European Parliament

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.

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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”.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Plenary session and committee meetings, Brussels

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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

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The provisional deal on the revision of the EU firearms directive, which sets out the conditions under which private persons may lawfully acquire and possess guns or transfer them to another EU country, was backed by the Internal Market Committee on 26 January 2017. The vote by the full Parliament is expected to take place in March.

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EU member states should encourage rabbit farmers to phase out conventional battery cages and replace them with healthier but affordable alternatives, such as park or pen farming systems, says the Agriculture Committee in a resolution voted on Wednesday. MEPs argue that improving rabbits’ welfare and living conditions would help prevent disease, thus reducing the need for intensive use of antibiotics that might end up in the human food chain.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

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General : To honour the upcoming International Holocaust Remembrance Day, MEPs held a ceremony in the Parliament on Wednesday together with representatives from Jewish communities in Europe and other dignitaries. Referring to the Holocaust as "the worst tragedy in European history", Parliament President Antonio Tajani said: “Remembering is not only an act of commemoration. It is a crucial process if we want to avoid repeating the same errors.”

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The EU’s development policy needs new impetus to tackle new climate change, migration and security challenges, Development Committee MEPs say in a resolution voted on Wednesday.
Committee on Development

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The share of waste to be recycled should be raised to 70% by 2030, from 44% today, while landfilling, which has a big environmental impact, should be limited to 5%, said Environment Committee MEPs on Tuesday, as they amended the draft EU “waste package” legislation. They also advocate a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

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General : To mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January), the European Parliament and the European Jewish Congress will hold a ceremony on Wednesday. EP President Antonio Tajani and European Jewish Congress President Dr Moshe Kantor will deliver the opening speeches.

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General : Ceta, the EU-Canada trade deal, was approved by the international trade committee on 24 January. The agreement, which would remove tariffs on most traded goods and services, will be put to a final vote by all MEPs next month. Speaking in a Facebook Live interview, Artis Pabriks, the MEP responsible for steering the deal through Parliament, said: “The prime motivation is to ensure more wealth from trade. Ceta is a really good example of how good trade deals should be made.”

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The EU Commission should table a plan in 2017 to cut delays in EU-funded projects that aim to reduce disparities among EU regions by stimulating growth and job creation, say Regional Development Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Tuesday.
Committee on Regional Development

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The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which aims to boost goods and services trade and investment flows, was approved by the International Trade Committee on Tuesday. The full House is to vote on the deal in February.
Committee on International Trade

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General : Parliament’s environment committee votes on Tuesday 24 January to amend a European Commission proposal on waste management, the so-called waste package, which is a priority for the EU for this year. In previous resolutions Parliament has called for more ambitious targets. This vote is the first step towards entering negotiations with the Commission and Council.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP