That’s the debate with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar finished – MEPs are now taking their seats for today’s voting session.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Responding to the debate so far, Leo Varadkar tells MEPs: "Ireland is not a tax haven, we don't want to be be a tax haven".

He says his country's "low" corporation tax rate is not the lowest in the EU, with Bulgaria's and Hungary's both lower.

"If this is a race to the bottom, it's not one that Ireland is going to win".

Even the United States, he says, has "a lot of competition" in tax matters between its different states, he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

The DUP's Diane Dodds says the EU's relations with the UK after Brexit should be characterised by "close links and co-operation".

She says she agrees for the need to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland following the UK's exit.

However, she says Northern Ireland would "suffer" if "barriers were erected" inside the internal market of the United Kingdom.

Mr Varadkar should recognise that this would not be in the interests of the Republic either, she adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage accuses Leo Varadkar of being part of an effort to "frustrate" and "overturn" the Brexit result.

The Irish PM, he says, has put his "devotion to the European project" above "the interests of Irish farmers and other companies".

To some objections in the chamber, he says the Good Friday Agreement had "little or nothing" to do with the EU.

Given "political sensitivities", he adds, Ireland should be offered a trade deal with the UK even if the EU fails to do so.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Danish social democrat Jeppe Kofod says the EU needs to address how to build a "fair" Europe.

He calls for the EU to adopt a "common rulebook" for corporation tax.

Guy Verhofstadt, who leads the Liberal group of MEPs, says the EU needs to "transform and reinvent" itself, rather than "destroy" itself.

He says this should include replacing the EU's Dublin rules, more transnational democracy and a separate eurozone budget.

Mr Verhofstadt, who is also the Parliament's chief Brexit spokesman, says the EU will "always be behind" Ireland during the Brexit talks, adding:

European Parliament
Strasbourg

German Christian democrat MEP Manfred Weber, who leads the centre-right EPP group, gives his support for the idea of a "European Netflix" to promote Europe's culture.

Such a project could "bring all our cultural heritage" into "one digital form", he says.

It would be a good idea if access to such a service were free for everyone, he adds.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker thanks Mr Varadkar for his speech, calling him a "committed European".

The EU should now set out how it is to "develop over the years to come" before the next European Parliament elections in spring 2019, he says.

Promising an "honest" debate about the future of the EU budget, he says that if governments want to see more EU-wide projects then they should "put their money where there mouths are".

However he adds that there are areas where the EU brings "too little added value" and should "withdraw".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

The Irish PM tells MEPs of the need for European countries to "stick together" given their declining share of the world's population.

In global terms, he says, the EU will be a "union of small nations".

He pledges his support for a pan-EU constituency for the European Parliament, something that has been mooted as an idea for replacing British MEPs after Brexit.

He also says the Spitzenkandidaten process - where the candidate from the EU's biggest political group becomes head of the European Commission - should be made permanent.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Mr Varadkar continues that the interim agreement on Brexit reached last month should allow the common travel area to be maintained.

What has been "promised in theory" must now be "delivered in practice".

There should be no "backsliding", he adds.

On money matters, he says that Ireland is "open to contributing more" into the EU budget, as long as the money is spent wisely.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar tells MEPs that the EU is now at a "decisive point" in its history.

He says it is "hard to imagine" the Good Friday Agreement being reached without Ireland and the UK having shared membership of the the EU's single market.

He repeats that there "cannot be a return" to a hard Irish border, and thanks the EU for its "remarkable" support on this matter in Brexit negotiations so far.

It shows, he says, why smaller nations "benefit so much from membership of this union".

That’s the debate on Bulgaria’s six-month EU presidency finished. MEPs will shortly be joined by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

The European Parliament has said this will be the “first of a series” of debates with EU leaders on the future of Europe.

Last month Mr Varadkar welcomed an interim deal on the first stage of Brexit talks, having demanded guarantees that there will be no physical border in Ireland.

He said such a possibility would have to be “taken off the table” before Ireland agreed to move the talks onto the next stage.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

The Brexit aside continues, as Brexit-backing Conservative MEP Syed Kammall tells President Juncker that he should not take responsibility for the UK's decision to leave.

Yesterday, a German MEP in Mr Kammall's political group asked Mr Juncker if he wanted to go down in history as "the man who lost Britain".

However, Mr Kammall says the blame should lie with the political class in the UK, which "has never been honest about the political dimension of the EU".

European Parliament
Strasbourg

In a slight diversion from the topic of debate, Mr Juncker revisits Donald Tusk's comments yesterday that the EU's "heart is still open" to the UK if it decides to stay.

He repeats his belief that Brexit is a "catastrophe" and a "lose-lose situation" for the UK and EU, although he says the proposal was greeted with a "rather irritated" response in London.

If the British people decide to stay in the EU, he adds, "they should be allowed to do so".

He says that he would even be "happy to facilitate" allowing the UK to rejoin the EU after Brexit under the relevant section of the EU's treaties, adding:

European Parliament
Strasbourg

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says that he will always remember the "honour" of signing Bulgaria's accession treaty in 2005.

The occasion, he adds, saw "Europe's history and geography reconciled".

Bulgaria is "well prepared" for its stint in the EU presidency, he adds, and the country has already shown that it can "build bridges".

Bulgaria can help Western Balkans countries with the "difficult accession process", he tells MEPs.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Mr Borissov calls for the EU to "normalise" its relations with Russia, which he says is an important near neighbour for the bloc.

He calls for assistance with this ambition, noting it is "not within the scope of what we can achieve" through the EU presidency alone.

European Parliament
Strasbourg

Boyko Borissov tells MEPs his country will prioritise young people and relations with Western Balkans countries, and well as improving their "connectivity" with the EU.

He also says Bulgaria will look to prioritise efforts to boost the digital economy, including by improving skills.

On the issue of migration, he pledges to use "all diplomatic tools" to resolve differences of opinion between EU states on reallocating asylum seekers.

He says that the EU should show Western Balkan countries that their "European prospect is open", predicting that they will "eventually be invited to join" the EU.

"We have a huge opportunity to help the Western Balkans", he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Hello and welcome to coverage of this European Parliament plenary sitting in Strasbourg.

First up this morning MEPs will be joined by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to debate Bulgaria’s priorities for its forthcoming stint in charge of the EU presidency.

The Western Balkans country will chair meetings of the EU’s Council of Ministers over the next six months, having taken over from Estonia.

This will be the first time the country – which joined the EU in 2007 – will take charge of the rotating presidency post.