European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders will visit Nicosia on 1-2 December ahead of the upcoming Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union. EP leaders will meet with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Nikos Christodoulides, and with members of the Council of Ministers at the Presidential Palace.

They will also hold discussions with the President of the House of Representatives, Ms Annita Demetriou, and with the leaders/representatives of the political parties in parliament.

On 1 January 2026, Cyprus assumes the Presidency of the Council of the EU, taking on a central role in shaping the direction of the Union. In preparation for this task, Nicosia will welcome the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents – President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders – to discuss priorities for the six-month Presidency with government officials and members of the House of Representatives.

Cypriot 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

Parliament will debate on Tuesday 25 November, and vote on Wednesday, a report calling for accelerating the enforcement of the EU&nbsp;Digital Services Act&nbsp;and the&nbsp;AI Act, while closing legal gaps to ensure online services are safe for minors to use. Sounding the alarm over the mental health risks and rising social media addiction among children and adolescents, MEPs want to ban the most harmful addictive practices for minors and for the EU to take action against persuasive technologies and practices such as targeted ads, influencer marketing, addictive design, loot boxes and dark patterns. The text proposes a common EU-wide minimum age threshold of 16 years for accessing social media platforms and the development of privacy preserving age assurance systems.

The rights of the child are part of human rights: rights that the EU and its Member States must respect, protect and fulfil. The Treaty on European Union establishes the objective for the EU to promote protection of the rights of the child. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU guarantees the protection of the rights of the child by the EU institutions and by EU countries when they implement EU law. Over the years the European Parliament has been instrumental in pushing children's rights to the core of European policies, particularly through its Intergroup on Children's Rights.

fight against child sex crimes (T)

rights of the child (T)

children's rights (T)

international child abduction (T)

Children’s rights

The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) takes part four times a year in a monetary dialogue with Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) to report on monetary policy and answer question from MEPs.&nbsp;Although guaranteed independence under the Treaty, the ECB is accountable for its actions towards the European Parliament, and more precisely the ECON Committee. The European Central Bank is the central institution of the Economic and Monetary Union and has been responsible for conducting monetary policy for the euro area since 1 January 1999 The ECB and the national central banks of all EU Member States constitute the European System of Central Banks.

monetary dialogue with the ECB (T)

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

LAGARDE, Christine (FR)

9th parliamentary term

Monetary dialogue

The EU is debating its own protection against the&nbsp;incursions into European airspace,&nbsp;following the&nbsp;incidents in which Russian drones and aircraft violated&nbsp;European countries&nbsp;airspace in recent months. It also comes after drones of unidentified origin caused disturbances at and around civilian airports and military bases in Denmark – events that the Danish authorities have referred to as “concerted hybrid attacks”.

​​​At a critical time for Ukraine and European security, the EU is committed to becoming more responsible for its own defence and better equipped to act and deal autonomously with immediate and future challenges and threats, including Russia’s war and its repercussions on European security, which constitute an existential challenge for the EU.

The common security and defence policy (CSDP) is an integral part of the EU’s common foreign and security policy (CFSP). The CSDP is the main policy framework through which Member States can develop a European strategic culture of security and defence, address conflicts and crises together, protect the Union and its citizens, and strengthen international peace and security. As a result of the tense geopolitical context, the CSDP has been one of the fastest developing policies over the last 10 years.

European security and defence

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

Infoclips (T)

Infoclips - Illustrative footage

On 24 February Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Shortly before&nbsp;Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized&nbsp;two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine&nbsp; as independent.&nbsp;The Conference of Presidents of the EP condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. "Ukraine is an independent and sovereign nation and its territorial integrity is non-negotiable. The invasion is unjustified and illegal. It is a threat to European and regional stability, as well as to the rules-based world order. The attack targets our model of democratic society. It cannot go unanswered, " says declaration of the COP.

"The Russian invasion into Ukraine is part of President Putin’s destabilisation agenda. It is a path that will bring the Kremlin in direct confrontation with Europe and the rule-based world-order. It is a path that pits authoritarianism against democracy. It is a path that we cannot allow him to walk unchallenged," said EP President Roberta Metsola.

European Union leaders met for a special European Council in Brussels on 24 February&nbsp;and adopted a set of sanctions related to the the financial sector, the energy and transport sectors,dual-use goods, exports, Russian individuals etc.&nbsp;

Ukraine is a priority partner for the European Union (EU). The EU supports Ukraine in ensuring a stable, prosperous and democratic future for its citizens and is unwavering in its support for Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Association Agreement (AA), including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) signed in 2014, is the main tool for bringing Ukraine and the EU closer together. Since 2014, the EU and the Financial Institutions have mobilised more than €15 billion in grants and loans to support the reform process in the country, with strong conditionality on continued progress.

As a result of the cooperation with Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada in the field of democracy support, European Parliament launched on 11 March the website “<a href="https://ukraine.europarl.europa.eu/en/home.html" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">The EU stands with Ukraine</a>” (in English and Ukrainian) provides the latest news, videos and podcasts, relevant legislation and resolutions to show how the EU is helping Ukraine. Content from the Ukrainian Parliament could also be shared on the site. Actively supporting EU efforts to promote democracy and human rights in the world is one of Parliament's core responsibilities.

EU - Ukraine

MEPs elected Roberta Metsola (EPP, MT) on January 2022 as President of the European Parliament until 2024.

Roberta Metsola won the election in the first voting round, where she received an absolute majority of 458 votes out of 690 cast in the remote secret vote, among three candidates.&nbsp;

President Metsola is leading the Parliament in the second half of the current legislative term, until a new Parliament is constituted following the 2024 European Elections.

Born in Malta in 1979,&nbsp; Roberta Metsola who has been an MEP since 2013, is the youngest EP President ever elected. She became First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January 2022.

She is the third female President of the European Parliament, after Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999- 2002).

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament 2022-2024

On 24 February 2022,&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;began a&nbsp;military invasion&nbsp;of Ukraine, in a major escalation of the conflict that had begun in 2014. Shortly before, on 21 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.&nbsp;

Since then, the EU and its international allies have rallied firmly behind the Kyiv government. This support has resulted in unprecedented levels of financial aid, assistance, weapons deliveries to Ukraine, sweeping sanctions against Moscow, and the granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova.

On 1&nbsp;March&nbsp;the European Parliament held an extraordinary plenary session in Brussels to assess Russia’s military assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky&nbsp;and the Speaker of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada (parliament) Ruslan Stefanchuk spoke live from Kiev.&nbsp;The European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was in Kyiv on 1 April&nbsp;to express the European Union´s support of&nbsp;the Ukrainian people and to condemn the Russian attack. On&nbsp;8 June&nbsp;Stefanchuk adressed Parliament in the Strasbourg hemicycle.

Following the atrocities carried out by Vladimir Putin’s regime against Ukrainian civilians, the European Parliament has&nbsp;recognised Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism in a resolution on November 2022.

On 9th February 2023, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy&nbsp;addressed the European Parliament during an extraordinary plenary session in Brussels.

Russian aggression against Ukraine

Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia, the two journalists, imprisoned in Belarus and Georgia, are the laureates of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, to be awarded by Parliament on 16 December.

Announcing the laureates in the hemicycle on Wednesday, EP President Roberta Metsola said: "By awarding this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia, we honour two journalists whose courage shines as a beacon for all who refuse to be silenced. Both have paid a heavy price for speaking truth to power, becoming symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy. The Parliament stands with them, and with all those who continue to demand freedom.”

The other two finalists were: Journalists and Humanitarian Aid Workers in Palestine and all conflict zones, represented by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the Red Crescent, and UNRWA; Serbian students. 
 
The award ceremony for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which includes an allocation of 50,000 euros, will take place on Tuesday 16 December 2025 in Strasbourg.

Awarded for the first time in 1988 to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work. It gives recognition to individuals, groups and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to protecting freedom of thought. Through the prize and its associated network the EU assists laureates, who are supported and empowered in their efforts to defend their causes.

Sakharov Prize 2025

EU member states are responsible for organising and delivering health services and medical care. The EU’s role in health policy is therefore complementary to national policies.

EU policies and actions in public health aim to: protect and improve the health of EU citizens, support the modernisation of health infrastructure,improve the efficiency of Europe's health systems,strengthen preparedness and response measures to cross-border health threats.

In the field of health the EU adopts laws and recommendations to protect people, covering for example health products and patients' rights.

Coordination on public health issues is a necessary consequence of the free movement of people and goods in the internal market. EU cooperation in public health issues serves to tackle common health challenges resulting for example from antimicrobial resistance, preventable chronic diseases and an aging population.

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