European Parliament Agenda – The Week Ahead 30 November – 06 December 2015

Plenary session and committee meetings, Brussels

Plenary (Wednesday)

Circular economy. MEPs will discuss a new package of draft legislation on waste and a sustainable economy to be presented by Commission Vice-Presidents Frans Timmermans and Jyrki Katainen at 15h.

Hungary. MEPs will quiz the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová on progress made on assessment and in-depth monitoring of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary. Parliament asked the Commission for this assessment in a resolution voted on 10 June.

Frontex/fundamental rights. A request that the Frontex border agency set up a complaints mechanism to deal with alleged breaches of fundamental rights will be put to a plenary vote at 19.00. A proposal for reviewing Frontex’s overall mandate is expected in December.

EU-Liechtenstein tax agreement. Parliament will vote on an EU-Liechtenstein agreement of taxation of income from interest on savings deposits in Liechtenstein banks. This would effectively abolish banking secrecy in the principality.

Committees

EUROPOL. An informal deal to boost EUROPOL’s ability to respond to threats, while improving scrutiny of its work, will be put to a vote in the Civil Liberties Committee. The deal was reached on 26 November by Parliament and Council negotiators. (Monday)

EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator: Gilles de Kerchove will debate the aftermath of Paris terrorist attacks and the implementation of the EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy, including short-term actions, with Civil Liberties Committee MEPs. (Tuesday)

EU PNR and Data Protection reform. Members leading ongoing talks with Council on both the Passenger Name Record (EU PNR) proposal on the use of air passengers’ data to fight terrorism and on EU-wide data protection rules, will brief the Civil Liberties Committee on the state of play in the talks, including outstanding issues. The aim is to reach a deal by the end of 2015. (Monday)

Migration. Two draft laws to tackle the migration and refugee crisis, one on a permanent crisis relocation mechanism among member states and another on an EU common list of safe countries of origin, will be debated by the lead Civil Liberties Committee with the Commission, Council, the European Asylum Support Office and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. (Tuesday)

Corporate tax transparency. A legislative initiative to increase transparency and ease the convergence of corporate taxation among EU member states will be voted by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. This proposal, which will detail what MEPs expect from the Commission, follows up the work of the Special Committee on Tax Rulings. (Tuesday)

A special meeting of the Conference of Presidents of political groups will specify the mandate of a temporary committee that will follow up on the work done by the Special Committee on Tax Rulings. The mandate will be submitted for approval by the plenary on the very same day. (Wednesday)

GMO maize. An objection to a Commission proposal to authorise food and feed products from genetically modified maize NK 603 x T25 in the EU for 10 years will be put to a vote at the Environment and Public Health Committee. (Tuesday)

Upcoming Dutch Presidency. The Conference of Presidents of political groups will go to The Hague to meet the Dutch government, including Prime Minister Mark Rutte, to discuss the priorities for the Dutch Council Presidency that will start on 1 January 2016. (Thursday)

President’s agenda. President Schulz will deliver the closing speech at an “interreligious dialogue” event, on Monday. On Wednesday, he will meet Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng. On Thursday, Mr Schulz will hold a bilateral meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, followed by a press conference.

Press briefing. The EP Press Service will hold a press briefing on the week’s activities at 11.00 on Monday, in the “Anna Politkovskaya” EP press conference room, Brussels. Journalists can use #EPressbriefing to put questions on committee and plenary business before and during the briefing.

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