Summary

Next week, Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather in Strasbourg for the plenary session.

Interesting votes, debates and committee debates will take place.

On Monday, January 14, MEPs will debate the non-legally binding Report on the Union’s authorization procedure for pesticides prepared by the Special Committee on the Union’s authorization procedure for pesticides (“PEST”).  This report seeks to address perceived shortcomings in the authorization system for pesticides.  The co-rapporteurs stress the importance of a science-based system and call for greater transparency.  See the draft parliamentary report here.

On Tuesday, January 15, MEPs will discuss several important Council-related developments.  Firstly, the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz will present the achieved objectives of the Austrian Council presidency over the second half of 2018 to the MEPs.  The MEPs will also debate the presentation of the program of activities and the priorities of the Romanian Council presidency which started on January 1, 2019.  MEPs share expectations that the presidency will have the difficult tasks to manage Brexit and the negotiations on the EU’s long term budget for 2021-2027 which will both shape the future of the EU.  See the priorities of the Romanian Council presidency here.

On Wednesday, January 16, an interesting plenary debate will take place the day after the UK House of Commons’ meaningful vote on Theresa May’s EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.  One MEP from every political group will make a statement on the current state-of-play of Brexit with interventions by the Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group, headed by MEP Guy Verhofstadt.

Meetings and Agenda

Monday, January 14, 2019

Plenary session

17:00 – 23:00

Debates

  • Union’s authorization procedure for pesticides
    • Co-Rapporteurs: Bart STAES (BE, Greens/EFA), Nobert LINS (DE, EPP)
  • Use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road
    • Rapporteurs: Cláudia MONTEIRO DE AGUIAR (PT, EPP)
  • Gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament
    • Rapporteur: Angelika MLINAR (AT, ALDE)
  • European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy
    • Rapporteur: Marian-Jean MARINESCU (RO, EPP)
  • Assessing how the EU budget is used for public sector reform
    • Rapporteur: Brian HAYES (IE, EPP)
  • EU guidelines and the mandate of the EU Special Envoy on the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU
    • Rapporteur: Andrzej GRZYB (PL, EPP)
  • Gender equality and taxation policies in the EU
    • Co-Rapporteurs: Marisa MATIAS (PT, GUE/NGL), Ernest URTASUN (ES, Greens/EFA)
  • One-minute speeches (Rule 163)

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Plenary session

09:00 – 11:30

Debates

  • Review of the Austrian Council Presidency
  • Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 13 and 14 December 2018

11:30 – 12:00

Formal Sitting

  • 20th Anniversary of the Euro

12:00 – 14:00

Votes and explanation of votes

  • EU-Kyrgyzstan comprehensive agreement
    • Rapporteur: Cristian DAN PREDA (RO, EPP)
  • Protocol to the EU-Kyrgyzstan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (accession of Croatia)
    • Rapporteur: Cristian DAN PREDA (RO, EPP)
  • Amendment of the European Investment Bank Statute
    • Rapporteur: Danuta Maria Hübner (PL, EPP)
  • Conclusion of the EU-Albania status agreement on actions carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in Albania
    • Rapporteur: Bodil Valero (SE, Greens/EFA)
  • Temporary withdrawal of preferences in certain agreements concluded between the EU and certain third countries
    • Rapporteur: Christofer Fjellner (SE, EPP)
  • Specific provisions for the European territorial cooperation goal (Interreg) supported by the European Regional Development Fund and external financing instruments
    • Rapporteur: Pascal Arimont (BE, EPP)
  • Establishing the ‘Customs’ programme for cooperation in the field of customs
    • Rapporteur: Maria Grapini (RO, S&D)
  • Establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the instrument for financial support for customs control equipment
    • Rapporteur: Jiří Pospíšil (CZ, EPP)
  • Texts on which debate is closed

15:00 – 23:00

Debates

  • Presentation of the programme of activities of the Romanian Presidency
  • Debates on foreign affairs issues in the presence of the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (to be defined)
  • European Central Bank Annual report 2017
    • Rapporteur: Gabriel Mato
  • Banking Union – Annual report 2018
    • Rapporteur: Nils Torvalds
  • Implementation of the EU-Colombia and Peru Trade Agreement
    • Rapporteur: Santiago Fisas Ayxelà (es, epp)
  • Implementation report on the trade pillar of the Association Agreement with Central America
    • Rapporteur: Reimer Böge
  • European Globalization Adjustment Fund (EGF)
    • Rapporteur: Maria Arena
  • European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
    • Rapporteur: Verónica Lope Fontagné (ES, EPP)
  • Establishing the InvestEU Programme
    • Co-Rapporteurs: Roberto Gualtieri (IT, S&D), José Manuel Fernandes (PT, EPP)
  • Strengthening fiscal responsibility and the medium-term budgetary orientation in the Member States
    • Rapporteur: Danuta Maria Hübner (PL, EPP)

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Plenary session

09:00 – 11:50

Debates

  • Debate with the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, on the Future of Europe

12:00 – 14:00

Votes and explanation of votes

  • Address by Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa
  • Amendments to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure
    • Rapporteur: Richard Corbett (UK, S&D)
  • EU Emergency Travel Document
    • Rapporteur: Kinga Gál (HU, EPP)
  • EU-Morocco Agreement on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement
    • Rapporteur: Marietje Schaake (NL, ALDE)
  • EU-Morocco Agreement on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement (Resolution)
    • Rapporteur: Marietje Schaake (NL, ALDE)
  • Apportionment of tariff rate quotas included in the WTO schedule of the Union following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union
    • Rapporteur: Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (DE, EPP)
  • Establishing a dedicated financial programme for decommissioning of nuclear facilities and management of radioactive waste
    • Rapporteur: Peter Kouroumbashev (BU, S&D)
  • Euratom Research and Training programme 2021- 2025
    • Rapporteur: Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (FI, S&D)
  • Closure of the accounts for the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for the financial year 2016
  • Texts on which debate is closed

15:00 – 17:00
Debates

  • Topical debate (Rule 153a)
  • Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2017
    • Rapporteur: Josep-Maria Terricabras (ES, Greens/EFA)

17:00 – 18:00

Votes

18:00 – 00:00

Debates

  • Combating late payment in commercial transactions
    • Rapporteur: Lara Comi (IT, EPP)
  • Annual report on the financial activities of the European Investment Bank
    • Rapporteur: Barbara Kappel (AT, ENF)
  • Annual report 2017 on the control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank
    • Rapporteur: Georgi Pirinski (BU, S&D)
  • Establishing the “Fiscalis” programme for cooperation in the field of taxation
    • Rapporteur: Sven Giegold (DE, Greens/EFA)
  • Establishing the Rights and Values programme
    • Rapporteur: Bodil Valero (SE, Greens/EFA)
  • Protection of the Union’s budget in case of generalized deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States
    • Rapporteur: Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (ES, s&d), Petri Sarvamaa (FI, EPP)
  • Nuclear decommissioning assistance programme of the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania
    • Rapporteur: Rebecca Harms (DE, Greens/EFA)
  • European Instrument for Nuclear Safety complementing the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument
    • Rapporteur: Vladimir Urutchev (BU, EPP)

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Plenary session

09:00 – 11:50

Debates

  • Differentiated integration
    • Rapporteur: Pascal Durand (FR, Greens/EFA)
  • Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry OI/2/2017 on the transparency of legislative discussions in the preparatory bodies of the Council of the EU
    • Rapporteur: Yana Toom (EE, alde), Jo Leinen (DE, S&D)

12:00 – 14:00

Votes and explanation of votes

  • Motions for resolutions concerning debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law (Rule 135)
  • Cross-border restitution claims of works of art and cultural goods looted in armed conflicts and wars
    • Report: Pavel Svoboda (CZ, EPP)
  • Texts on which debate is closed

15:00 – 16:00

Debates

  • Major interpellations (Rule 130b)