Next week will be a mixed week of committee and political groups meetings in the European Parliament.  Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather virtually and in person in Brussels.  Several interesting votes and debates are scheduled to take place.

On Thursday, the MEPs of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (“ECON”) will likely vote to adopt a report on the international role of the euro, in light of the European Commission’s recent Communication on the same subject.  In general, the rapport by MEP Danuta Hübner (PL, EPP) echoes the communication of the Commission to a very large degree – even though the Rapporteur’s mandate to draft the own-initiative report predates the Commission’s Communication.  It repeats many of the points of interests raised by the Commission, but also highlights, for example, the pre-condition of a large pool of safe assets dominated in euros for the euro to grow its status as an international currency.  The Rapporteur, therefore, underlines the need for more European safe assets and considers that the common debt that finances NGEU, the EU’s COVID-19 recovery fund, will provide for an EU-level reserve asset benchmark.  The report also expects that the ECB will assess whether it is possible to issue certificates of deposit under the existing legal basis.  However, in contrast to the Commission’s Communication, the draft report dedicates little attention to the matter of international sanctions and the role of the euro.  The draft rapport is available here.  The Commission’s Communication is available here.

On the same day, the MEPs of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (“EMPL”) will debate on a draft report on “fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers.”  After describing the employment situation of platform workers, Rapporteur Brunet (FR, RE) concludes that the current European framework is “unsatisfactory.”  She attributes many of the shortcomings in the framework to the fragmentation and lack of uniform definitions of “worker” and “self-employed” in the Member States.  The Rapporteur calls on the Commission to introduce a new Directive on platform workers in order to guarantee them a minimum set of benefits that are tailored to the specificities of platform work.  In particular, she would like the Commission to explore several options, including: (i) ensuring that all platform workers are allowed to and not obstructed to work for multiple platforms at the same time; (ii) ensuring all platform workers are given a reasoned statement and right of reply in the case of their suspension or termination by the platform; and (iii) providing more transparency regarding working conditions, fees and their reward methodology.  Furthermore, the Rapporteur believes that any Directive on platform workers should enable and guarantee them rights to collective bargaining etc.  The draft report is available here.

For the complete agenda and overview of the meetings, please see here.