Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), MEPs face a busy week with everything from asylum to EU-China relations on the agenda.
On Tuesday members will first, though, debate and adopt their position on the Media Freedom Act, which aims to protect media from interference and make them more transparent and independent.
Parliament will additionally debate and vote on its position on the reform of the EU’s long-term budget, with MEPs arguing for an EU budget capable of tackling contemporary challenges and overlapping crises.
On Tuesday afternoon, MEPs will question the Commission about trade relations with China, following President von der Leyen’s announcement of a new anti-subsidy probe.
Also on Tuesday, MEPs hold a final vote on a new trade tool that seeks to enable the EU to respond with countermeasures if it or a member state experiences economic blackmail by a non-EU country.
On the same day, Parliament will debate the dire situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, following Azerbaijan’s recent military seizure of the mountainous South Caucasus enclave. A resolution will be put to a vote.
Parliament will be discussing the critical situation in Nagorno-Karabakh on the same day. This comes after Azerbaijan’s recent military takeover of the mountainous South Caucasus region. There will be a vote on a resolution.
The following day, in the context of continued arrivals of refugees and migrants to the EU by sea, the parliamentary plenary will discuss the need for a speedy adoption of a comprehensive European pact on asylum and migration.
Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola will also make a statement marking one year since the tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa.
Petr Pavel, President of the Czech Republic, will address MEPs in a formal sitting later on Wednesday and President Metsola will have a bilateral meeting before his speech.
Also on Wednesday, MEPs will also debate with Council and Commission the proposal to extend the authorization to use glyphosate in the EU for ten more years.
On Thursday, the Budgets and Foreign Affairs committees will vote on the creation of a dedicated facility of up to €50 billion for 2024 to 2027 to support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernization.
Also taking place this week, the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and contributing committees will hold hearings with Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner-designate for Climate Action, and with Maroš Šefčovič after he was assigned the role of Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal.
A plenary vote is provisionally scheduled for Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Civil Liberties and Gender Equality committees will adopt their position on a draft bill aiming to crack down on human trafficking, while increasing sanctions and enhancing victims’ protection and Roberta Metsola will meet Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (Monday) and Italian Minister for European Affairs Raffaele Fitto (Tuesday). She will then travel to Granada (Spain) to participate in the European Political Community Summit (Thursday) and the informal European Council meeting (Friday). On Saturday, she will be in Swieqi (Malta), where she will be presented with the ‘Ġieħ is-Swieqi’ award.
