The European Parliament published President Roberta Metsola’s opening remarks for the 19–22 January plenary session, combining political statements with a set of agenda and procedural updates. Alongside comments on Bulgaria adopting the euro on 1 January and broader foreign policy issues, the opening set out how Parliament will handle several Ukraine financing-related files under an urgent procedure. The agenda was adjusted by retitling Tuesday’s debate on Greenland to focus on “the need for a united EU response to US blackmail attempts”, while the vote on the report on EU–US political relations was postponed to a future part-session. Metsola also announced three requests for urgent procedure under Rule 170(6) concerning enhanced cooperation to establish a loan for Ukraine, a regulation implementing enhanced cooperation on the Ukraine Support Loan for 2026 and 2027, and amendments to Regulation 2024/792 establishing the Ukraine Facility; requests to waive the parliamentary immunity of Borys Budka, Afroditi Latinopoulou and Klára Dobrev were referred to the Legal Affairs Committee. A procedural vote on the urgent-procedure requests is scheduled for Tuesday. If adopted, the first proposal would be put to a substantive vote on Wednesday, while the other two regulation proposals would be voted at a future part-session.
European Parliament 2026-01-19
European Parliament puts Ukraine Support Loan proposals on an urgent-procedure vote and notes Bulgaria’s euro adoption at the January plenary opening
The European Parliament's plenary session, led by President Roberta Metsola, addressed Bulgaria's euro adoption and Ukraine financing under urgent procedure, with procedural votes scheduled for Tuesday. The agenda included retitling a debate on Greenland to focus on EU-US relations and postponing a vote on EU-US political relations, alongside requests for urgent procedure on Ukraine-related financial regulations.