CALENDAR / Main activities of the european institutions
26/02 - 04/03
Monday 26 February
Brussels. Council of the EU. ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council. – Topical questions: urgent dossiers at international level (Syria, Iran, Ukraine, etc.). – Moldova: implementation of the deep and comprehensive free-trade area, relations with the EU and prospects, the country’s role within the Eastern Partnership (adoption of conclusions). – Venezuela: exchange of views on the situation in the country ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for 22/04. – Middle East: state of the peace process and areas for work towards a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine; preparations for lunch with the Secretary General of the Arab League and the organisation’s minister members.
Brussels. Council of the EU. EU-Kazakhstan cooperation council. – Bilateral relations: progress since the previous meeting in October 2016. – Stock-take of the temporary application of the reinforced partnership and cooperation agreement. – Developments in the political situation in Kazakhstan: state of reforms, rule of law, etc... – Economic and trade relations and business climate in the country. – Regional cooperation and development of the situation in Central Asia and implementation of the EU strategy for this region.
Brussels. European Parliament. Activities of the committees (and 27/02). – ECON: monetary dialogue with the President of the ECB, Mario Draghi. – CONT: debate with the Bulgarian deputy minister for finance on the discharge of the 2016 budget. – TRAN: meeting with the coordinators of the trans-European transport network.
Tuesday 27 February
Brussels. Council of the EU. ‘General Affairs’ Council and ‘Article 50’. *Article 50: - state of progress in negotiations with the United Kingdom on Brexit (translation into legal texts of the arrangements set out in the joint report of December, discussions on the transition period, other matters); preparations for the ‘Article 50’ European Council of March (draft annotated agenda). *General Affairs between 28: - preparations for the European Council of 22-23/03 (draft annotated agenda). – Poland: presentation by the Commission of a reasoned proposal on the basis of article 7§1 of the TEU. – Presentation of the programme of work of the Bulgarian Presidency. - A points: adoption of the directive on ETS reform, of a regulation on geo-blocking and on two legislative acts on the guarantee fund for external actions and the EIB’s external loan mandate.
Sofia. Council of the EU. Informal meeting of the foreign affairs ministers. *Trade: - follow-up of the 11th ministerial conference of the WTO. – State of progress in negotiations for free-trade agreements between the EU and various partners, particularly Mexico and Mercosur. – Informal discussion on the multilateral investment court and analysis of direct foreign investment.
Brussels. European Parliament. Activities of the committees. – LIBE-AFET: inter-parliamentary meeting on the global pact of the United Nations on refugees and migrants and the role of the Parliaments. – TRAN: debate with the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organisation. – ENVI structured dialogue with Commissioner Šefčovič. – ECON: public hearing on the revision of the European financial supervisory system.
Luxembourg. *Court of Justice of the EU. #Judgements: - C-64/16 (Associação Sindical dos Juizes Portugeses – Do the salary reduction measures applied to judges of the Tribunal de Contas in Portugal infringe the principle of the independence of judges?); – C-266/16 (Western Sahara Campaign – Validity of the EU/Morocco fishing agreement).
Wednesday 28 February
Brussels. European Commission. Weekly meeting of the College of Commissioners. – Initiative on measures to effectively fight illegal online content (Ansip).
Sofia. Council of the EU. Informal meeting of the ministers for Education, Youth, Culture and Sport: *Culture: - specific actions to develop culture in various policies as a factor to reinforce the sense of belonging to Europe. - Ways of exploiting the energy and potential of young people in order to preserve and develop European values through culture.
Sofia. Council of the EU. Eighth ministerial meeting of the culture ministers of the Asia/Europe zone (ASEM) (to 02/03): - From cultural diplomacy to cultural cooperation; - Culture as a driving force of sustainable social and economic development; - Promoting culture and intercultural dialogue for peaceful inter-community relations; - Reinforcing cooperation on the cultural heritage.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Coreper II and ‘Article 50’.
Brussels. European Parliament. Plenary session (and 01/03). *Debates: - Summary of the results of the informal European Council (European Council). - Decision of the Commission to trigger article 7 due to the situation in Poland (Commission). – Presentation and labelling of spirit drinks and protection of their geographical indications (Ayuoso – ENVI). – Annual report on the fundamental rights situation in the EU (Engel – LIBE). – The EU’s perspectives for the first meeting of the joint EU-Cuba Council (HR Mogherini). – Work and heritage of the ICT for the former Yugoslavia (Council and Commission). – Removal of several third countries from the list of non-cooperative countries for taxation purposes (Council and Commission). – Prospects and challenges of the EU agriculture sector cup that l’UE (Erdos – AGRI).
Luxembourg. *Court of Justice of the EU. #Judgements: - C-301/16 P (Commission/Xinyi PV Products (Anhui) Holdings – appeal against the judgement of the General Court cancelling the anti-dumping regulation on solar panels aimed at a Chinese company); - C-3/17 (Sporting Odds – compatibility with EU law of the Hungarian rule on granting concessions and organising online casino gaming); - C-46/17 (John – possibility to place a time limit on the extension of an employment contract beyond the normal retirement age)*General Court of the EU: #Judgement
Thursday 1 March
Brussels. European Parliament. Plenary session. *Debates: - Automatic and compulsory exchange of tax information (Maurel – ECON). – 2017 annual report on Banking Union (Loones – ECON). – Fight against the financing of terrorism (Nart – AFET). – The EU’s priorities for the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (Baradica, Vallina – FEMM). *Votes; - election of the vice-president of Parliament (to replace Ryszard Czarnecki. – Date of application of the transposition measures by the member states (Langen – ECON). – EU-USA bilateral agreement on prudential measures for insurance and reinsurance (Gualtieri – ECON). – Appointment of Annemie Turtelboom to the Court of Auditors (Tarand – CONT). – Constitution and conditions of the special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax fraud. – Mobilisation of the EGF for ES/Galicia apparel and SE/Ericsson (Pon, Paet – BUDG). – Reports discussed during the current session (see above).
Luxembourg. *Court of Justice of the EU. *General Court of the EU: T-85/16 and T-629/16 Shoe Branding Europe/EUIPO – possibility for Adidas to oppose the registration as a European trademark of two parallel stripes on shoes.
