Strasbourg, 08/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - At the opening of the plenary session, on Monday in Strasbourg, Vice-President Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos (EPP, Greece), who chaired the session instead of Pat Cox, paid tribute to the victims of the Nanterre (France) tragedy and to the municipal town councillor of Orio who was a victim of terrorism in the Basque Country. The EP decided by 219 votes to 2 and 2 abstentions to introduce a debate on the situation in the Middle East on Tuesday afternoon, towards 17h00, with Javier Solana and Chris Patten. The declarations by Messrs Lamy and Nielson on the EU-ACP economic partnerships and the question time at the Commission have been done away with. EPP-ED Group President Hans-Gert Pöttering sought to put off the vote on a resolution on the Middle East until Thursday but was not followed by the plenary which took a stance in favour of a vote on Wednesday (121 to 113 and 1 abstention).