Hungary holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from the 1st of July to 31st of December 2024.&nbsp;Priorities of the Hungarian&nbsp;presidency include: new European Competitiveness Deal ,The reinforcement of European defence policy ,&nbsp;&nbsp;a&nbsp;consistent and merit-based enlargement policy ,&nbsp;stemming illegal migration, shaping the future of cohesion policy, a&nbsp;farmer-oriented EU agricultural policy, addressing demographic challenges.

&nbsp;Make Europe Great Again”&nbsp;will be the motto of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which refers to both an active and proactive Presidency and to the fact that member states are stronger together than apart. It also symbolises the perception that Europe can become an independent global player.

The Rubik’s cube, the main element of the Hungarian presidency logo, refers to Hungarian ingenuity and problem-solving skills, as well as the complexity of European affairs.

Hungarian Presidency

In July 2024&nbsp; MEPs re-elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) as President of the European Parliament until 2027, with 562 votes in the first round. Roberta Metsola won the election in the first round of voting, where she received an absolute majority of 562 votes cast out of 699 by secret paper ballot, among two candidates. She will continue to lead Parliament for the first two and a half years of the 10th legislative term.

Born in Malta in 1979, Roberta Metsola has been an MEP since 2013.&nbsp;She was elected First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January 2022. On 18 January 2022,&nbsp;she was elected President&nbsp;for the second half of the 9th legislative term. She is the third female President of the European Parliament, after&nbsp;Simone Veil&nbsp;(1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002).

Addressing the House after she was elected, President Metsola said: “Together, we must stand up for the politics of hope, for the dream that is Europe. I want people to recapture a sense of belief and enthusiasm for our project. A belief to make our shared space safer, fairer, more just and more equal. A belief that together we are stronger and we are better. A belief that ours is a Europe for all.”

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament 2024-2027

The leader of Venezuela’s democratic forces and the opposition candidate in the July presidential elections will receive the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola announced the winners of the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in the chamber, following the meeting of the Conference of Presidents, which took the decision.

President Metsola said: “The 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded to María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia for their brave fight to restore freedom and democracy in Venezuela. In their quest for a fair, free and peaceful transition of power, they have fearlessly upheld values that millions of Venezuelans and the European Parliament hold so dear: justice, democracy and the rule of law. The European Parliament stands with the people of Venezuela and with María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia in their struggle for the democratic future of their country. This award is for them.”

The award ceremony for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought will take place on 18 December in Strasbourg, during Parliament’s plenary session

Sakharov Prize 2024

Ever since Russia launched an illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24&nbsp;February 2022, the EU and the Parliament have supported the country by condemning Russia’s aggression, sanctioning those responsible and providing financial and material aid. Parliament has also been supportive of Ukraine’s efforts to become an EU candidate country and has been calling on EU countries to launch accession talks.&nbsp;

The European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was in Kyiv on 1 April 2022 to express the European Union´s support to the Ukrainian people and to condemn the unjustified Russian attack.&nbsp; On 9 February 2023, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the European Parliament during an extraordinary plenary session in Brussels.

In Joint Statement&nbsp;the Presidents of the European Union Institutions on the occasion of the 2 year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine&nbsp; declared: "The European Union will continue its strong and unwavering political, military, financial, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian support to help Ukraine defend itself, protect its people, its cities and its critical infrastructure, restore its territorial integrity, bring back the thousands of deported children, and bring the war to an end. The European Union has decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and will help it on its path towards EU membership. The future of Ukraine lies in the European Union. The European Union will continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support. The 50 billion euro financial assistance package for 2024-2027 will help Ukraine meet its immediate needs, rebuild its economy and society, modernise its institutions and consolidate democracy and the rule of law."

The&nbsp; new EP reconfirmed in July 2024&nbsp; its view that the EU must continue to support Kyiv for as long as it takes until victory. The resolution, which sets out the newly-elected European Parliament’s first official position on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, restates the continued support of MEPs for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. It calls on the EU to maintain and extend its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus, monitor and review its effectiveness and impact, and systematically tackle the issue of sanctions circumvention by EU-based companies, third parties, and third countries.

Solidarity with Ukraine

During October plenary &nbsp;Parliament will assessed the escalating violence in the Middle East and the latest developments in Lebanon. with EU foreign policy chief Borrell.&nbsp;MEPs debated also with the Commission the anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,200 Israelis on 7 October 2023 and triggered the current war in Gaza and wider Middle East destabilisation.

While around 100 Israeli hostages remain unaccounted for, the numbers of victims in Gaza rises every day, and the war is escalating as Israel has begun ground attacks on Hezbollah inside Lebanon. In retaliation for Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah and on Hamas in Gaza, Iran has fired ballistic missiles on Israel.

The EU remains fully committed to efforts to avert a regional war, according to High Representative Borrell. Furthermore, he called on the EU to pledge to prevent Lebanon’s state institutions from collapsing, to look for a political response to the conflict and has urged for a global alliance to implement the two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. MEPs adopted a number of resolutions in the last 12 months, calling for an&nbsp;immediate and permanent ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 as a result of Israel’s response to the attack by Hamas.

EU - Israel (T)

Situation in the Middle East (T)

Situation in Israel and Gaza

Have a look at stockshots (from 2021 onwards) with illustrative pre-edited broadcast quality video footage. These editable stockshots are clean (raw), with natural sound (no voice-over), produced to illustrate priority EU dossiers and parliamentary work. They are intended to help audiovisual media produce their own programs, for example, editing of news reports or documentaries.

Stockshots are clean (raw), with natural sound (no voice-over), pre-edited videos

9th parliamentary term

Infoclips (T)

Infoclips - Illustrative footage

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight of the European Central Bank, and the international financial system. It is currently chaired by Irene Tinagli.

ECON - Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

The constitutive meetings of the European Parliament's standing committees and subcommittees take place in Brussels on 10 July 2019, following the appointment of their members in the plenary sitting of 3-4 July. During the meetings, each committee and subcommittee will elect its respective bureau, made up of a Chair and Vice-Chairs, for a two-and-a-half year mandate. The newly set up committees will then start holding their regular meetings during the week of 22 July.

JURI - Committee on Legal Affairs

Valdis Dombrovskis, born on 5 August 1971 in Riga, is a Latvian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009.

Since he is already a member of the Commission, Mr Dombrovskis only has to answer questions on whether he is suitable for the portfolio assigned to him. He has been responsible for trade matters since the resignation of Phil Hogan.

Mr Dombrovskis will be heard by the International Trade Committee. The Committees on Foreign Affairs, on Economic and Monetary Affairs, on Development and on Budgets will be invited to participate and can ask one oral question each.

Hearing of Valdis DOMBROVSKIS, Executive Vice-President-designate, Trade

&nbsp;The hearings of Commissioners-designate started&nbsp;on 4 November and take place until 12 November.&nbsp;

The European Parliament invites Commissioners-designate to appear before the appropriate committees for hearings in order to scrutinise if they are suitable for the posts they have been assigned to.&nbsp; Ahead of the hearings, Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs scrutinised&nbsp;the declarations of interests of the Commissioners-designate.&nbsp;

The hearings are&nbsp;followed by meetings in which the committee chair and group representatives (coordinators) of the various committees&nbsp;assess whether a Commissioner-designate is qualified both to be a member of the College and to carry out the particular duties they have been assigned.

Once all hearings are completed, the Conference of Committee Chairs will assess the outcome of the confirmation hearings and forward its conclusions to the Conference of Presidents. The latter will conduct the final evaluation and decide whether to close the hearings. After the hearings have been concluded, Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen will present the full College of Commissioners and its programme in plenary.

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