The European Parliament’s plenary session, which starts on Monday 6 June in Strasbourg, will focus on the climate with debates and votes on the legislative package to put the EU on track to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (‘Fit for 55’ package).
Climate.
On Wednesday, MEPs will vote on eight proposals in the ‘Fit for 55’ package, following a debate on Tuesday. The votes will be held in two sessions.
The first, from 12.30 to 14.30, will focus on the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (see EUROPE 12954/2), the establishment of a ‘Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’ (CBAM - see EUROPE 12954/6), the revision of the ETS for aviation (see EUROPE 12954/3), the inclusion of the ‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’ (CORSIA - see EUROPE 12764/10) and the creation of a ‘Social Climate Fund (see EUROPE 12955/16).
The second session, from 5 to 6 pm, will deal with the revision of the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR - see EUROPE 12954/4), the revision of the CO2 emission standards for new cars and vans (see EUROPE 12950/10) and the revision of the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation (LULUCF - see EUROPE 12954/5).
Some points in the texts divide the political groups and are therefore likely to lead to close votes. These include the issue of phasing out free emission allowances, the level of ambition of the ETS and the proposal that all new cars and vans registered in the EU should be zero-emission from 2035 (see EUROPE 12963/7, 12964/37).
The texts adopted in the parliamentary committees in mid-May could thus undergo significant changes.
Regarding the ‘Social Climate Fund’, for example, MEPs will be asked to vote on surprise amendments tabled by the EPP and S&D groups on the inclusion of SMEs in the scope of the fund, modifying the consensus reached on 18 May in the Committees on the Environment (ENVI) and Employment (EMPL) (see EUROPE 12955/16) (see other news).
Foreign Affairs.
MEPs will again discuss the situation in Ukraine, including on Wednesday 8 June, when they will debate with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen the conclusions of the 30-31 May European Council which agreed on a 6th sanctions package (see EUROPE 12961/1 and other news). Afterwards, they will listen to the speech of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefantchuk, in a formal sitting.
The day before, in the late afternoon, MEPs will question the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the EU’s efforts to address the consequences of the war in Ukraine for third countries. They will also discuss the report by David McAllister (EPP, Germany) and Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe, France) on the EU’s foreign, security and defence policy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the report by Witold Jan Waszczykowski (ECR, Poland) on security in the Eastern Partnership area and the role of the Common Security and Defence Policy. Both reports will be voted on Wednesday afternoon.
On Monday, MEPs will debate security issues in the Indo-Pacific region and the EU’s presence. The next day they will vote on David McAllister’s own-initiative report on the subject. In this text, the MEPs call for a stronger European presence in the region, particularly in the field of security and defence, and for the development of strategic links.
In addition, MEPs will debate on Monday and vote on Tuesday on the 2021 report on Turkey by Nacho Sanchez Amor (S&D, Spain) and the report by Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, Austria) on the EEAS roadmap on climate change and defence.
The Parliament will debate on Wednesday afternoon violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Georgia, human rights in China, especially in view of the latest revelations about police files suggesting Beijing’s involvement in the repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and the use of the judiciary for repressive purposes against the political opposition in Nicaragua. They will vote on emergency resolutions on these issues on Thursday.
Trade.
The plenary will adopt two texts. They will debate on Wednesday and vote the following day on the agreement reached in interinstitutional negotiations for an instrument on international public procurement (IPP) (see EUROPE 12910/8).
In addition, they will be called upon to adopt a motion for a resolution to ban products made with forced labour in the European market (see EUROPE 12954/22). The Commission is due to present a legislative proposal on this issue before the end of the year. The Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), has sent a series of 16 questions for oral answers on this future piece of legislation, which he will present on Thursday morning.
Next Generation EU.
On Tuesday afternoon, as part of the Next Generation EU recovery plan, MEPs will debate the Polish recovery plan, which has received a positive assessment from the European Commission (see EUROPE 12963/3, 12964/23). They have regularly warned the latter against approving this plan as long as the Rule of law, and in particular the independence of the judiciary, is not fully respected in Poland. The Commission stresses that Warsaw must first reform the country’s judiciary by the end of June, in line with EU case law, before receiving a first tranche of financial assistance.
CAP.
On Monday, at the opening of the plenary session, MEPs will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). At the ceremony in the Strasbourg hemicycle, the European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, French Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Marc Fresneau (tbc), the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski and the Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Norbert Lins (EPP, Germany) will give speeches.
Fisheries.
The European Parliament will vote on Tuesday on the report by Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, France) on the implementation of Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy regulation (see EUROPE 12951/18).
Food Safety.
On Monday evening, MEPs will question the European Commission on how to reduce the use of pesticides and strengthen consumer protection, in line with the European Green Deal. The exchange will come after the NGO PAN Europe warned of a sharp rise in illegal pesticide residues on fruit in the EU since 2011 (see EUROPE 12959/2).
Biodiversity.
On Thursday, in an oral question, MEPs will ask the Commission to explain how it assesses the extent of illegal logging in the EU and monitors Member States’ progress in restoring affected areas. The draft resolution will be put to the vote at a later plenary session (see EUROPE 12955/12).
Future of Europe.
On Wednesday, MEPs will debate the future of Europe with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, after welcoming Mario Draghi (see EUROPE 12944/2). The Lithuanian, Finnish, German and Greek leaders also expressed their wish to debate in future plenary sessions.
On Thursday, the Parliament will call on the Council of the EU and the European Commission to take a position on whether a Convention should be convened to reform the EU treaties (see EUROPE 12964/25). In order to maintain the momentum generated by the Conference on the Future of Europe, it will adopt a second resolution calling for the establishment of a Convention to keep up the pressure on the Member States (see EUROPE 12945/7). In mid-June, the Commission will present its guidelines on the follow-up to the Conference and, at the end of June, the European Council could give first indications on the appetite of these Member States for an institutional reform of the EU.
Also on institutional issues, MEPs will debate, on Wednesday, the European Parliament’s right of legislative initiative. The draft report by Paulo Rangel (EPP, Portugal) calls for a revision of the treaties to give the European Parliament a general and direct right of legislative initiative, which should apply at least in those policy areas where the European Parliament is co-legislator (see EUROPE 12776/6).
Europol.
On Wednesday 8 June, the Parliament will confirm the political agreement reached with the Council of the EU on the reform of the police cooperation agency Europol and on the modalities for entering alerts into the Schengen Information System (see EUROPE 12911/23). Europol will be able to propose to Member States to enter such alerts on the basis of information received from third countries, but will not be able to enter them directly.
Labour migration.
MEPs will debate, on Wednesday 8 June in the afternoon, the Talent Partnership which aims to attract lower-skilled migrants from North African countries to meet the needs of the European labour market. This is the objective set out by the Commission in its communication of 28 April (see EUROPE 12940/8), which aims to fill sectors suffering from shortages.
Space.
MEPs will vote on Tuesday 7 June on the text tabled by Cristian-Silviu Buşoi (EPP, Romania) on extending the EU-US agreement on the promotion, provision and use of the European satellite navigation system, Galileo, and the American one, GPS.
The objective is therefore to strengthen cooperation, both bilaterally and in multilateral fora, to promote and facilitate the use of these signals, services and equipment for peaceful civil, commercial and scientific purposes. This renewal extends the agreement for a further five years.
As a reminder, this agreement was signed in the Dromoland Castle, Ireland, on 26 June 2004. It entered into force on 12 December 2011 for an initial period of ten years and expired on 11 December 2021.
See the agenda of the European Parliament plenary session: https://aeur.eu/f/1yf (Original version in French by Anne Damiani with the editorial staff)