The Week Ahead 26 March – 01 April 2018
Committee meetings, Brussels
Protection of workers from carcinogens. An update of EU rules for protecting workers from carcinogens and mutagens at work will be voted on in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee. The aim is to adopt new thresholds for exposure to eight new cancer-causing chemical agents. (Tuesday)
Appointment of EU Commission Secretary-General. Budget and Human Resources Commissioner Günther Oettinger will be quizzed on Martin Selmayr’s appointment as Commission Secretary-General at a public hearing organised by the Budgetary Control Committee. This will feed into a resolution to be voted on by the whole Parliament on April 19 (TBC). (Tuesday)
Media pluralism and media freedom in the EU. Violence towards and pressure on journalists, worsening economic and working conditions in the media, fake news and net neutrality are among the topics examined in a report on media freedom to be put to the vote in the Civil Liberties Committee. (Tuesday)
Migration/Human Rights. Frontex executive director, Fabrice Leggeri, and fundamental rights officer, Inmaculada Arnaez Fernandez, will present the new Joint Operation Themis to the Civil Liberties Committee. Themis replaced Triton and includes search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean, covering migration flows from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya Egypt and Albania. (Tuesday)
Murder of Ján Kuciak. The findings of a delegation of MEPs who visited Slovakia on 89 March to look into the situation on the ground will be debated in the Civil Liberties and Budget Control committees. This will feed into a resolution to be voted on during the 1619 April plenary session in Strasbourg. (Monday)
Future of EU cohesion policy. Plans on how to shape the post-2020 EU cohesion policy, aiming at reducing gaps among regions, will be put forward by the Regional Development Committee. Preserving the budget, selecting new priority areas, defining new indicators which are complementary to GDP as well as boosting territorial cooperation and simplification are among the proposals to be considered. (Tuesday)
President’s diary. EP President Antonio Tajani will hold a Facebook live chat on the conclusions of the 22-23 March European Council, on Tuesday. President Tajani will meet Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö on Wednesday.
