President Metsola led MEPs in a minute of silence to remember the victims of the shootings in Serbia, at the opening of the 8-11 May session in Strasbourg.

The perpetrators of these indiscriminate attacks must be brought to justice, said the President, extending sincere condolences to the families and friends of all the victims on behalf of Parliament.

As the situation in Iran becomes more difficult, more MEPs are being sanctioned by the Iranian regime, said the President, stating that no threats, no sanctions and no attempt at intimidation will ever silence Parliament. With a Swedish-Iranian national in Iran executed last weekend, all hostages, including Professor Ahmad Reza Djalali, must be immediately and unconditionally released, she said.

Last week, on World Press Freedom Day, Parliament launched its third edition of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism to reward outstanding journalism in defence of the EU’s core values. The prize takes on even more significance this year, said the President, as Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich remains detained in Russia. Parliament reiterates its call for his safe release; journalists must be able to do their job without fearing for their lives or their freedom, she added.

Changes to the agenda

Tuesday

Parliament will vote on a request for urgent procedure pursuant to Rule 163, on the Act in support of ammunition production. If adopted, the draft report will be put to the vote during the May II plenary session.

Wednesday

Council and Commission statements on the Impact of the interest rate increase decided by the ECB on households and workers are added as the last point in the afternoon.

Information concerning the distribution of votes is available under the section Priority information.

Outgoing MEPs

Nikos Androulakis (S&D, Greece) as of 2 May 2023

Incoming MEPs

Nikos Papandreou (S&D, Greece) as of 3 May 2023

Request by several committees to start negotiations with Council and Commission

Decisions by committees to enter into inter-institutional negotiations (Rule 71) are published on the plenary website.

If no request for a vote in Parliament on the decision to enter into negotiations is made by Tuesday 12.00 midnight, the committees may start negotiations.