EU Parliament: today’s debate featuring Question Time on von der Leyen’s Commission two years on. War, pandemic, Next Generation EU also on the agenda.

(Strasbourg) Today, the European Parliament is expected to evaluate what has been achieved in the past two years by the current Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen since it assumed office on 1 December 2019. The debate will take the form of a Question Time, that is, a question and answer session, “in order to make the discussion more engaging”, the Parliament’s press office said in a statement. This and other new features will be tested during the April, May and June 2022 plenary sessions, and will then be evaluated by Parliament’s Conference of Presidents. The plenary has indeed resumed in-person meetings, no longer in a hybrid format (online and in-person).
The new features are the result of a revision process initiated by late President David Sassoli.
“This Question Time gives MEPs the possibility to question the Commission on specific topical issues decided upon by the Conference of Presidents and communicated to the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell”. Each MEP will have one minute to ask their question, followed by an answer of up to two minutes and a possible follow-up question, no longer than 30 seconds, and a second answer by the Commissioner of up to two minutes.
Other key topics expected to be discussed include the response to the pandemic and to the war in Ukraine, Next Generation EU, as well as the digital issue and climate change.
MEPs will then question the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
Valentina Bombelli