European Parliament

General : The terrorist attacks in Paris last November have led to the European Commission proposing updated rules to prevent guns ending up in the wrong hands. However, could these new rules have unintended consequences? The internal market committee debated the proposals and their possible impact with experts during a hearing on Tuesday 15 March.

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To dissuade refugees from putting their lives at risk by entrusting them to people smugglers, EU consulates and embassies should be allowed to issue humanitarian visas to persons seeking international protection, said Civil Liberties Committee MEPs voting on an update of the EU Visa Code on Wednesday. These visas would enable holders to enter the country issuing the visa in order to apply for asylum.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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Google, Apple, Inter-IKEA Group and McDonald's would welcome more clarity and certainty about their tax liabilities in the EU, but they are concerned about the administrative compliance costs and reluctant to see tax data being made public. So said their representatives at a public hearing, held by Parliament's Special Committee on Tax Rulings II on Tuesday, to elicit their views on recent and upcoming proposed legislation on corporate tax.
Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)

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The failure to date of the EU asylum system to cope with ever-rising numbers of migrant arrivals calls for a radical overhaul of the so-called Dublin rules, said Civil Liberties Committee MEPs on Wednesday. They propose establishing a central system for collecting and allocating asylum applications. The scheme, which could include a quota for each EU member state, would work on the basis of “hotspots” from which refugees would be distributed.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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EU-Turkey cooperation on migration should be uncoupled from the EU accession negotiating process, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in a repor voted on Tuesday. MEP praise Turkey for hosting the largest refugee population in the world, and note that it remains a "key strategic partner for the EU" but nonetheless call for progress on rule of law and fundamental values and "a more structured and frequent political dialogue on key thematic issues".
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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General : Interested in the refugee crisis? Then join our Facebook chat with Parliament Vice-President Sylvie Guillaume and budgets committee chair Jean Arthuis on Wednesday 16 March from 14.00 CET. The two MEPs led delegations to Turkey in February where they visited refugee camps and met political leaders and representatives from NGOs. Find out their findings and ask them about their views during our chat.

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Stocktaking debates on progress in EU trade talks with two major partners – Canada and the USA – were discussed in the International Trade Committee on Monday afternoon. The recently updated investment rules in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) deal with Canada and latest developments on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), with the US, including the follow-up to Parliament’s requests, were the key topics of debate.
Committee on International Trade

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Parliament"s special committee on tax rulings discusses tax measures with representatives from multinationals and various tax authorities on Monday 14 March and Tuesday 15 March. Participants include Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and the Channel Islands as well as Apple, Google, IKEA and McDonald's. MEPs have the opportunity to question them, especially regarding the latest developments in the area of corporate taxation.
Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE 2)

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General : While heads of state and governments will try to work out the details of the EU-Turkey migration deal during the European summit in Brussels on 17-18 March, parliamentary committees will also be dealing with migration issues. MEPs vote on proposals for relocation schemes for refugees and EU humanitarian visa and also asses the human rights situation in Turkey. Meanwhile the tax rulings committee discusses tax measures with representatives from multinationals.

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Committee meetings, Brussels

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Plenary sessions : MEPs debated the proposed EU-Turkey deal to manage the refugee crisis as well as the way in which European countries have been handling the issue during this week's plenary session in Strasbourg. Women refugees and how to support them better was debated on Tuesday to mark International Women's Day 2016. Read our story for more on this and the other plenary issues debated and voted on by MEPs.

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Plenary sessions : The European Commission and the European Supervisory Authorities should conduct an in-depth assessment of the effect of increasing capital requirements in current and future legislation on credit supply, especially to small and medium sized companies, Parliament says in a resolution on the state of the Banking Union which was adopted on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : To fight the growing resistance of bacteria to today’s antibiotics, the use of existing antimicrobial drugs should be restricted, and new ones should be developed, said the European Parliament on Thursday. In a vote on draft plans to update an EU law on veterinary medicines, MEPs advocate banning collective and preventive antibiotic treatment of animals, and back measures to stimulate research into new medicines.

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Plenary sessions : If the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia can break its current political stalemate, hold free and fair elections soon and put its reforms back on track, then there should be no further obstacles to starting EU accession talks with it, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. In a separate resolution, they welcome Montenegro’s steady progress towards EU accession.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament condemns the deteriorating climate for the media and free speech in Kazakhstan, the torture and assassination under suspicious circumstances of EU citizen Giulio Regeni in Egypt, and the worsening security and human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in three resolutions voted on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs voted emergency measures into law on Thursday to help Tunisia’s economy by importing 70,000 tonnes of its virgin olive oil duty free in 2016/17, after adding safeguards for EU olive oil producers. These include a mid-term assessment of the effects of the measures, updating them if they turn out to be harmful, and ensuring that the imports are tracked from start to finish.

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Plenary sessions : Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni was investigating trade unions in Egypt when he went missing on 25 January 2016. His body, bearing signs of torture, was discovered nine days later in Cairo. Media and human rights activists suspect Egyptian security forces may have been involved, which the Egyptian authorities deny. On 10 March MEPs debated the case and adopted a resolution as part of their regular efforts to call attention to flagrant human rights violations around the world.

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Plenary sessions : Europe has made significant steps towards creating a banking union, but the work is far from finished. Italian S&D member Roberto Gualtieri, who drafted a report on the progress made last year, said a single deposit guarantee scheme was still needed ahead. MEPs debate his report and then vote on it on 10 March. Watch our video interview with Gualtieri to find out his views on how to improve the banking union.

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The European Parliament Ambassador Schools programme aims to raise awareness amongst young people in secondary education of the impact of the European Union in their daily lives. It offers an engaging and interactive format, training material for various levels, and is free of charge. On 15 January, secondary school teachers from all over Ireland came to the Parliament’s Information office in Dublin for the first ever Ambassador School Workshop.

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Plenary session in Strasbourg

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