MEPs will meet again from Monday 3 to Thursday 6 October in Strasbourg for a plenary session that will continue to focus on the escalating war in Ukraine and measures to tackle the energy crisis.
The demonstrations in Iran will also mark the plenary as well as the situation in Hungary and the conditionality of EU funds.
Russian invasion. The war in Ukraine and the recent escalation with the partial mobilisation of Russian reservists or the leaks detected in the Nord Stream pipelines will be on the agenda on Wednesday morning, but it is possible that a statement will be made at the beginning of the session on Monday 3 October.
On Wednesday 5 October, the Council of the EU and the Commission will issue statements condemning Russia’s escalating announcements of its armed invasion of Ukraine, including the official proclamation, as of Friday, of the annexation of the militarily occupied Ukrainian territories, the mobilisation of 300,000 reservists and veiled threats to use nuclear weapons. The European Parliament plans to adopt a specific resolution the following day.
Energy crisis. This will be one of the priority issues for the EPP, S&D, Greens/EFA and The Left groups, all of whom expect decisive action to bring down the price of energy bills for European citizens. On Wednesday, MEPs will adopt a non-legislative resolution assessing the European Commission’s proposals to protect consumers and businesses from rising energy prices.
While a package of three emergency measures has just been agreed by Member States’ energy ministers (see other news), the Commission is also expected to present an action plan on gas prices on Tuesday 4 October, in view of a future legislative proposal.
Rule of law in Hungary and conditionality of EU funds. Following statements by the Commission and EU Council on Rule of law conditionality, on Tuesday afternoon the European Parliament will debate the proposal to freeze €7.5 billion of EU funds for Hungary to protect the EU budget, due to the country’s failure to respect the Rule of law. MEPs (except those from the ID and ECR groups) will call on EU Member States to adopt the proposal quickly, despite Hungary’s proposed measures to remedy the problems identified (see EUROPE 13032/15).
Schengen enlargement. The subject has not been discussed for a long time, but MEPs are still impatient about the entry into the Schengen area of Bulgaria and Romania, which have been left waiting since 2011. They will again call on the EU Council on the afternoon of 5 October to accept their entry into Schengen. They will also discuss more generally the free movement area and its revision (see EUROPE 12853/1).
For the rest, MEPs will start the plenary on Monday with debates on Health and two important texts constituting the first “Health Union” package. The first debate will be on the report by Joanna Kopcińska (EPP, Polish) on strengthening the mandate of the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC (see EUROPE 12752/15). The second will be on the report by Véronique Trillet-Lenoir (Renew Europe, French) on the regulation on serious cross-border health threats (see EUROPE 12979/24). The final vote on both texts will be held on Tuesday 4 October.
The topic of “health” will also close the plenary with a debate on an oral question on the communication “Covid-19 - Supporting European preparedness and response”.
Taxation. On Monday, MEPs will also discuss the own-initiative report by Lídia Pereira (EPP, Portuguese) on the impact of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies on taxation (see EUROPE 12939/13). The text calls for a common approach to the taxation of crypto-assets. The European Parliament will vote on its final position on the text the following day.
Cohesion. On Monday, MEP Niklas Nienaß (Greens/EFA, German) will present the position of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development (REGI) on the FAST-CARE proposal. The initiative, put forward by the Commission and taken up without amendments by REGI MEPs, aims to make the rules for using cohesion funds more flexible in order to assist refugees from Ukraine (see EUROPE 13022/29). It will be put to the vote on Tuesday 4 October.
Religion. The ECR group, supported by the ID and EPP groups, also asked to debate, on Monday 3 October in the afternoon, the EU’s actions in the field of religious freedom, in the Union or in the world, and the situation of Christians.
Environment. MEPs will vote on 4 October to confirm the provisional interinstitutional Agreement to tighten concentration limits in waste for highly toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (amendment of Annexes IV and V of the EU POPs Regulation 2019/1201) (see EUROPE 12976/1).
Biodiversity. MEPs will have another debate on Tuesday on the EU’s strategic objectives for the 19th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES COP19, Panama, 14-25 November). A draft resolution put to the vote on Wednesday calls for the total elimination of all illegal wildlife trade by 2025 (see EUROPE 13018/6).
Common charger. Tuesday 4 October will also see the opening of a debate on the directive on the common charger for electronic devices and the interinstitutional agreement reached in early June (see EUROPE 12966/13), followed in the afternoon by a vote on the text, defended by Alex Saliba (S&D). The text covers some 15 types of electronic devices, including smartphones, and also imposes a framework for developing standards on wireless charging.
Transport - MEPs will vote again on 4 October on the temporary easing of slot use rules at EU airports. The new measures should take effect on 9 October. This text, which reviews the minimum thresholds for the use of airport slots and returns, among other things, to the issue of derogations, coordination and slot management, was discussed in the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport on 31 August (see EUROPE 13011/16).
Inclusion. On Tuesday afternoon, MEPs will also debate the situation of Roma people in the EU. In a motion for a resolution, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) calls for concrete national and European measures to address the marginalisation of Roma communities. The plenary will vote on the proposal on 5 October. Accessibility. MEPs will also debate a report on accessibility policies for people with disabilities in the EU Internal Market. The report, tabled by Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA, German) to the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), focuses on the AccessibleEU centre. Announced in the European Commission’s Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030, the centre's mission is to facilitate access to relevant resources and enable better implementation of EU legislation. The report will be discussed and voted on Tuesday 4 October.
Racism. The Commission will deliver a speech on institutional racism in the Union on 5 October in the afternoon. It will also address violations of the fundamental rights of EU citizens.
Space traffic management. On Thursday 6 October, MEPs will hold a debate on space traffic management and in particular on the issue of deadlines for presenting a binding framework, the Parliament being more ambitious than the Commission and especially the EU Council (European Parliament position: see EUROPE 12955/11; and EU Council position: see EUROPE 12958/24). The European Parliament resolution will be voted on the same day.
In the field of Foreign Affairs, MEPs will debate on Tuesday afternoon, in the presence of the High Representative of the Union, Josep Borrell, the Iranian women’s protest movement after the death of Mahsa Amini. The EU has already described the disproportionate use of force resulting in the deaths of many demonstrators as unjustifiable (see EUROPE 13029/24). A specific European Parliament resolution will be adopted on Thursday.
Later, Mr Borrell will answer questions from MEPs on the renewed fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over control of Nagorno-Karabakh (see EUROPE 13020/26).
The issue of sustainable development in trade will be debated on Wednesday with an oral question by Bernd Lange (S&D, German) and a resolution on Thursday. This is a follow-up to the revision of the sustainable development chapters in trade agreements proposed by the Commission in June (see EUROPE 12977/13).
On Wednesday, MEPs will debate press freedom in Myanmar and vote on a resolution on the same subject the following day.
Horn of Africa. One year after the adoption of the EU’s integrated strategy for the Horn of Africa (see EUROPE 12975/7, 12717/3), MEPs will debate on Tuesday evening the importance of this partnership and the need to adapt it to take account of the new challenges posed by the conflicts, particularly in Ethiopia, and the risk of threats to regional security (see EUROPE 13023/25).
Humanitarian aid/Climate. On Wednesday, MEPs will debate with the Czech EU Council Presidency and the Commission the humanitarian situation in Pakistan following the devastating floods in August 2022. The exchange will focus on the EU’s response in terms of emergency aid and through its civil protection mechanism (see EUROPE 13014/13) and on how to deal with the extreme weather consequences in this third country (see EUROPE 13020/4).
Human Rights. Several emergency resolutions will also be voted on, notably on the situation in Haiti and in Tigray, Ethiopia. The resolutions will be voted on Thursday, after a debate the day before. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the editorial staff)