Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, gives an introductory remark commemorating the last plenary of the mandate during the plenary session in Strasbourg. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

president's agenda

Resumption of session and order of business: Introductory remark by Roberta METSOLA, EP President commemorating the last plenary of the mandate

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Also, dear colleagues, as this is the last plenary session before the European Parliament elections in June, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your tireless work over the past five years. It has been a challenging, but this Parliament has delivered. Over the last years, we have navigated our way out of COVID restrictions, we have led the European debate that has made people's lives a little bit easier, a little bit safer and , a little bit secure.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We have passed groundbreaking legislation on Artificial Intelligence, on Migration, on Asylum, on Climate, on creating jobs and safeguarding European industry and agriculture, on a new attack on digital services and digital markets. We have passed huge files on equality. Still, some left this week and reinforced the social pillar. We have doubled down on making this Union a super power of rights everywhere. We have faced the invasion of Ukraine, decoupled from Russia and created a new energy and health priorities. We have stood up for humanity in the Middle East and around the world. We have given new life into our mandate to promote parliamentary diplomacy and freedom.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We have listened. We have learnt. We have burst through the Brussels and Strasbourg bubbles to engage with and reach out to people across Member States. We have worked hard to ensure that this House is more efficient, more effective and fit for purpose. We have made it more open and more independent. We have negotiated and balanced budgets. We have ensured that this is a place of work that people feel proud and feel safe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We have done all of this together. We have debated. We have acted and we have delivered for people. For that, I want to thank all of you, all your staff and all the parliament services. I am so proud to be here. I am so proud of the work we have done. And I hope you feel I have repaid your trust and faith in me. I also want to pay tribute to the legacy of my predecessor, President David Sassoli. He gave so much for this Parliament and for Europe, and I hope he would be proud of us too.