European Parliament (News)

Plenary sessions : Rules to protect EU banana growers against any surge in imports from Ecuador after its accession to the EU-Colombia/Peru trade deal were approved by MEPs on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

Plenary sessions : The need to stabilise the internal situation in Libya and to preserve the EU values, including human rights, were the recurring points raised by MEPs in a Wednesday afternoon debate with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on growing migratory pressure in the central Mediterranean.

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Plenary sessions : “Accelerating the modernisation of Europe’s entire economy, making it low carbon and efficient in energy and resources” are key aims of Energy Union legislation, said Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič in Wednesday’s plenary debate.

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Plenary sessions : Political group leaders reacted on Wednesday to President Donald Trump’s recent signing of an executive order banning nationals of seven countries from entering US territory. Most MEPs described the travel restrictions as arbitrary and defying the core values of western democracies, such as freedom, non-discrimination and solidarity.

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Plenary sessions : President Tajani announced that a statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on “travel restrictions following US President executive orders” would be added as the first item on Wednesday, followed by a debate. A debate on migration along the Central Mediterranean route was added on Wednesday and a debate on democracy and justice in Romania was added as the first item on Thursday.

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Plenary sessions : Ahead of the informal European Council meeting of 3 February, MEPs will debate the current growing migratory pressure in the central Mediterranean with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday afternoon at around 17.00, following the addition of this item to the plenary agenda.

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Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on wholesale price caps on Tuesday evening. Caps are significantly lower than those proposed by the Commission. Wholesale price caps define how much telecoms operators can charge each other for using their networks to carry cross-border “roaming” calls.
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

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Plenary sessions : Parliament’s political group leaders will react to the executive order signed last Friday by US President Donald Trump to ban the nationals of seven countries from entering the US, with immediate effect. They will first hear a statement by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the consequences of these travel restrictions.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : Euroscola - 09/02/2017 (AM)

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

As the geopolitical importance of the Arctic region is growing, with climate change effects and competition for natural resources bringing new environmental and security risks for the region and for the world, the EU should speak with one voice and push to keep the Arctic an area of cooperation, says a resolution adopted by the Foreign Affairs and Environment committees on Tuesday.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

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The US administration’s ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority states entering the country could "seriously undermine current global efforts towards a fair international sharing of responsibilities for refugees", said Development and Foreign Affairs MEPs in a joint resolution voted on Tuesday.
Committee on Development
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

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Albania needs to implement EU-related reforms credibly, and ensure that its June parliamentary elections are free and fair, if it is to start EU accession negotiations, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. In a separate resolution, they also urged Bosnia and Herzegovina to overcome its ethnic and political divisions and remain united throughout the EU membership application evaluation process, to prove that it is a functioning state.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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To protect adopted children’s best interests, MEPs want the EU Commission to require all EU countries to recognise each other’s adoption certificates automatically. Their draft resolution proposes a European Certificate of Adoption to speed up automatic recognition process. The debate and vote will take place on Thursday.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : Antonio Tajani made his first official visit to Italy as president of the European Parliament on 27-30 January. During the visit Tajani met Italian president Sergio Mattarella, prime minister Paolo Gentiloni,foreign minister Angelino Alfano and Pietro Grasso and Laura Boldrini, the presidents of the chambers of the Italian parliament . While visiting a soup kitchen in Rome Tajani said: “Our Europe is the Europe of citizens”.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : Young people who make a difference deserve recognition. That is why the European Parliament and the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation award the Charlemagne Youth Prize every year. If you are between 16 and 30 years old and run a project with a European dimension, do not hesitate to apply for our competition. The winning projects will benefit from recognition and media coverage as well as prize money to further develop the initiative. You now have until 20 February to register.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : Securing green energy and the US travel ban will be dealt with during this week's plenary session. Parliamentary committees also look at how to improve access to medicine and how to better protect the Arctic. In addition MEPs meet their national counterparts to discuss how to stimulate the economy and ensure everyone will benefit from it.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : Although investment has picked up and the economy has created new jobs, not everybody is yet sharing equally in the benefits of growth. During the annual European Parliamentary Week in Brussels from 30 January to 1 February, MEPs meet their counterparts from the member states and other high-level policy makers to debate how to boost growth and employment and increase fairness.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

National MPs from across Europe will join MEPs in Brussels next week to debate the European Semester Cycle 2017 (Monday), Stability, Economic Coordination and Governance in the European Union (Tuesday) and national growth and jobs creation and financial assistance programmes (Wednesday). The events are part of the 2017 edition of the European Parliamentary Week (#EPW17).
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Budgets

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The priorities of the Maltese Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers are being outlined to parliamentary committees by Maltese ministers at a series of meetings taking place in January.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
Committee on Transport and Tourism
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee on Regional Development
Committee on Culture and Education
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on Development
Committee on Legal Affairs
Committee on International Trade
Committee on Foreign Affairs

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The provisional deal with the Council on the updated EU firearms directive was endorsed by Parliament’s Internal Market Committee on Thursday by 25 votes to nine, with two abstentions. The revised law tightens the controls on blank firing and inadequately deactivated weapons like those used in the Paris terror attacks. It also requires EU countries to have a monitoring system in place for the issuance or renewal of licences and to exchange information with one another.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP