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EP president calls for solidarity against extremist groups in final plenary

Xinhua, December 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

European Parliament President Martin Schulz, in what will be the last time he presides over a full plenary in Strasbourg, opened the session on Monday with a call for unity and shared values in the fight against extremist organizations.

Citing devastating attacks in the weekend that struck Turkey, Egypt and Somalia, Schulz underlined that such attacks affect Europeans as much as Africans or Americans, and they target at the innocent.

"Whether they are called Daesh or al-Shabaab or other terrorist organizations, they are fighting around the world against tolerance, against solidarity, against friendship and against humanity," the European Parliament president declared. "They want to spread fear and they want to intimidate us."

"The answer to this terrorism must be that we stick to our values," insisted Schulz, while admitting the challenge. "With every attack, with every bomb attack, it gets more and more difficult. But if we give up on the values that we stand by, then the terrorists will have won."

The final plenary session in 2016 for the European Parliament, and Schulz's last time as its president before a new leader is elected to the body on Jan. 17, 2017, will try to tackle several difficult challenges currently facing the European Union (EU).

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) are expected to support a resolution on Tuesday that will urge EU member states to stop inciting hatred of migrants and refugees.

On Thursday, the MEPs will vote on new "emergency brake" rules for reimposing EU entry visas in cases where irregular migration spikes following a visa waiver agreement with a third country.

The parliamentarians will also come under self-scrutiny, voting Tuesday on the overhaul of the European Parliament's rules of procedure, specifically seeking to increase the transparency of MEPs' work and make a stricter code of conduct.

In particular, the MEPs would be required to made more detailed declarations of financial interests.

Monday night will see a debate on new railway legislation aiming to boost rail travel in Europe, with a vote following on Wednesday.

The parliament will hold a debate on the "clean energy" package on Tuesday. The package is an ensemble of legislative proposals aimed at providing clean energy for all European citizens. Endit