The Week Ahead 14 – 20 October 2024
Committee and political groups meetings
Financial assistance to Ukraine. MEPs on the International Trade Committee will vote on the proposed comprehensive financial assistance package for Ukraine, consisting of a Loan Cooperation Mechanism of up to €45 billion and an exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan of up to €35 billion. The package leverages extraordinary profits from immobilised Russian assets (Monday).
2024 Sakharov Prize. The Foreign Affairs and Development committees will vote to shortlist three finalists for the 2024 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, among those already nominated by MEPs and political groups. These are: Venezuela’s María Corina Machado and President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia, Israel/Palestine associations “Women wage peace” and “Women of the sun”, Elon Musk, Azerbaijan’s Dr Gubad Ibadoghluand and a group of Palestinian journalists (Thursday).
Priorities of the Hungarian Presidency. Hungary’s ministers will present their priorities to the Transport and Tourism Committee. Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the Council until the end of 2024 (Monday).
Plenary preparations. Political groups will prepare for the 21 – 24 October session, when MEPs will debate and vote on the financial assistance package for Ukraine worth up to €80 billion and on their position on the 2025 EU budget ahead of negotiations with EU member states. They will also assess the results of the 17-18 October EU summit and debate state- sponsored terrorism by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Poland’s abortion law, and the state of the rule of law in Malta seven years after the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
European Council. EP President Roberta Metsola will address EU heads of state or government at the 17-18 October European Council, which is expected to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, competitiveness, migration and the European Semester for coordinating national budgetary and economic policies. President Metsola will hold a press conference following her address (Thursday).
Pre-session press briefing. The EP’s 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. President Roberta Metsola will be in Vienna on Monday, where she will meet Austria’s National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka, receive the Grand Decoration of Honour at the National Council, hold a joint press point with Mr Sobotka and meet Chancellor Karl Nehammer, followed by a joint press point. On Wednesday in Brussels, President Metsola will meet Estonia’s Prime Minister Kristen Michal, followed by a press point.
