MEPs are meeting from Monday 15 April to Thursday 18 April in Strasbourg for the last plenary session of their legislature, which will be particularly busy.
Rule of law. From Monday evening, at the request of the EPP Group, MEPs will debate the situation of the rule of law in Romania. The country, already subject to the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification (CVM) since 2007, raises new concerns about the fight against corruption. This debate is triggered more directly by the situation of the Romanian candidate for the post of European Prosecutor, Laura Codruţa Kövesi, who is involved in legal proceedings by her government seen as manoeuvres by the Romanian authorities to prevent her from taking up this post (see EUROPE 12234/2).
Brexit. MEPs will also discuss the extension of the United Kingdom's membership of the EU, as adopted by The Twenty-Seven on 10 April (see EUROPE 12233/1). The debate is currently scheduled for Wednesday morning, but it could be brought forward to the previous day in the morning, depending on the availability of the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. Some Parliamentary political groups have already expressed a positive view of this extension, but a number of MEPs are disturbed by the United Kingdom's possible participation in the May European elections.
Future of the EU. The plenary will also welcome, on Wednesday, the new Latvian Prime Minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, on the occasion of the 20th debate on the future of the Union. He will be reunited with his former colleagues, who were previously MEPs in the EPP Group.
Migration. On Wednesday afternoon, on migration issues, MEPs will return to the interinstitutional agreement reached on 28 March on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and will have a debate on the subject followed by a vote (see EUROPE 12226/13). They will do the same for the new rules on short-stay visa policy (see EUROPE 12198/32). This last session will also allow MEPs to confirm, on the evening of Tuesday 16, the agreement with the Council of the EU on the interoperability of European information systems.
On migration, this mandate will in any case not have allowed for finalisation of the Parliament's work on the asylum package and the texts on which a vote was taken in plenary, such as the Dublin Regulation (see EUROPE 11187/6). As the asylum package has not been completed, it was agreed between the various rapporteurs and the political groups that there would be no confirmation at first reading of what was voted on. It will be up to the Civil Liberties Committee and the Conference of Group Chairmen of the next Parliament to decide on the follow-up to this work, as the Commission may also choose to withdraw its most controversial reforms.
Visa. On the same day, MEPs will vote on the Interinstitutional Agreement on the new EU Visa Code, which establishes the procedures and conditions for issuing short-stay visas, i.e. up to 90 days over a period of 180 days.
Terrorism. Still on Wednesday 17, Parliament will also have to confirm the new rules voted in the Civil Liberties Committee on 8 April on the removal of terrorist content within the hour (see EUROPE 12231/8). This vote in plenary is an opportunity for certain groups that are disappointed with the parliamentary position to make certain points tougher or to pass on certain ideas, particularly about the one-hour deadline. The day before, MEPs will have voted on the Interinstitutional Agreement on the updating of the rules on the use and sale of chemicals that can be used for the manufacture of improvised explosives (see EUROPE 12187/4).
Whistleblowers. On Tuesday the Plenary will vote, after a debate the day before, on the Interinstitutional Agreement on the protection of whistleblowers (report by Virginie Rozière of the S&D Group, France) (see EUROPE 12212/11). Alongside the plenary, on the same day, the GUE/NGL Group will present its Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for the Defence of the Right to Information, which rewards journalists and whistleblowers (see EUROPE 12220/20).
Social. Also on Tuesday 16, Parliament will be called on to support minimum rights for workers on demand, and work based on cheques or platforms, by validating the Interinstitutional Agreement (see EUROPE 12198/40).
Financial supervision. On Tuesday 16 April, MEPs will also endorse the provisional Interinstitutional Agreement of 21 March on the European System of Financial Supervision (see EUROPE 12219/6).
Banking risks. Also on the financial side, two provisional interinstitutional agreements, relating to the legislative package to reduce financial risks in the banking sector (see EUROPE 12152/4), will be approved by the European Parliament on 16 April.
InvestEU. MEPs will also give their formal green light on Thursday 18 April to the partial provisional interinstitutional agreement reached on 20 March on the architecture of the InvestEU programme for the period 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12218/14).
This is only a partial agreement, as the amounts allocated to this instrument will be defined in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and negotiations are not yet completed.
Horizon Europe. On the same model, the European Parliament will confirm, on Wednesday 17 April, the partial provisional interinstitutional agreement on the outlines of the Horizon Europe framework programme (see EUROPE 12218/15).
Climate. During the plenary session, MEPs will also vote on several climate-related issues. On Wednesday, they will vote on a 'common understanding' of the post-2020 LIFE programme, a report by Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, Netherlands) (see EUROPE 12169/8). The next day, the validation of the Interinstitutional Agreement on performance standards for the reduction of CO2 emissions from new heavy goods vehicles - report by Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) - will be put to the vote. This regulation sets a target of a 30% reduction in CO 2 emissions from new trucks by 2030, with an intermediate target of a 15% reduction by 2025.
Industry. The plenary will vote on Tuesday 16 on the agreement reached between the Council of the EU and the Parliament on the general safety of vehicles and vulnerable road users, reinforced by new safety features such as intelligent speed adaptation or emergency braking systems (see EUROPE 12222/21).
Digital. MEPs will vote on Wednesday 17 on the agreement reached between the institutions on modernising EU legislation to better protect consumers in the digital age, with the report by Daniel Dalton (ECR, UK) (see EUROPE 12225/10). This modernisation will help to combat misleading rankings in online markets and dual product quality. On the same day, MEPs will be asked to validate the interinstitutional agreements on the Digital Europe agenda for the period 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12221/7) and on business-to-business platform relations, in order to ensure a fair and transparent digital single market - report by Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark) (see EUROPE 12194/2). Finally, still on Wednesday, the Parliament will have to confirm its position at first reading on the European Competence Centre , while interinstitutional negotiations on this subject are blocked (see EUROPE 12226/16).
EFSA. On Wednesday, the plenary will vote, after a debate the day before, on the reform of general food law to increase the transparency of EFSA's scientific risk assessments, analysed in the report by Pilar Ayuso (EPP, Spain) (see EUROPE 12192/19).
Fisheries. On Tuesday, Parliament will also have to approve the compromise text between EU institutions on technical measures, which includes an end to electric trawling on 1 July 2021 (see other news).
Foreign Affairs. On Tuesday, MEPs will debate the situation in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe after Cyclone Idai. They will also discuss the situation in Libya with the High Representative of the EU, as fighting continues near Tripoli and the National Conference has been postponed (see other news). The Parliament will also return to the protection of the integrity of the European elections, in particular the international threats to cybersecurity.
On Thursday, MEPs will discuss and vote on three resolutions on human rights and democracy. They will focus on China, including the situation of religious and ethnic minorities, Cameroon and Brunei.
Greta Thunberg meets with MEPs
In addition, climate change activist Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, will visit the European Parliament on Tuesday to meet with President Antonio Tajani and then address the Environment Committee on Tuesday. While the Greens/EFA, S&D and GUE/NGL were in favour of a plenary intervention, the other groups opposed it. The EPP justified its opposition by explaining that interventions in the Chamber were reserved for Heads of State and Government. (Editor)