The European Parliament’s vote to validate the von der Leyen Commission on Wednesday 27 November in Strasbourg will be the highlight of the plenary session which will start on Monday 25 November.
After President-elect of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen presents the Commissioners-designate and her political programme, MEPs will be asked to vote to confirm the College of 26 Commissioners – the United Kingdom has not proposed a candidate (see EUROPE 12374/1). Before the vote, which will be by simple majority and roll call, the political groups will withdraw in order to decide on their vote, and each group leader will make a statement.
On Friday 22 November, the representatives of the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, ECR and Greens/EFA groups said they would decide on their respective positions in Strasbourg. While the first four groups are expected to vote in favour of the College, the Greens’ position is more uncertain, as they are opposed to the appointment of Olivér Várhelyi of Hungary as Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement. For its part, the GUE/NGL has already announced that it will vote against him.
Climate. This plenary will also focus on the climate. On Monday, MEPs will debate the climate and environmental emergency and COP25, which will take place from 2 to 13 December in Madrid, before voting on resolutions on these subjects on Thursday (see EUROPE 12374/9).
Following recent storms and floods in Spain, France and Italy – particularly in Venice – Parliament will discuss the EU’s response to extreme weather events and how to protect urban areas and their cultural heritage.
Climate change will also be discussed in preparation for the summit on 12 and 13 December, the first to be chaired by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who will assume office in early December.
The 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, which is also on the summit agenda, will also be the subject of discussions between parliamentarians.
Budget. MEPs are called on Wednesday to approve the agreement reached between Parliament and EU Council negotiators on 18 November on the 2020 budget (see EUROPE 12372/1).
Parliament has obtained an additional €850 million compared to the Commission’s initial proposal for climate, innovation, research and development and youth. The total level of commitment appropriations will be €168.688 billion and the level of payment appropriations €153.6 billion.
Violence against women and children’s rights. On Monday, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (see other news), Parliament President David Sassoli will make a statement, which will be followed by a debate between MEPs on the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
In a resolution to be voted on Thursday, Parliament is expected to call on the EU and the seven Member States that have not yet done so – Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom – to ratify the Convention.
On Tuesday, MEPs are also expected to adopt a resolution on children’s rights, following their debate on the subject on 13 November. This vote comes at a time when the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The Renew Europe group would like the next Commission to create a position of Special Representative for Children’s Rights.
Foreign Affairs. On Tuesday, 2018 Sakharov Prize winner Oleg Sentsov, will officially receive his prize. It was presented to his family last year, because Mr Sentsov was being held in Russia for “terrorism” after opposing the illegal annexation of Crimea. He was released at the beginning of September (see EUROPE 12323/13). The day before, Mr Sentsov will address the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Development and the Sub-Committee on Human Rights.
The debates on foreign affairs will be held on Wednesday afternoon. In what is expected to be her last plenary session, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, is expected to discuss with MEPs the latest developments in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood, whether it is progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements in Ukraine, the new government in Moldova (see EUROPE 12367/34) or demonstrations in Georgia (see EUROPE 12371/18).
They will also discuss the situation in Israel and Palestine, “including the settlements”, and in particular the American decision to no longer consider these settlements as contrary to international law (see EUROPE 12372/21). Finally, MEPs and the High Representative will return to the situation in the Middle East, in particular the demonstrations in Iran (see EUROPE 12374/25), Iraq (see EUROPE 12365/22) and Lebanon (see EUROPE 12368/26).
On Thursday, Parliament will debate, before adopting them, three urgent resolutions on the imprisonment of human rights and religious freedom defenders in Algeria (1), Cuba (2) – in particular the case of human rights activist José Daniel Ferrer – and Haiti (3).
On Thursday, MEPs, who debated the situation in Bolivia on 13 November (see EUROPE 12369/9), will also vote on a resolution on the country.
On Wednesday, the parliament will discuss “the interference of other countries in our democracies and elections”, thereby identifying Russia without naming it. The S&D group even suggests in this regard the creation of a special committee on interference in elections in the Member States. At the October plenary session, Parliament had already adopted a resolution aimed at combating foreign interference and disinformation (see EUROPE 12346/16).
Trade. EU measures to mitigate the impact of US tariffs on agriculture, following the Airbus case (see EUROPE 12352/16), will also be on the plenary agenda, with a debate on Monday evening and a resolution on Thursday.
On Thursday, MEPs will also vote on a resolution on the risk of blocking the WTO’s Appellate Body (see EUROPE 12374/3), after a discussion on Tuesday.
Culture. On Wednesday, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, will announce the winner of the 2019 Lux Prize in the presence of the directors. Three films are in competition: Cold Case Hammarskjöld, by Mads Brügger, God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija by Teona Strugar Mitevska and The Realm by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Single headquarters in Strasbourg. The issue of the single headquarters could resurface at this plenary session, with the Identity and Democracy group wishing to include this item in the resolution on climate emergency. The group believes that the European Parliament should set an example and take concrete measures to reduce its own emissions, including those related to ‘transhumance’ between Brussels and Strasbourg for each plenary session.
For its part, the ECR group is expected to request, within the Environment Committee chaired by Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France), a study on the single head office.
In addition, members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will hear on Monday evening the three candidates for the post of European Data Protection Supervisor: Wojciech Wiewiórowski of Poland, Yann Padova of France and Endre Győző Szabó of Hungary (see other news).
Trialogues. Finally, interinstitutional negotiations (‘trialogue’) will be held in parallel with the plenary session. The results of those relating to the ‘mobility I’ package (Monday) (see EUROPE 12365A13) and the taxonomy on sustainable finance (Wednesday) (see EUROPE 12374/21) remain particularly uncertain. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Damien Genicot)