The Week Ahead 06 – 12 December 2021

Migration and asylum. MEPs and national parliamentarians will gather for the third High-Level Conference on Migration and Asylum. They will debate migration partnerships with non-EU countries and the state of play on the proposal for a Pact on Migration and Asylum. Speakers include EP President Sassoli, Slovenia’s National Assembly President Zorčič, Portugal’s Assembly President Ferro Rodrigues and Germany’s Bundestag President Bas (Friday).

Safety of toys. The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee will assess how EU rules on toy safety have been implemented and propose measures to ensure that all toys sold on the EU market, including from non-EU countries and online, are safe. Recommendations cover issues such as tackling chemicals in toys and labelling (Thursday).

Beating Cancer. Parliament’s Special Committee for Beating Cancer will adopt its final recommendations to develop an EU cancer policy that includes fighting inequalities in cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship across Europe, more support for cancer research and innovation, making treatments more accessible and affordable, especially through joint evaluation as well as the negotiation and purchase of cancer medicines (Thursday).

Conference of Presidents/French Presidency. EP President and political groups’ leaders (Conference of Presidents) will meet in Paris with ministers from the French government, including Prime Minister Castex, and the speaker and members of the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale), to prepare the upcoming six-month Presidency of the EU Council, starting in 2022 (Thursday).

Plenary preparations. Political groups will prepare for the 13-16 December plenary session, where MEPs will debate and vote on the Digital Markets Act, which aims to end unfair practices used by big online platforms, measures to uphold women’s rights and reduce gender inequalities, the situation in Nicaragua as well as EU humanitarian aid. MEPs will also debate the 16-17 December European Council, the state of play on the Recovery and Resilience Facility and vote on fundamental rights and the rule of law in Slovenia. Also during the session, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will address plenary, and the award ceremony for 2021 Sakharov Prize Winner Alexei Navalny will take place.

LUX Audience Award shortlist. The three films that will compete for the LUX Audience Award, bestowed by Parliament and the European Film Academy, will be revealed during the European Film Awards ceremony, broadcast from Berlin, on Saturday at 19.00 CET.

President’s diary. European Parliament President David Sassoli will meet Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he will participate in the EU Ambassadors’ Conference. On Thursday, President Sassoli will be in Paris for the Conference of Presidents, where will have a bilateral meeting with France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex, followed by a press conference.