European Parliament

General : Yazidi survivors and public advocates Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar were announced as this year's Sakharov Prize laureates during this week's plenary session in Strasbourg. In addition MEPs called on the European Commission to regulate harmful trans fats in processed food. They also adopted Parliament's position on the EU's budget for next year, insisting on more funds to boost growth, tackle the migration crisis and help to find young people work. Read on for an overview.

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Plenary sessions : The EU needs a better coordinated policy on volunteering, to give volunteers a proper legal status and help them join programmes, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. Almost 100 million EU citizens have taken part as volunteers in education, culture or arts, sport events, humanitarian and development aid work. Young people should take advantage of volunteering schemes to develop skills and acquire experience that helps them to find jobs afterwards, stresses the text.

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Plenary sessions : Worsening relations between nuclear-armed states, such as Russia and the US or India and Pakistan, but also Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons or to deploy them to more territories in Europe, are making the EU’s security environment ever more tense, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. They call on these states to reduce nuclear weapons, move them away from deployment into storage and to diminish their role in military doctrines.

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General : Yazidi survivors and public advocates Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar are this year's joint laureates of the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, following a decision by Parliament President Martin Schulz and the political group leaders on 27 October. The Sakharov award ceremony will be held in Strasbourg on 14 December.

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Plenary sessions : "Release journalists being held without compelling evidence of criminal activity", MEPs urge the Turkish authorities in a resolution voted on Thursday. Since the failed coup d’état on 15 July, the Turkish government has arrested at least 99 journalists and writers, revoked the press credentials of at least 330 journalists, and closed the offices of more than 100 media outlets, leaving over 2,300 media workers without jobs.

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Plenary sessions : The Iraqi operation to liberate Mosul from jihadi group ISIS/Daesh was backed by MEPs on Thursday. They called on Iraqi authorities to make every effort to protect civilians, hospitals and schools, as they progress towards Mosul. Daesh atrocities and genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other minorities should be referred to International Criminal Court, added MEPs.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Parliament demanded more funds, to help young people into jobs, boost economic growth and assist third countries with a view to mitigating the migration crisis, in a plenary vote on Wednesday. MEPs reversed all the Council’s proposed cuts in the draft EU budget for 2017. They expect some of the additional funds needed to come from new appropriations to be obtained through the mid-term revision of the EU’s long-run budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

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Plenary sessions : The EU should place mandatory limits on industrially-produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, infertility, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and obesity for consumers, says a resolution voted on Wednesday. TFA intake is mostly linked to consumption of industrially produced, partially hydrogenated oils.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : The threats, violations and restrictions faced by journalists in Turkey will be debated with Commissioner Corina Creţu, representing EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, late on Wednesday afternoon. Since the 15 July failed coup d’état, which left 241 people dead and thousands injured, 90 journalists have been jailed, more than 2,500 have lost their jobs and arrest warrants have been issued against hundreds of media workers in the country.

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Plenary sessions : New rules to curb the growing influx into the EU of plant pests, such as olive grove killer Xylella fastidiosa, and better equip member states to tackle their spread, were endorsed by the Parliament on Wednesday. The new regulation introduces preventive and rapid response mechanisms for suspect plant imports, steps up pest surveillance efforts in the EU and requires all member states to draw up outbreak contingency plans.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament backs the EU Commission case for investing in innovation, growth and job creation, pursuing socially-balanced structural reforms, and encouraging responsible public finances, in a resolution on EU economic priorities for 2017, voted on Wednesday.

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Plenary sessions : The EU needs to update its long-term financial plan to cope with unforeseen crises said MEPs in their vote on its forthcoming review, on Wednesday. MEPs acknowledged that the Commission’s proposal to revise the multiannual financial framework (MFF) genuinely responds to requests in Parliament’s negotiating stance, adopted in July, for more flexibility and an EU crisis reserve. However, they were disappointed that resources remain unchanged.

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Plenary sessions : The websites and apps of public administrations, hospitals, courts and other public sector bodies will have to be made accessible to everyone, under new EU-wide rules approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday. The web accessibility directive, already agreed by Parliament and Council, should make it easier for disabled and elderly people to access data and services on the internet, e.g. to file a tax declaration, apply for an allowance, pay fees or enrol at university.

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Plenary sessions : Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker briefed MEPs on the political conclusions of the latest EU summit in Wednesday’s plenary debate. Political group leaders focused on the proposed EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) recently rejected by Wallonia’s parliament, EU-Russia relations, trade defence instruments and migration.

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Plenary sessions : Migrant children, and especially those travelling alone, are among the most vulnerable people on earth. MEPs will discuss how the EU can guarantee their rights and protection in a debate with Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Wednesday afternoon at around 16.00. The consequences of the dismantlement of the Calais “jungle”, where there were several unaccompanied asylum-seekers, are likely to be raised.

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General : The UK's decision to leave the Union will already affect the EU's budget for next year. "There has already been an unforeseeable situation and now we have to deal with this problem," said Jens Geier, the MEP who will negotiate on behalf of the Parliament regarding the bulk of the EU's budget for 2017. MEPs will vote on Parliament's position in plenary on 26 October. We talked to the German S&D member about how Brexit is affecting the budget and the upcoming negotiations with the Council

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Plenary sessions : MEPs welcomed the EU Commission proposal for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) in a debate with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday evening.

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Plenary sessions : When it comes to budget talks, the stakes are high, but the terminology can be baffling. On Wednesday 26 October MEPs vote on Parliament's position regarding the EU's 2017 budget and the revision of the long-term budget, while in the afternoon the EU Court of Auditors presents its assessment of the 2015 budget. All of this is important, but it can be challenging to decode the terms used. Read our brief glossary to make sense of it all.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs want an EU work programme in line with genuine concerns and expectations of the Europeans. In their debate with Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans on Tuesday, they focused on the social dimensions of EU policies, investment, trade, migration and security.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP