lulling 273 votes
- Jim Higgins 254 votes
- Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg 235 votes
- Bogusław Liberadzki 216 votes
- Jiří Maštálka 207 votes
- Bill Newton Dunn 182 votes
- Francesco Enrico Speroni 104 votes
(The list of those voting is annexed to the minutes: Annex 2 to the Minutes of 18 January 2012)
Astrid Lulling, Jim Higgins, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Bogusław Liberadzki and Jiří Maštálka were declared elected Quaestors of the European Parliament..
In accordance with Rule 15(2) and Rule 16, the Quaestors take precedence in the order in which they were elected.
° ° ° °
The composition of the new Bureau would be notified to the Presidents of the institutions of the European Union.
21. Recent political developments in Hungary (debate)
Council and Commission statements: Recent political developments in Hungary
Nicolai Wammen (President-in-Office of the Council) and José Manuel Barroso (President of the Commission) made the statements.
The following spoke: Viktor Orbán (Prime Minister of Hungary).
The following spoke: Joseph Daul, on behalf of the PPE Group, Hannes Swoboda, on behalf of the S&D Group, who also replied to a blue-card question by Joseph Daul, Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the ALDE Group, who also replied to a blue-card question by Bernd Posselt, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, who also replied to a blue-card question by Mario Mauro, Lajos Bokros, on behalf of the ECR Group, Marie-Christine Vergiat, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Zbigniew Ziobro, on behalf of the ECR Group, Krisztina Morvai, Non-attached Member, József Szájer, Csaba Sándor Tabajdi and Renate Weber.
IN THE CHAIR: Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ Vice-President
The following spoke: Judith Sargentini, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, Jacek Olgierd Kurski, Philip Claeys, Manfred Weber, who also replied to a blue-card question by Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, József Szájer who made a personal statement in response to Manfred Weber, Juan Fernando López Aguilar who also replied to a blue-card question by Alexander Alvaro, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff and Ulrike Lunacek who also replied to two blue-card questions by János Áder and Peter van Dalen.
IN THE CHAIR: Martin SCHULZ President
The following spoke: Mario Borghezio who also replied to a blue-card question by Sonia Alfano, Simon Busuttil, Kinga Göncz, Sophia in 't Veld, Jaroslav Paška, Vytautas Landsbergis, Tanja Fajon, Louis Michel, Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, Sylvie Guillaume, Mario Mauro, Anna Hedh, Mário David, Birgit Sippel, Krzysztof Lisek, Britta Thomsen, Kinga Gál, Ivailo Kalfin, Giuseppe Gargani, Corina Creţu, Michael Gahler, Iliana Malinova Iotova, Frank Engel, Victor Boştinaru, András Gyürk, Pino Arlacchi and Kyriacos Triantaphyllides.
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Cornelia Ernst, Sergio Paolo Francesco Silvestris, Charles Goerens, Boris Zala, Rui Tavares, Mirosław Piotrowski and Carlo Casini.
The following spoke: Viviane Reding (Vice-President of the Commission), Nicolai Wammen and Viktor Orbán.
The following spoke: Hannes Swoboda, on behalf of the S&D Group, who also replied to a blue-card question by Manfred Weber, Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, and Marie-Christine Vergiat, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group.
IN THE CHAIR: Gianni PITTELLA Vice-President
After a short statement by the President, the following spoke: Joseph Daul on behalf of the PPE Group, and Oreste Rossi on the conduct of the debate.
The motions for resolutions to be tabled under Rule 110(2) would be announced in the House at a later time.
The debate closed.
Vote: next part-session.
22. Follow-up to the Durban climate change conference (debate)
Commission statement: Follow-up to the Durban climate change conference
Connie Hedegaard (Member of the Commission) made the statement.
The following spoke: Karl-Heinz Florenz, on behalf of the PPE Group, Jo Leinen, on behalf of the S&D Group, Corinne Lepage, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Bas Eickhout, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Marina Yannakoudakis, on behalf of the ECR Group, João Ferreira, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Francisco Sosa Wagner, Non-attached Member, Richard Seeber, Dan Jørgensen, Graham Watson, Satu Hassi, Konrad Szymański, Zbigniew Ziobro, Nick Griffin, Elisabetta Gardini, Kriton Arsenis, Yannick Jadot, Angelika Werthmann, Romana Jordan, Åsa Westlund, Maria Da Graça Carvalho and Seán Kelly.
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Miroslav Mikolášik.
IN THE CHAIR: Edward McMILLAN-SCOTT Vice-President
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Silvia-Adriana Ţicău, Riikka Manner, Oreste Rossi, Franz Obermayr and Eija-Riitta Korhola.
The following spoke: Connie Hedegaard.
The debate closed.
23. Waste electrical and electronic equipment ***II (debate)
Recommendation for second reading on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (Recast) [07906/2/2011 - C7-0250/2011- 2008/0241(COD)] - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Rapporteur: Karl-Heinz Florenz (A7-0334/2011)
Karl-Heinz Florenz introduced the recommendation for second reading.
The following spoke: Janez Potočnik (Member of the Commission).
The following spoke: Richard Seeber, on behalf of the PPE Group, Kathleen Van Brempt, on behalf of the S&D Group, Vladko Todorov Panayotov, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Michail Tremopoulos, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Julie Girling, on behalf of the ECR Group, Sabine Wils, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, Oreste Rossi, on behalf of the EFD Group, Elisabetta Gardini, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Peter Liese, Judith A. Merkies, Jolanta Emilia Hibner and Sophie Auconie.
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Miroslav Mikolášik.
IN THE CHAIR: Anni PODIMATA Vice-President
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Silvia-Adriana Ţicău, Catherine Bearder, Bogusław Sonik, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy and Åsa Westlund.
The following spoke: Janez Potočnik and Karl-Heinz Florenz.
24. Placing on the market and use of biocidal products ***II (debate)
Recommendation for second reading on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products [05032/2/2011 - C7-0251/2011- 2009/0076(COD)] - Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Rapporteur: Christa Klaß (A7-0336/2011)
Christa Klaß introduced the recommendation for second reading.
The following spoke: Janez Potočnik (Member of the Commission).
The following spoke: Richard Seeber, on behalf of the PPE Group, Dan Jørgensen, on behalf of the S&D Group, Frédérique Ries, on behalf of the ALDE Group, Michèle Rivasi, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group, Julie Girling, on behalf of the ECR Group, Horst Schnellhardt, Åsa Westlund, Miroslav Ouzký, Amalia Sartori, Mario Pirillo and Struan Stevenson.
The following spoke under the 'catch-the-eye' procedure: Miroslav Mikolášik and Jaroslav Paška.
25. Appointments to committees (the Conference of Presidents' proposals)
The President said the Conference of Presidents' proposals on appointments to committees would be communicated to Members electronically and also published on Parliament's website.
The definitive list would be published as an annex to the following day's minutes.
Deadline for tabling amendments: Thursday 19 January 2012 at 10.00.
Vote: Thursday 19 January 2012 at 12 noon.
26. Agenda of the next sitting
The agenda of the next day's sitting had been established ('Agenda' PE 477.709/OJJE).