MEPs have been requested to reach a position next week at the final plenary session of the European Parliament before the summer on two substantial legislative packages: the first “mobility” package and the copyright directive.
They will also pay particular attention to the debate on the future of the European Union with the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, on Wednesday 4 July because Poland is still subject to the so-called article 7 procedure in the Treaty on the rule of law (see EUROPE 12050).
On Tuesday morning, the Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, will present the priorities of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which begins on 1 July. The Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boïko Borissov, will draw up a balance sheet of the progress made in the first half of 2018 under the Bulgarian Presidency.
In the afternoon, MEPs will debate the results of the European Summit on 28 and 29 June and, more particularly, the response to the migration challenge (see other articles and EUROPE 12051).
Copyright. The real legislative debates will take place on two explosive dossiers that will not be debated at the plenary but which have been included on the plenary session agenda (article 69 in Parliament's internal regulation): copyright reforms and reform of the first mobility package.
The first dossier is the subject of a vote at the judicial affairs committee on 20 June but a 10th of MEPs at the beginning of the plenary session are expected to call for a re-vote on the negotiating mandate.
This mandate calls for the creation of a neighbouring law for newspaper publishers and an obligation on “active” platforms to conclude licensing agreements with the rights holders before publishing protected content (see EUROPE 12045). The MEPs involved in aggressive lobbying (see EUROPE 12050) will either confirm the mandate or reject it and send the dossier back, which will then be open to amendments at the next plenary session.
'Mobilité I’ package. During the previous plenary session, MEPs called for the mandates that Parliament's transport committee adopted on 4 June on three text in the first mobility package to be reopened. These include: posted workers (lorry drivers); working and driving time and cabotage (see EUROPE 12034, 12041).
Since the publication of the Commission proposals in May 2017 (see EUROPE 11799), these texts have been crystallising the tension between member states and MEPs. Several dozen amendments to the texts voted on during the transport committee (a subject to which EUROPE will be returning), were submitted and the vote on Wednesday 4 July is very uncertain.
The effectiveness of the provisions in the data protection Privacy Shield between the EU and US will be assessed as part of a debate with the Commission on Wednesday. Parliament will then give its position on Thursday on the draft resolution adopted by a small majority during the judicial affairs committee . MEPs will call for the Privacy Shield to be suspended unless the US fully complies with it by 1 September 2018. It should be recalled that the text was subject to sharp criticism by the EPP and ECR groups, which describe it as “too negative”.
Amongst the other subjects on the agenda, MEPs will ratify the ETIAS authorisation system for travellers with visa waivers and which allows border security controls on nationals for whom the EU does not demand visas to enter the Schengen area. According to these rules agreed in April (see EUROPE 12009), travellers who are regarded as posing a risk to security, illegal immigration or public-health could be refused access. Other votes are planned for strengthening cooperation with
Europol and eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
On Monday 2 July, MEPs will debate the first EU programme to encourage innovation in the European defence industry, the text of which will be ratified on Tuesday (see EUROPE 12025).
On Wednesday at 3pm, MEPs will hold a debate with the President of the Eurogroup, Mário Centeno, on the positive conclusions from the economic adjustment programme for Greece (see EUROPE 12046).
The EU budget priorities for 2019 will be the subject of a resolution voted on Thursday 5 July (see EUROPE 12051). MEPs will approve the payment of an envelope of €500 million in 2018 for the partial financing of the Refugee Facility in Turkey (see EUROPE 12051).
Foreign affairs. In the foreign affairs domain, the President of Angola, João Lourenço, will address MEPs during a solemn session on Wednesday 4 July at midday.
MEPs will also debate the migration crisis and the humanitarian situation in Venezuela on the basis of the recent missions carried out by two groups of MEPs to Cúcuta (Colombia) and Boa Vista (Brazil) (see EUROPE 12048).
It should be pointed out that Parliament will enshrine the EU Electoral Law, which will apply during the next European elections (see EUROPE 12037).
Interpreters' strike. Confronted by action by trade union interpreters in Parliament, the administration is pursuing its requisitions in an effort to minimise disruptions to the plenary session (see EUROPE 12049).
On Tuesday evening, interpreters' representatives will meet Parliament's President, Antonio Tajani, and ask that he intervene as a mediator so Parliament's administration and interpreters can reach a preliminary agreement on the reform on working conditions before Secretary-General Klaus Welle makes a final decision.
On Friday 29 June, one trade union source informed EUROPE that “We are asking Mr Tajani to keep an eye on the Secretary-General”. According to this source “With just a very little bit of political will”, an agreement on reform is possible. The interpreters are demanding a reduction to an 11 hour (with exemptions) working day, a reduction to seven and a half hours spent in the interpreting booth per day (the administration wants eight hours and at the UN a six hour rule applies) and a maximum of four late meetings a month instead of the six that have been called for. The strikers are also demanding the introduction of a revision clause to the agreement on working conditions. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Lucas Tripoteau, Sophie Petitjean, Mathieu Bion and Marion Fontana)