European Parliament

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Always have been curious about the European Parliament? This Saturday you have the chance to visit it during the open day of the European institutions in Brussels. You have the opportunity to take part in competitions, debates and cultural activities as well as find out how the institution that represents you operates.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The internet is meant to give you unlimited access to knowledge, yet when you are shopping online, you could be prevented from purchasing a product or service because of where you live. The European Commission has proposed new rules to make an end to the unjustified use of the practice known as geo-blocking as well as ways to create a genuine digital single market in Europe. MEPs debated the plans in plenary on 25 May.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plans for stricter monitoring and certification procedures to ensure that medical devices such as breast or hip implants comply fully with safety and traceability requirements were informally agreed by MEPs and the Dutch Presidency of the Council on Wednesday. MEPs also secured tighter information and ethical requirements for diagnostic medical devices, e.g. those used for pregnancy or DNA testing.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Consumers should be given more power in the energy market, say MEPs in a resolution on a "new energy deal for energy consumers", voted on Thursday. They recommend collective buying, household power generation, better price comparison tools for all and making it easier to switch energy providers and tariffs. In a non-binding text, intended as an input to Energy Union legislation to be tabled by the EU Commission, MEPs also call for EU funds for energy efficiency to focus on energy poverty.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU Commission should set up a taskforce to monitor virtual currencies, like Bitcoin, to prevent their being used to launder money or finance terrorism, said Parliament in a non-binding resolution voted on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU Commission should go on negotiating with the USA to remedy “deficiencies” in proposed “Privacy Shield” protection for EU citizens’ data transferred to the US for commercial purposes, Parliament says in a non-legislative resolution passed on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Parliament approved aid on Thursday worth €6,468,000 for 557 redundant workers from the “Larissa” supermarket in Greece and €5,146,800 for 2,132 former drivers for the road haulage and delivery firm MoryGlobal SAS in France. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid will still need to be approved by the Council of Ministers on 6 June.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The EU must quickly take further measures to stabilize milk prices and bring relief to struggling dairy farmers, urged MEPs in Thursday's plenary debate with Commissioner Phil Hogan and Dutch deputy farm minister Hans Hoogeveen. These measures should include an EU-wide lid on milk production to boost prices, a more efficient intervention system, to enable the EU to react more swiftly, and balancing the supply chain to enable farmers to earn fair returns, they said.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : As milk prices have collapsed across the EU and show no signs of recovering any time soon, MEPs will quiz Commissioner Phil Hogan on measures to alleviate pressure on dairy farmers and stabilize their incomes in a debate on Thursday, starting at 8.30. Factors blamed for the crisis include the Russian ban on imports from the EU, the end of milk quotas in 2015 and a drop in global demand.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : New initiatives to allow consumers and companies to buy and sell products and services online more easily across the EU were welcomed by most MEPs in a debate with Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, on Wednesday. Parliament will co-decide on equal footing with the EU Council of Ministers on the Digital Single Market legislative proposals.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands addressed Parliament in Brussels in a formal sitting on Wednesday for the first time since his accession to the throne in April 2013. Speaking of identity and solidarity, the King said he belonged to the first generation of Europeans in history to enjoy the good fortune of peace and expressed the hope future generations would have this opportunity too: “It’s all too easy to take peace for granted.“

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : President Schulz paid tribute to Marco Pannella, who died on 19 May. He remembered Mr Pannella, a long-serving Italian MEP with whom he worked for many years, as a passionate defender of human rights, pacifism and pluralism, a staunch opponent of the death penalty, an advocate of prisoners’ rights, LGBT rights, and an early proponent of equality between men and women.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : In recent years currencies such as Bitcoin have emerged that are not issued by banks but exist in the digital world only, relying on public and shared databases to have balances and transactions verified. The EU should set up a task force to monitor developments in this area and prepare to step in with regulations if necessary, according to a report to be debated by MEPs on 25 May and voted on the following day. We spoke to report authorJakob von Weizsäcker, a German member of the S&D group.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought embodies Parliament's support for human rights. Throughout the year the Sakharov Prize network of former laureates meets to highlight issues. On 23 and 24 May nine former Sakharov laureates met in Brussels to discuss, among others, how to adapt to the challenges facing human rights defenders in the digital era.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Every day 315 million Europeans use the internet, but challenges still remain for consumers and companies alike. The European Commission presented its strategy for a digital single market in 2015. In addition Parliament and the Council agreed to ban roaming fees in 2017 and guarantee equal treatment for all internet traffic. On 25 May MEPs debate new Commission proposals to further boost e-commerce in plenary. Read our digital glossary to get up to date with the terminology ahead of the debate.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

The European Commission's proposal for an EU anti-tax avoidance directive was welcomed by Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in a resolution voted on Tuesday. MEPs nonetheless advocated stricter limits on deductions for interest payments and an effective corporate tax rate of 15%.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Data on your online activities - from social media to shopping - is regularly sold to American advertisers. Strong data protection standards are in place in the EU to protect your privacy, but this is not the case in the US. The EU is now negotiating a new agreement with the US called Privacy Shield to safeguard your data. MEPs debate whether this deal will offer enough protection in plenary on Wednesday 25 May. Read on for an explanation of the issues involved.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP