The Covid-19 pandemic and the economic recovery of the European Union will once again dominate the MEPs’ agenda at the plenary session to be held in Brussels from Monday 8 to Thursday 11 February. Societal issues, with the abortion ban in Poland, and diplomatic issues, with the recent demonstrations in Russia in reaction to the imprisonment of opponent Alexei Navalny and the coup in Myanmar, will also be on the agenda.
The European Parliament will vote on Monday 8 February on the interinstitutional agreement reached in December on the ‘Recovery and Resilience Facility’ (see EUROPE 12626/1). A debate will be held the next day, in the morning on Tuesday 9 February, pending the results of the vote, which will be known on Thursday. Once approved by Parliament, the Facility will have to be adopted by the EU Council.
Compared to the European Commission’s initial proposal, the co-legislators have broadened the scope of the Facility. They have also changed the governance by strengthening Parliament’s role, reinforced climate change and digital actions, and increased pre-financing. The Facility will also be subject to macroeconomic conditionality (for more information, see EUROPE 12626/1).
Controversy over the Commission’s vaccination strategy
As always, the plenary session will be dominated by current events, in particular those related to the European Commission’s vaccination strategy against coronavirus. The European Parliament will thus hold a debate with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Wednesday 10 February, on the approach adopted by her institution.
The Commission has been heavily criticised, in particular for delays in the delivery of vaccine doses, lack of transparency in contracts with major pharmaceutical companies, and restrictions on the export of vaccines (see EUROPE 12651/1).
At the conference of group presidents held on Thursday 4 February, the S&D reportedly proposed to organise a hearing, in the framework of the conference of presidents, with the various leaders of the major pharmaceutical companies. A proposal has yet to be worked out, but could well be made next week, in coordination with Parliament’s ‘Environment and Public Health’ (ENVI) and ‘Industry and Research’ (ITRE) committees, we are told. Establishing a working group similar to the one set up for the Brexit negotiations, to regularly monitor vaccinations, is also being considered. The question of setting up a commission of enquiry was also reportedly addressed.
Coup d’état in Burma and the situation in Russia
Also on Tuesday, in the presence of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the parliamentarians will debate the situation in Russia in light of recent events and the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, the opponent of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin (see EUROPE 12650/17).
On the same day, Mr Borrell will hold a debate with parliamentarians on the situation in Myanmar and the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi by the Burmese military junta after the military coup in the country (see EUROPE 12650/20). The situation in Yemen will also be on the agenda. One of the issues that will be discussed is the radical change in the diplomatic direction of the United States with the arrival of the new president, Joe Biden.
De facto abortion ban in Poland
On the societal side, MEPs will meet on Tuesday for a debate on the de facto abortion ban in Poland (see EUROPE 12611/18). At the Conference of Presidents, the ECR group reportedly expressed its opposition to the inclusion of the debate on the agenda. It is true that the group is dominated by members of the national PiS party, which leads the government in Poland. The far-right group reportedly tried to change the title of the debate, without success.
Later in the day, parliamentarians will take stock of the progress made in the 25 years since the Beijing Declaration to combat violence against women (see EUROPE 12589/32). In addition, a debate on fundamental rights, including freedom of expression in an era of the ‘digitalisation of politics’, will be held on Wednesday, with the EU Council and the Commission in attendance.
On Monday, the European Parliament will hear Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, take stock of her work at the head of the institution, particularly since the start of the pandemic. A vote on the ECB annual report will take place on Wednesday.
Poverty
On the social front, the European Parliament will hold a debate on Monday on the phenomenon of the spread of poverty among workers. On Tuesday, it is expected to vote on the report by Özlem Demirel (The Left, Germany) on the subject (see EUROPE 12637/28). The proposed directive to establish decent minimum wages in Europe will be the focus of parliamentary attention.
On Thursday morning, MEPs will debate the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Ostrovets, in the presence of the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, before voting on a draft resolution on the subject prepared by the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) (see EUROPE 12646/8).
The European Parliament will debate the EU’s Second Circular Economy Action Plan on Monday, based on the own-initiative report by Jan Huitema (Renew Europe, Netherlands), and will vote on the report on Tuesday.
In particular, the report calls for the setting of binding targets for the reduction of the use of primary raw materials and the consumption footprint for the entire life cycle of a product, and urges the European Commission to introduce harmonised circular economy indicators in 2021 (see EUROPE 12645/5). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens with Agathe Cherki, Damien Genicot and Aminata Niang)