The Week Ahead 25 – 31 October 2021

The financial impact of organised crime. The Budget Control Committee will adopt a report on the impact of organised crime on the EU’s own resources (the main sources of revenue for the EU budget) and on the misuse of funds. Estimates reveal that organised crime affects between 2.7% and 3.6% of total EU public procurement spending, while, according to Europol, 40 to 60 billion euro is lost each year through VAT fraud (Tuesday).

EU cybersecurity. Proposals to revise existing cybersecurity rules and strengthen EU security provisions will be voted on by the Industry and Energy Committee. The updated law would introduce more stringent supervisory measures and stricter enforcement requirements, including harmonised sanctions regimes across EU countries. It also includes proposals for national and EU levels to cooperate with each other on cyber crisis management (Thursday).

Legal migration. The Civil Liberties Committee will vote on a series of proposals for new legislation in the field of legal migration. Draft recommendations include setting up an admissions scheme for low- and medium-skilled workers from non-EU countries to enter and live in the EU, and an EU talent pool to allow third-country nationals to apply for work and employers to search for potential employees (Wednesday).

New Pact on Asylum and Migration. The Civil Liberties Committee will begin discussing the reform of the EU asylum system, with a presentation and a debate on the proposed amendments on asylum and migration management and asylum procedures. A press conference will take place at 14:30 (Tuesday).

EU digital rules. The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee will further discuss how the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposals should be amended and improved. (Wednesday).

Misuse of EU agriculture funds in Slovakia. Members of the Budget Control Committee will discuss the follow-up to the investigation into a possible misuse of EU agriculture funds in Slovakia, with Slovakia’s Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlčan, the European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF and the Commission (Monday).

European Gender Equality Week. Parliament will hold the second European Gender Equality Week from 25 to 28 October, with a series of public hearings organised by several committees on topics related to gender equality. On Thursday, the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee will adopt recommendations to achieve women’s equal access to work, including closing the gender pay gap and increased maternity and paternity leave.

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