The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, announced on Thursday 15 October that the plenary session starting on 19 October will not take place in Strasbourg, but will be held as “remotely” as far away as possible from the venue.
“The situation in France and Belgium is very serious and travelling is not advised”, he said on Twitter, promising to do his utmost to allow a return to Strasbourg, the seat of the European institution. “Until yesterday evening (Wednesday) I was convinced that it was possible”, but “the situation has become more serious” than in March, he explained in the afternoon after his speech at the European Council.
Only MEPs who are already in Brussels will be able to speak in the Brussels Chamber. Others will be able to take part in the debates remotely, notably from Parliamentary offices in the Member States.
The decision to hold the plenary session remotely as far as is practicable was taken in agreement with the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament political groups and on the basis of a report from the medical service of the European institution in conjunction with information received from the Belgian and French authorities.
Earlier in the week, Mr Sassoli had already requested that 80% of the European Parliament's work be carried out remotely.
On the contrary, in the opinion of the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, the city of Strasbourg “is able to host the European Parliament sessions”, since the “health situation is serious everywhere in Europe”.
The Covid-19 pandemic second wave features on the agenda of the European Summit, which started its work on Thursday (see EUROPE 12581/2).
Anne Sander (EPP, France) called for emergency aid to be given to businesses in Strasbourg whose activities depend on European Parliament plenary sessions and who “have been without income since March”.
Her compatriot from the Renew Europe group, Christophe Grudler, called for the plenary to be held entirely remotely in order to avoid face-to-face working in Brussels, where the incidence rate exceeds 840 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. He also said that 40 cases of infections have been recorded at the European Parliament. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)