President of the European Parliament
Roberta METSOLA
PHS 09B011
60, rue Wiertz
B-1047 Brussels
Brussels, 15/09/2025
Clarification on Minutes of Silence
Respected President Metsola,
Dear Roberta,
I am writing to request clarification regarding the rules and procedures governing the approval or rejection of proposals for holding minutes of silence in the chamber.
Last week in Strasbourg, several colleagues submitted a request to observe a minute of silence in honour of the murdered Charlie Kirk. The request was not authorised.
While I fully respect your decision, I would appreciate understanding the criteria upon which it was based. I would also like to know whether such decisions are made solely at your discretion or in consultation with the Conference of Presidents.
As a Member of the Non-Attached, neither the Secretariat nor I have been informed of the procedures or the objective criteria used to assess such requests. This lack of transparency often leaves non-attached Members at a disadvantage, as we do not have the same structural support as political groups.
Considering this, I kindly ask you to clarify the following:
1. What objective criteria are applied when considering requests for a minute of silence?
2. Who is responsible for making these decisions? Are they made solely at your discretion, or in consultation with other bodies such as the Conference of Presidents?
3. Would you consider sharing the reasoning behind such decisions with all Members, including non-attached Members, to ensure transparency and equal access to information?
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
MEP Dr. Friedrich PÜRNER