European Parliament

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : Talks with Turkey on dealing with the refugee crisis should not be linked to the country’s efforts to join the EU, warned Martin Schulz. The EP President addressed European heads of state and government at the start of the EU summit on 17-18 March dedicated to the migration crisis and economic priorities. “Turkey won’t get any discounts on media freedom and minority protection, the separation of powers or the rule of law,” he said, calling them “non-negotiable issues”.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The conflict in Syria, which started five years ago this month, has led to the world's largest humanitarian disaster since World War II. Last month two groups of MEPs visited Turkey to see for themselves the living conditions of some of the 2.5 million Syrian refugees there. They were led by EP Vice-President Sylvie Guillaume and budgets committee chair Jean Arthuis. In a chat with EP's Facebook followers this week the two MEPs spoke of the importance of solidarity in tackling the influx.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

General : The European Parliament will once again mark "Earth Hour" by switching off lights in all its buildings on Saturday 19 March from 20.30h to 21.30h. "Earth Hour" is a global environmental initiative, begun in Sydney in 2007, to raise awareness of the need to act to fight climate change.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Congratulations to Christian Brothers College, Sidney Hill, Wellington Road, Cork who are this year's Irish national winners of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

The new “Privacy Shield” framework on EU-US transfers of personal data by private firms, which is to replace the former "Safe Harbour" one, will be debated by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs in a hearing on Thursday afternoon. Austrian citizen Max Schrems, whose court case against facebook led to Safe Harbour's downfall, the US lead negotiator, the EU Data Protection Supervisor, representatives from the Article 29 Working Party, the European Commission and others will all be quizzed on the deal.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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)

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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)

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP