The European Parliament will once again meet in person in Strasbourg from Monday 5 to Thursday 8 July for a final plenary session before the summer break. At the heart of this session is the issue of the Rule of law, which will be addressed in various debates.
It is expected to be brought up by MEPs in particular when they meet Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša on Tuesday morning. The latter will present the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council, which began on Thursday 1 July in a rather tense atmosphere (see EUROPE 12753/3, 12754/1).
Spokespersons of the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, ECR and The Left groups told the press, on Friday 2 July, that their groups were looking forward to the debate.
The social democrats are said to be pleased that they will have the “chance” to address the Slovenian head of government directly and announced “critical” interventions. Renew Europe promised as well “some strong messages” for Mr Janša, whose last appearance in the Parliament was a fiasco (see EUROPE 12687/1).
Situation in Poland and Hungary. On the Rule of law, the European Parliament will also come back on Wednesday morning, in the wake of its debate on the recent Hungarian law affecting LGBTIQ rights (see EUROPE 12747/7), to the outcome of the recent hearings of Hungary and Poland under the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedures of the Treaty. Held on 22 June, the hearings had led to a tense debate on the situation in Hungary and renewed concerns about the independence of the judiciary in Poland (see EUROPE 12746/1).
A topical resolution will be put to the vote on the issue of LGBTIQ rights in Hungary only. The subject could also be raised again on Wednesday during the discussion on the conclusions of the June European summit (see EUROPE 12748/1).
Economy and Finance. The Rule of law will also be discussed on Tuesday 6 July in the debate on the draft report by Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spain) and Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, Finland) criticising the European Commission’s future guidelines on the application of the general conditionality regime for the protection of the EU budget (see EUROPE 12753/4).
MEPs are expected to reiterate that these guidelines are not essential for the application of the new Rule of law conditionality regulation nor for the Commission to launch investigations into potential Rule of law violations in Member States. The vote will take place on Wednesday and the results will be announced on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday evening, MEPs will also debate the draft ‘Marques’ report on the European economic governance framework, which aims to set the parameters for the reflection on the revision of the EU’s fiscal rules (see EUROPE 12745/9).
To address the issue of public debt exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the report calls for the introduction of an ‘expenditure rule’ with a ceiling when a country’s public debt exceeds a certain threshold. This rule would be applied in a differentiated way across Member States. The vote on the report will take place the following day.
MEPs will debate the financial activities of the European Investment Bank at the opening of the session on Monday. They will vote on the ‘Silva Pereira’ and ‘Eickhout’ reports the following two days.
Covid-19. The health issue will, of course, be back on the agenda, albeit a little more discreetly.
On Tuesday, MEPs will vote on an own-initiative report by Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, Belgium) on the Covid-19 impact on trade. Adopted by the Committee on International Trade in May (see EUROPE 12727/19), it sets out the Parliament’s vision for future EU trade policy, closely linked to environmental objectives and urgent health needs.
In particular, the text recalls the European Parliament’s request to temporarily waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines (see EUROPE 12738/1).
In addition, this session will be an opportunity for the Parliament to confirm its negotiating position on the draft regulation aimed at strengthening the role of the European Medicines Agency to deal with possible future health emergencies (see EUROPE 12752/15). The text will be debated on Wednesday and voted on Thursday.
Migration. On Wednesday, MEPs will endorse a series of texts on the Asylum and Migration Fund and the Border and Visa Management Instrument. They will also validate recent changes to the Visa Information System (see EUROPE 12742/26) after discussing these reports on Tuesday evening.
The report by Tanja Fajon (S&D, Slovenia) on the Schengen area will also be debated and voted on Wednesday (see EUROPE 12727/6).
Foreign Affairs. The four-day session will be punctuated by debates on various topics related to foreign affairs.
On Monday evening, Antonio López-Istúriz White (EPP, Spain) will present his report on EU-NATO cooperation in the context of transatlantic relations, before a vote on Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the exchange with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, will begin with a statement by the latter on the political crisis in Nicaragua. In early June, he had condemned the continuing repression in the country (see EUROPE 12739/26) and warned the Ortega regime against adopting further European sanctions.
The discussions will then focus on the repression of the opposition in Turkey, in particular of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
A resolution on the situation in Nicaragua and another on Turkey will be voted on Thursday.
On Tuesday, again with Mr Borrell, MEPs will discuss foreign interference in democratic processes, but also the EU’s comprehensive human rights sanctions regime adopted in December (see EUROPE 12617/2).
On Tuesday evening, discussions with the High Representative will conclude with an exchange on the alarming situation in Tigray, Ethiopia, where atrocities are being committed and there is a serious humanitarian crisis. Following the announcement of a unilateral ceasefire by the Ethiopian government at the end of June, the EU reiterated its call for an immediate and effective cessation of hostilities by all parties (see EUROPE 12753/31).
Finally, on Thursday, the Parliament will debate and vote on resolutions on the situation of the Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali in Iran (see EUROPE 12625/21), on recent developments in Hong Kong - including the closure of the Apple Daily media outlet (see EUROPE 12747/24) - and on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, in particular concerning Mustafa Hashem al-Darwish and Abdullah al-Howaiti.
Digital. On Monday, MEPs will debate the use of data processing technologies to combat online child sexual abuse (see EUROPE 12710/3). At the end of April, the Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an interim agreement on the legislative proposal on the detection, reporting and removal of such content by calling, messaging or e-mail services. The vote on the interim agreement will take place on Tuesday.
Environment. Four proposals to object to the authorisation or renewal of authorisation in the EU of products containing herbicide-tolerant genetically modified maize and soya (see EUROPE 12746/13) will also be put to the vote on Tuesday evening.
Then, after a debate late Wednesday afternoon on the report by Grace O’Sullivan (Greens/EFA, Ireland), MEPs will vote on Thursday to adopt their first-reading position on the comprehensive Environmental Action Programme for 2030 (8th EAP) aimed at accelerating the transition to a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy, with concrete results by 2030 (see EUROPE 12741/10).
Fisheries. The European Parliament will discuss on Monday, before a vote on Tuesday, the draft report by Peter van Dalen (EPP, Netherlands) on the negative impact of offshore wind turbines on ecosystems, fish stocks and biodiversity. MEPs want fishermen to be included in the decision-making process for the construction of new offshore wind turbines.
Offshore wind farms should only be built if there is a guarantee that they will not have a negative environmental, ecological, socio-economic and socio-cultural impact, in line with the ‘blue’ economy and the European Green Deal, say MEPs (see EUROPE 12680/11).
Transport. Lastly, Tuesday will be a busy day in the field of transport and mobility. MEPs will start the session by debating the Interinstitutional Agreement on the Connecting Europe Facility 2.0 (see EUROPE 12748/27), approved at the end of June in parliamentary committee.
They will then discuss the rationalisation measures to be put in place for the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (see EUROPE 12750/32). They will then vote on the ‘Bilbao’ report assessing the state of deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (see EUROPE 12679/18). (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki with the editorial staff)