CALENDAR / Main activities of european institutions
From 16/11 to 21/11/2020
Monday 16 November
Brussels. Council of the EU. Videoconference of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries. – Exchange of views on the situation of EU agricultural markets. – Case of Covid-19 in mink farms in Denmark. – Commission presentation on: progress at EU level on combating food loss and waste; the conference on the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy. – Presentation by the German Council Presidency on: preparations for the UN Summit on Food Systems, prospects for EU forest policies and the EU Forest Strategy after 2020.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Preparatory proceedings: Coreper II, Political and Security Committee (PSC),
Brussels. European Commission. 34th round of negotiations on the EU-China Trade Treaty (through 20/11).
Brussels. European Parliament. Committee activities. – FISC: expert hearing on the role of fiscal policies in the context of post-Covid-19 economic recovery (agenda: https://bit.ly/2IxsscM ). – JURI: vote on the report on sustainable corporate governance (rapp. I. Durand); workshop “40th Anniversary of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction”. – CONT: exchange of views with the High Representative, Josep Borrell, and discharge of the 2019 budget for the EEAS (rapp. C. Ghinea); exchange of views with the European Parliament Vice-President responsible for the budget, Pedro Silva Pereira, and Secretary-General Klaus Welle on the 2019 budget discharge for the European Parliament (rapp. P. Sarvamaa); EU Court of Auditors report on the performance of the EU budget 2019 (agenda: https://bit.ly/3lw6d5c ). – PECH: exchange of views with Commission representatives on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union; exchange of views with the Commission on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on fisheries and aquaculture (measures envisaged for 2021); amendment of the Regulation on Conservation and Enforcement Measures in the NAFO Convention Area (rapp. I. Carvalhais); Regulation on Management, Conservation and Control Measures in the Convention Area of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (rapp. J. Ferreira), Report from the Commission on the collection, management and use of fisheries data (Regulation 2017/1004) (agenda: https://bit.ly/2UDka5T ). – SEDE: exchange of views with Rear Admiral Hervé Bléjean, new EU Chief of Staff and Commander of Operations; exchange of views with experts and Admiral Bléjean on ESDP missions (vulnerability and responses to disinformation campaigns); exchange of views on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh with the Director of the EU Situation Centre, José Morgado, and the Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar (agenda: https://bit.ly/3kvph29 ). – DROI: exchange of views with the UN special rapporteur and experts on the human rights developments in Palestine; exchange of views on the human rights situation in Nicaragua (agenda: https://bit.ly/36xj29o ). – FISC: expert hearing on the role of fiscal policies in the context of post-Covid-19 economic recovery (agenda: https://bit.ly/35yhaxX ). – JURI: vote on the report on sustainable corporate governance (rapp. I. Durand). – BUDG: state of play of the negotiations on the 2021-2027 MFF and the Recovery Plan; *votes from various reports (agenda: https://bit.ly/3kpalmj ). – LIBE: dialogue with Commissioner Ylva Johansson and the Director General of German Public Security (Council Presidency) on the exchange of police information in relation to the recent terrorist attacks; discussion of the report on the EU Strategy for the Security Union (rapp. JF López Aguilar); debate and votes (on 17/11) on the reports on: the situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2018 and 2019 (rapp. C. Daly), the implementation of the Dublin III Regulation (rapp. F. Keller) (agenda: https://bit.ly/2JW3qEz ). – ENVI: discussion with Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on EU preparedness and resilience in health. – EMPL: exchange of views with Commissioner Helena Dalli and experts on the impact of the pandemic on Roma, Travellers, people with disabilities and the elderly; *votes: report on a strong social Europe for a just transition (rapp. A. Jongerius and D. Radtke).
Tuesday 17 November
Brussels. Council of the European Union. Videoconference of European Affairs Ministers. – Rule of law: debate on the annual dialogue on the rule of law and assessment of the situation in some Member States (notably Poland and Hungary). – Enlargement: exchange of views on the state of play of the enlargement process with regard to Albania and North Macedonia. – EU long-term budget: state of play of negotiations on the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework. – European Semester 2021: presentation by the Presidency of the roadmap for the European Semester 2021. – Preparation of the European Council of 11-12 December.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Preparatory proceedings: Political and Security Committee (PSC).
Wednesday 18 November
Brussels. Council of the EU. Videoconference of the members of the European Economic Area (EEA) Council. Agenda not available at time of going to press.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Preparatory proceedings: Coreper I (agenda: https://bit.ly/36w8Hul ), Coreper II (agenda: https://bit.ly/2IBWago ), Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (Civcom), Trade Policy Committee (Experts) (agenda: https://bit.ly/3eVPg1W ), European Union Military Committee (EUMC).
Brussels. European Commission. Weekly meeting of the College of Commissioners. – Autumn package of the ‘European Semester’ (von der Leyen/Dombrovskis). – Commission recommendations on isolation and quarantine measures related to Covid-19 (Schinas). – Commission Recommendations on the use of rapid antigenic tests for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Schinas). – Offshore renewable energy (Timmermans). – Regulation on European Data Governance (Vestager).
Luxembourg. * Court of Justice of the European Union. #Rulings: C-463/19 (CFTC Union - can a national collective agreement reserve additional maternity leave for single mothers only?) * EU Court: #Ruling: T-814/17 (Lietuvos geležinkeliai v Commission - can the removal of a railway track by the manager of a railway infrastructure have anti-competitive effects?)
Thursday 19 November
Brussels. European Council. Videoconference of Heads of State or Government. – Covid-19: update on the EU’s response to the pandemic (follow-up to the summit on 29 October).
Brussels. Council of the EU. Videoconference of Ministers responsible for the Internal Market and Industry. – Industry and economic recovery: policy debate on the Recovery Plan and investments in transforming the industry to make it competitive, clean, sustainable and digitally oriented. – New Consumer Agenda: presentation by the Commission of its New Consumer Agenda which should strengthen synergies between EU and national consumer policies by focusing on the green and digital transitions and the effective enforcement of consumer rights online. – 2020 SME Envoy Network Annual Report: presentation by the Commission. – Presentation of the work programme of the future Portuguese Presidency in the field of internal market and industry.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Videoconference of Foreign Ministers. Agenda not available at time of going to press.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Preparatory proceedings: EU Military Committee (EUMC), Trade Policy Committee, Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI).
Brussels. European Parliament. Committee activities. – AFET: exchange of views with the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, on the situation in Montenegro and Serbia; exchange of views with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bisera Turković; exchange of views with the EEAS on the situation in Tanzania after the elections; presentation of the report on connectivity and EU-Asia relations (rapp. R. Bütikofer) (agenda: https://bit.ly/35qQj6B ). – ECON: *votes: report on the exemption for certain non-Member State exchange rate benchmarks and the designation of replacement benchmarks for certain discontinued benchmarks (rapp. C. Nagtegaal), report on the EU recovery prospectus and targeted adjustments for financial intermediaries to help recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic (rapp. O. Kovařík). – AFCO-JURI: presentation of the report on strengthening transparency and integrity in the EU institutions through the creation of an independent ethics committee (rapp. D. Freund), *votes: Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline, cooperation in budgetary matters and sound financial management (rapp. E. González Pons), Parliament’s right of initiative (rapp. P. Rangel) (agenda: https://bit.ly/2UtnC2x ). – IMCO: presentation of the new consumer agenda by the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders (agenda: https://bit.ly/32HA2Z8 ). – ANIT: Animal welfare during transport: presentation by Nikolaus Križ from the European Food Safety Authority (agenda: https://bit.ly/3eWRlKQ ).
Brussels. Council of the EU, European Commission, European Parliament. – Agriculture: interinstitutional dialogue, in the context of CAP reform, on the regulation on strategic plans.
Luxembourg. * Court of Justice of the European Union. #Rulings: – C-663/18 (B S and C A - can a Member State prevent the importation from another Member State of cannabidiol oil extracted from the whole hemp plant?) – C-238/19 (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge - can the refusal to perform military service in the context of the civil war in Syria be linked to one of the grounds of persecution capable of giving rise to the recognition of refugee status?) #Conclusions: – C-505/19 (Bundesrepublik Deutschland – does the ne bis in idem principle and the right of citizens of the Union to freedom of movement preclude the implementation by Member States of a red notice issued by Interpol at the request of a third State, thereby restricting a person’s freedom of movement?) – C-900/19 (One Voice and Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux - to what extent can the hunting with birdlime, a traditional method widely used for purely recreational purposes in certain French departments, be considered to be of considerable cultural importance which may justify the existence of derogations from the prohibition on that method of hunting?)
Friday 20 November
Brussels. Council of the EU. Videoconference of Foreign Ministers. *Defence: – News: Briefing by the High Representative, Josep Borrell, on the situation in Mali and Operation Irini. – Exchange of views on the ‘Strategic Compass’ – a process providing enhanced strategic direction for EU security and defence – and strategic review of Permanent Structured Cooperation (adoption of conclusions on the latter). – The videoconference will be preceded by a meeting of the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency in the morning.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Videoconference of Ministers responsible for Space Policy. – Informal political debate on Europe's role in the global space economy (strengthening the competitiveness of the European space industry on world markets; a more incisive role in multilateral negotiations and the development of international space regulations). – Preparation of the 10th Space Council (Space Council and ESA Council): policy debate on the European contribution to establishing key principles for the global space economy (on the basis of the conclusions adopted on 11/11). – Presentation of the priorities of the future Portuguese Presidency of the Council in the field of space.
Brussels. Council of the EU. Preparatory proceedings: Coreper I, Trade Policy Committee.
Saturday 21 November
Riyad, KSA. International meetings. G20 Summit by videoconference (and 22/11). Following the 26 March videoconference on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic: leaders will take stock of the collective response and discuss international cooperation in the fight against the virus and the economic consequences of the pandemic.
