Debate during the plenary session of July in Strasbourg on the review of the Dutch Presidency. Statement by Mark RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, Esther de LANGE (EPP, NL), Paul TANG (S&amp;D, NL), Syed KAMALL (ECR, UK), Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), Dennis de JONG (GUE/NGL, NL), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE) and Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

VERHOFSTADT, Guy (Renew, BE)

Brexit (T)

Strasbourg

debate

TIMMERMANS, Frans (NL, EC)

LAMBERTS, Philippe (Greens/EFA, BE)

TANG, Paul (S&D, NL)

KAMALL, Syed (ECR, UK)

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

RUTTE, Mark

DE LANGE, Esther (EPP, NL)

de JONG, Dennis (GUE/NGL, NL)

Dutch Presidency of the EU (T)

Review of the Dutch Presidency: extracts from the debate

Mark RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, greets MEPs and group leaders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mark RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, Clearly, Brexit has created a shockwave, and we don't yet know exactly what the consequences will be. We are in uncharted territory. And we must be honest: even if we find the perfect way to handle this 'divorce', our problems won't simply melt away. It's not only British voters who have doubts about European cooperation. In other member states, too - including the Netherlands - there is widespread criticism and euroscepticism. And we need to address it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mark RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, It's in everyone's interests to know as soon as possible - as soon as is responsible - how we will move forward. This will demand our full attention in the coming period.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mark RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, I've seen for myself how cooperation produces results that individual member states could never achieve by themselves. The most obvious example is of course the EU's agreement with Turkey on managing the flow of refugees from Syria. A lot has been said and written about it in the past few months. And in all honesty, is the agreement ideal in every respect? No. But was it sorely needed? Absolutely. And it was a deal we could only reach jointly. Because only by acting in concert could we break the criminal business model of the people smugglers.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mark RUTTE, Dutch Prime Minister, I firmly believe that the worst possible response to Brexit would be for 'Brussels' and the European capitals to continue with business as usual. This would show complete disregard for the reality in the member states. I also believe it would be wrong to rush blindly forward towards more political integration and a more 'federal' Europe. Because that too would be a denial of the sentiment felt by many European people, to whom the EU is - or has become - something remote and aloof.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Esther de LANGE (EPP, NL), The Turkey deal can buy time but what we have to dodo is to make sure that we put our own house in order before we point the finger at Turkey. We really do need a true migration and asylum policy and we need to implement decisions more quickly when we take them.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Paul TANG (S&amp;D, NL), The pragmatism of this Presidency has let us see that the EU is more than just a single market, more than a candy shop, and that's what we need to show.

SOUNDBITE (English), Syed KAMALL (ECR, UK), Six months ago the main challenge of this Presidency was the migration and refugee crisis, and while we can't say that this crisis is over we can say that it is more under control than in January.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), My final wish is that you Mr Prime Minister, you will defend Europe back in The Netherlands and that you won't leave everything to the populists and nationalists like Wilders so The Netherlands would become a country that would have not let Spinoza in.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Dennis de JONG (GUE/NGL, NL), Mark you were small in the big issues and you were too fixated on the market and what we need is a broader perspective, so that people who need care will get care, people who need education will get education. Brussels need to make room so that we can create a better future, we have enough of a market.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), I am disappointed because when at the beginning of your Presidency you said you had priorities, I think that those priorities were The Netherlands, The Netherlands and The Netherlands. Building support takes time of course but I am really worried about the future of the EU if this is the kind of leadership we get.

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, There is one thing we see after the British referendum: it is that people do not believe that they cannot get control of their lives back again within the EU that's why some chose to say: 'ok, this isn't working, let's try something else'. Is that 'something else going to work? remains to be seen. But our task as Europeans is to prove that we can deliver the results for people that want to remain optimistic about their position, about their children's future, about their grandchildren's future. That should be our task, that is where the three institutions should be working together very closely indeed.