A plenary session of the European Parliament that was moved to Brussels from Strasbourg due to the situation with COVID-19, will last just one day, with only three items on the agenda, European Parliament President David Sassoli announced on Monday.

Opening the plenary session on Monday afternoon, Sassoli said that due to the situation with coronavirus the session would be reduced to just one day, Tuesday, and with only three items on the agenda – the latest developments regarding COVID-19, the migrant crisis and the EU’s long- term budget.

During an extraordinary meeting today, the presidency decided to change the agenda, Sassoli said at the start of the plenary session which was concluded quickly.

Last week Sassoli decided to move the plenary session that was to have been held in Strasbourg, to be held in Brussels instead.

Sassoli said then said that the decision was made based on “an updated report from the European Parliament’s Medical Service on the evolution of COVID-19 which states that the health risks are considered to be significantly higher if Parliament’s plenary session next week takes place in Strasbourg.”

Now Sassoli has decided that the session, which was to have lasted from Monday to Thursday, will last just one day.

The European Parliament last week limited access to visitors and several events were cancelled to reduce the chance of infection to a minimum.

The European Parliament is the most frequented of all EU institutions. Apart from the 705 EP members, there are their assistants, administration staff, lobbyists and visitors, so several thousand people pass through the European Parliament building a day.