The European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg on 3-6 October will mainly deal with ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement, transparency, conflicts of interest among European commissioners, women’s rights in Poland, the economic situation in Greece and events in Calais.
During the sitting, a debate will also take place on preparing for the next European summit on 20 and 21 October, which will focus on migration, international relations and relations with Russia. In terms of the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Parliament was waiting for agreement from environment ministers, which emerged on Friday 30 September, so it should now be able to vote on the UN climate change agreement on Tuesday 4 October.
On Tuesday, MEPs will discuss conflicts of interest among commissioners in the light of a number of revelations in the media in recent weeks about close links between commissioners (past and present) and business. MEPs will question the Commission on Tuesday evening about how it is planning to prevent conflicts of interest among its members in the future. They will also examine the Bahamas Leaks.
Other subjects to be discussed on Tuesday include the immigrant situation in Calais, where more than 7,000 individuals are trying to travel to the United Kingdom. For the ECR, this is one of the most important issues of the plenary and it hopes to ensure continued cooperation between the UK and Schengen nations and for France to continue to face its responsibilities. For Greece, the European Parliament will hold a debate on Tuesday with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici about progress in the structural adjustment programme, its impact and prospects for future talks between Greece and its lenders.
Also on Tuesday, the question of banning products that can be used for torture will be discussed. New EU rules to prevent the sale of goods and services that can be used for torture or execution in non-EU countries will be put to the vote the same day. Proposed ‘reasonable use’ guarantees to prevent users of mobile phones from taking unfair advantage of EU rules on free roaming will be discussed in a plenary sitting on Tuesday evening, the Parliament states in a press release.
On Wednesday, in preparation for the European summit, the MEPs will discuss trade talks, latest developments and progress in migration policy and the future of EU-Russia relations. Later, they will consider women’s rights in Poland, where the government is considering banning abortion.
Finally, another subject of concern for virtually all political groups is Syria. The ALDE awaits strong messages from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, it indicated on Friday 30 September.
The second October plenary may vote through a resolution on this subject. Other foreign affairs debates will discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia.
During this sitting, the groups are expected to consider the outcome of the 2 October referendum in Hungary on the EU’s future migration policies and compulsory refugee quotas. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)