The Week Ahead 07 – 13 February 2022

ECB/Lagarde. MEPs in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee will meet with ECB President Christine Lagarde for their regular monetary dialogue. They are set to discuss inflation expectations in the euro area, post-pandemic trends and policy implications, as well as the ECB’s monetary policy communication strategy (Monday).

Fiscal Package. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee will debate with Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni the fiscal part of the 2022 Autumn Package. They will discuss how member states should reduce their debts and how to use the experience of the Recovery Fund’s management to improve EU economic policy coordination (Monday).

Batteries and waste batteries. The Environment and Public Health Committee will adopt its position on proposed rules to govern the entire battery product life cycle, from design to end-of-life. MEPs will vote on amendments on sustainability and safety criteria (e.g. recycled content and carbon footprint), labelling, due diligence as well as waste management, and other issues (Thursday).

Common chargers. The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee will discuss its draft report on a proposal to introduce a common charger for mobile devices. The draft text contains a number of changes relating to interoperability and reducing e-waste, the inclusion of other devices, requirements for wireless charging, and unbundling of charger sales (Monday).

Migration/Belarus/Polish border. The Civil Liberties Committee will discuss the situation of migrants in Poland and at the border with Belarus, with Poland’s Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights Hanna Machińska (Monday).

Conference on the Future of Europe. The European Citizens’ Panel on “EU in the world / Migration” will meet at the European Institute for Public Administration in Maastricht and online to deliver its recommendations. In March, the Panel’s report – on the EU’s self-reliance and stability, its place in the world, and all aspects of migration-related issues – will be debated in a Conference Plenary session (Friday to Sunday).

Parlemeter 2021. The European Parliament will publish its autumn 2021 Parlemeter, a special Eurobarometer survey conducted for the European Parliament in the 27 EU member states between November and December 2021 (Tuesday). President Metsola will hold a Facebook chat session on the survey results on Tuesday at 15:30.

Plenary preparations. Political groups will prepare for the 14-17 February plenary session, where MEPs will debate and vote on a new European strategy to fight cancer, EU-Russia relations and the EU’s common foreign, security and defence policy, strengthening rules on toy safety, and boosting offshore renewable energy. The session starts with a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Euro, followed by a debate with ECB President Lagarde.

President’s diary. On Tuesday, President Metsola will address the online conference “Towards a competitive Europe” and will meet Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. On Thursday, she will be in Malta to meet President George Vella and lay a wreath at the site where Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated. On Friday, the President will meet the US Ambassador to the EU, Mark Gitenstein.

Pre-session press briefing. The EP Press Service will hold a press briefing with the Parliament’s political group spokespersons at 11.00 on Friday (Anna Politkovskaya room, press centre, Brussels).