European Parliament
Sumberg (PPE-DE ).
– Mr President, on the point made by my friend Mr Tannock, concerning the failure to have a proper debate on the proposed resolution on the Palestinian Authority's spending of EU funds, this is not a question of legality. I am sure the Rules were complied with. I have no quarrel with that.
What does concern me is the political aspect. 170 Members of this House simply asked for a debate and a small group of people decided, in a closed session, that there would be no debate. If we are democrats and believe this Parliament has meaning, then we should allow debate to flourish. That was a mistake and it is a bad signal to send, not just to Members but to the wider public, who now know that, despite the force for that resolution, a small group of people denied them the right to be heard. That was an error of judgement, and not of legality.

