On Wednesday 15 February, the members of the European Parliament are expected to vote in favour of the EU/Canada free-trade agreement (CETA) at a ceremony attended by the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. They will reach their negotiating position on the long-term reform of the European emissions quota trading system (ETS) for the period 2021-2030.
On Wednesday morning, the MEPs will debate the CETA agreement signed in November 2016 and are expected to adopt the position of the committee on international trade in favour of its ratification and provisional application (see EUROPE 11710). On Friday 10 February, the EPP and ECR groups supported the ratification of the CETA whilst the GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA opposed it. The S&D group has given itself until the eve of the vote to take a definitive position, but highlights the progress in terms of employment or health standards, dispute settlement and the exclusion of public services.
For the first time, a Canadian Prime Minister will address the plenary, on Thursday 16 February. Trudeau's speech is expected to touch upon other subjects of common interest.
ETS. On Monday, the MEPs will discuss and reach their position on the reform of the ETS system for the period 2021-2030. Amendments have been tabled to modify the position taken by the committee on the environment, which beefed up the proposal on the table (see EUROPE 11690). The Greens/EFA group has spoken out against the intensive lobbying by the cement industry, which is refusing to give up its free emissions quotas without a fight (see EUROPE 11720). On this point, the EPP group will reach its position on Monday whilst the ECR group tends to oppose the position of the parliamentary committee. The S&D and ALDE, which are broadly in favour of the text on the table, have given themselves some time to reflect before adopting their final position.
Again, in the field of the environment, Parliament is expected to call for the authorisation procedure for pesticides considered less harmful to be speeded up.
Future of the EU. On Tuesday, the Austrian President, the Ecologist Alexander Van der Bellen, will address the plenary about the challenges currently facing Europe (see EUROPE 11682).
On the same day, Tuesday, MEPs will discuss the future of Europe and on Thursday will adopt three specific resolutions ahead of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, describing the vision of the European Parliament on the missions and outlines of Europe as the treaties currently stand ('Brok/Bresso' report) or assuming treaty change ('Verhofstadt' report) (see EUROPE 11686). The third resolution concerns the creation of a fiscal capacity for the Eurozone, a text that has been the subject of heated discussions and which is only expected to make its way through the committees on budgets and on economic affairs on Monday (see EUROPE 11721).
Greece. On Tuesday afternoon, the MEPs will also hold a debate on the negotiations underway between Greece and its institutional creditors in the framework of the second monitoring mission of the third Greek bailout plan (see EUROPE 11722). The aim is to find out more ahead of the forthcoming meeting of the Eurogroup on Monday 20 February.
In the field of justice and home affairs, the Parliament will approve the inter-institutional agreements on systematic controls on the external borders of the Schengen zone (see EUROPE 11683) and making it a criminal offence throughout the EU to assist with preparations for terrorist acts (see EUROPE 11682).
The other subjects debated include the issue of regulatory frameworks to protect whistle-blowers and on the activities of robots.
In the field of foreign affairs, the MEPs will debate the political situation in Ukraine, the Balkans and the Middle East. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)