The Week Ahead 03 – 09 July 2023
Committee and political group meetings, Brussels
Ukraine/sanctions. The Civil Liberties Committee will adopt its position on EU-wide criminal offences and penalties for violating and circumventing EU sanctions in member states, e.g. failing to freeze funds or not enforcing a travel ban. Proposed penalties include prison sentences for individuals and fines for companies (Thursday).
Migrant boat shipwreck off the coast of Greece. Members of the Civil Liberties Committee will debate the recent migrant boat shipwreck off the coast of Greece with Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas (to be confirmed), Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Frontex’s Executive Director Hans Leijtens (Thursday).
Taxonomy / Sustainable Finance: The Environment and Economic Committees will debate, with Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, the Commission’s proposal for a new set of EU taxonomy criteria for economic activities making a substantial contribution to one or more of the EU’s non-climate environmental objectives.Parliament and Council have four months to decide if they want to veto the Commission’s proposal (Thursday).
EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Committee. The 15th meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, bringing together MEPs and their counterparts from the Ukrainian parliament, will take place in Brussels. Participants will discuss the most important aspects of the EU-Ukraine bilateral relationship and its parliamentary dimension (Wednesday and Thursday).
EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly. MEPs and UK MPs will meet in Brussels for the third EU-United Kingdom Parliamentary Partnership Assembly to discuss, among other issues, the state of play within the Partnership Council, EU-UK common efforts to support Ukraine, and cooperation on trade and industrial policy – including responses to the US Inflation Reduction Act. An address by EP President Roberta Metsola will open the second session (Monday and Tuesday).
Plenary preparations. Political groups will prepare for the 10 – 13 July plenary session, where MEPs will debate and vote on the nature restoration law, the European Chips Act, and on protecting journalists and human rights defenders from abusive lawsuits. They will also debate and vote on the deployment of charging stations for cars and trucks, on greener maritime fuels, on new energy saving targets, and on stricter rules to reduce industrial emissions. Parliament will also debate and vote on the final reports of its special committees on protecting democratic institutions and Parliament’s integrity, and on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. MEPs will assess the outcome of the 29-30 June EU summit with Presidents Michel and von der Leyen.
Pre-session press briefing. The EP Press Service will hold a press briefing with the Parliament’s political group spokespersons at 11.00 on Friday (Anna Politkovskaya room, press centre, Brussels).
President’s diary. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will meet the President of the Austrian National Council, Wolfgang Sobotka, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, President Metsola will meet the President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Igor Grosu, after which they will hold a press point.
