Monday 14 March
Brussels. Council of Ministers. Foreign Affairs Council. - Debate about Iran; - Examination of the Middle East peace process (International peace summit proposed by France); - Situation in Libya; - relations with Russia.
Brussels. Council of Ministers. Agriculture and Fisheries Council. *Agriculture: - farm sectors in crisis (pork, dairy and horticulture); - assessment of market support measures in place and possibility of new measures; - conclusions document on support for wood-producing countries (FLEGT action plan). *Fisheries: - conclusions document on partnership agreements with non-EU countries.
Brussels. European Parliament. Committee work (until 17/03). - PETI: examining petitions on contamination of drinking water (Oiolia, Gallego) (14/03). - JURI: discussion with representative of the UN High Commission for Human Rights (14/03); examination of OHIM's strategic programme (15/03). - TRAN: voting on recommendations for second reading of three legislative proposals from the fourth rail package (interoperability, safety and the EU Rail Agency) (15/03); debate about amendments to be included in the opinion on social dumping (15/03). - IMCO: public hearing on firearms directive (15/03). - DEVE: hearing on the subject of a universal sanitary system for 2030 in the framework of SDG3 (15/03). - TAXE2: hearings of representatives of Guernsey, Jersey, Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein on changes to their company tax systems (14-15/03). - AGRI: structured dialogue with Health Commissioner Andriukaitis on the Commission's work programmes for 2016 and 2017 (15/03). - CONT: hearing of six candidates for leading positions at the Court of Auditors (15/03). - ENVI: dialogue with vice-president Kataïnen on the Commission's work programme for 2016 and 2017 and the Circular Economy package (16/03). - DROI: hearing on the human rights situation in immigrants' countries of origin (16/03). - SEDE: hearing on the crisis in Syria and the role of regional players (16/3). - BUDG: hearing on the review of the multi-annual budget framework (17/03). - LIBE: hearing on the 'Privacy Shield' and the exchange of private information between the EU and the USA, which is called upon to replace 'Safe Harbor' (17/03).
Tuesday 15 March
Brussels. Council of Ministers. General Affairs Council. - Preparing for the European Summit (examining the draft conclusions document); - examining a summary report on the Council's contribution to the European Semester; - Adoption of interinstitutional agreement 'Better legislation'; - presentation by the Commission of communication 'Investing in growth and jobs,' Council conclusions document on the same subject.
Wednesday 16 March
Brussels. European Commission. Weekly College meeting. - Preparing for the European Summit; - Communication on managing flows of immigrants; - Action plan on revision of the VAT system; - Communication on problems facing the steel industry.
Brussels. Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Jobs. Dialogue between presidents of the institutions and the social partners, headed by the president of the European Council, the president of the Commission and the president of the Council.
Brussels. Council of Ministers. COREPER I
Luxembourg. * European Court of Justice. #Conclusions: - C-134/15 (Lidl - requirement to indicate the price of pre-packaged fresh poultry on packaging rather than the shelf; - C-484/14 (McFadden - responsibility of the manager of a shop providing wifi to its customers to report violations of copyright committed by a clients). * European General Court: #Rulings: - T-100/15 (Dextro Energy/Commission - ban on certain health claims for Dextro Energy glucose products); - T-201/14 (The Body Shop International/OHIM - Registration of 'SPA WISDOM' as an EU trademark); - T-586/14 (Xinyi PV/Commission - annulment of solar glazing regulation for Xinyi PV)
Thursday 17 March
Brussels. European Summit (also 18/03). - Immigration and economic questions; - New measures to deal with refugee crisis; - European Semester 2016; - Discussion of implementation of country-specific recommendations; - Main initiatives to stimulate the Single Market; - Presidency briefing on progress in initiatives to strengthen the Single Market.
Luxembourg. European Court of Justice. #Rulings: - C-145/15 (Ruijssenaars and Jansen) and C-146/15 (Dees-Erf - Requirement that national air passenger rights bodies respond to individual complaints); - C-695/15 PPU (Mirza - possibility for Hungary to send 'war refugees' to a non-EU country deemed to be safe, in this case, Serbia)
Friday 18 March
Luxembourg. European General Court: #Ruling: T-501/13 Karl-May Verlag/OHIM - Annulment by OHIM of Union Winnetou's trademark as requested by Karl May publishers)