MEPs will meet in Strasbourg from Monday 13 to Thursday 16 February for a plenary session. This year will be marked, among other things, by the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on 6 February, the Ukraine situation and European competitiveness. Several Interinstitutional Agreements are also expected to be approved during the week, including the ‘zero emission’ target for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles from 2035.
Earthquakes in Turkey/Syria. The plenary session will open with a debate on the tragedy caused by the 6 February earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, of which the provisional death toll exceeded 21,000 on Friday. The European Commission will make a statement on the EU’s response to the humanitarian situation following the earthquakes in both countries, where thousands of survivors are homeless and destitute in the middle of winter.
The EU immediately responded through its Civil Protection Mechanism and then with an additional funding of €6.5 million in humanitarian aid to humanitarian organisations on the ground (€3.5 million for Syria and €3 million for Turkey), in addition to bilateral contributions from Member States (see EUROPE 13118/7). The European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council will organise an international donors’ conference in Brussels in March, in coordination with the Turkish authorities, which was welcomed by the EU27 heads of state and government (see EUROPE 13118/4).
Competitiveness. The competitiveness of European industry will once again be discussed, always in response to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), whose aim is to heavily subsidise locally produced green technologies. The European Commission will present to MEPs on Wednesday the proposals it has outlined in its ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’ (see EUROPE 13112/1). The European Parliament will vote on a resolution on the same subject the following day.
Access to critical raw materials will be addressed as well in an EU Council and Commission statement, also on Wednesday.
Ukraine. Also on Wednesday morning, MEPs will discuss the situation in Ukraine with representatives of the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council, ahead of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion on 24 February. They are also expected to discuss how the EU can best support Kyiv. A resolution will be put to the vote on Thursday.
Foreign affairs. On Tuesday, MEPs will debate with the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, the prospects for EU membership of the Western Balkans in a question and answer session.
After debating it on 2 February (see EUROPE 13113/12), MEPs will vote on Tuesday on a resolution on the situation of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The authorities refuse to allow the former leader to go abroad for treatment.
On Wednesday afternoon, MEPs will debate the situation in Tunisia. They will also discuss the recent deterioration in the conditions of imprisonment of Alexei Navalny and other political prisoners in Russia and will vote on an emergency resolution on this issue on Thursday. Two other emergency resolutions will be put to the vote on Thursday, following a debate the day before on the situation of human rights defenders in Eswatini, including the murder of Thulani Maseko, and violence against opposition activists in Equatorial Guinea, including the case of Julio Obama Mefuman, who died in prison. In addition, on Tuesday evening, during Commission Question Time, MEPs will debate the tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the east of the DRC. The EU recently called on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 (see EUROPE 13091/12).
Spyware in Greece. On Wednesday afternoon, MEPs will discuss the erosion of the Rule of law in Greece, in light of the wiretapping scandals, and media freedom. The European Parliament Committee of Inquiry into the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware surveillance software (PEGA) had in September looked into the scandal caused in Greece by the use of Predator spyware (see EUROPE 13017/5), including against journalists.
Transport. MEPs are expected to approve, on Tuesday afternoon, the interinstitutional agreement reached by the European Parliament and EU Council last October on the tightening of CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (see EUROPE 13075/12, EUROPE 13053/1). As a reminder, the text provides for the achievement of a zero emission target for these vehicles by 2035 and includes intermediate targets for 2030. A debate on the subject will take place on the same day, in the morning.
Space. MEPs will debate on Monday and vote on Tuesday on the institutional agreement on the regulation establishing the ‘IRIS’ constellation for secure connectivity. (See EUROPE 13073/13).
Transparency. MEPs are expected to reiterate their call for an independent ethics body for the EU institutions in a debate on Tuesday. The establishment of the ethics body was already part of the European Parliament’s demands in a resolution adopted in December 2022, a few days after the outbreak of the case of alleged corruption of current and former European Parliament members by Qatar (see EUROPE 13085/20).
The day before, in a separate debate, MEPs will debate the use of EU funds by NGOs accused in the recent ‘Qatargate’ revelations. This comes as the European Parliament political group leaders approved, on Wednesday 8 February, a plan to reform the European Parliament’s internal rules, proposed by the Parliament’s President, Roberta Metsola, (EPP, Malta), to combat corruption and questionable lobbying practices (see EUROPE 13118/18).
Democracy. After a debate on Monday, the European Parliament will endorse the draft ‘Boeselager’ report, which proposes a number of measures to make it as easy for mobile EU citizens to participate in European elections as it is for nationals of their host country (see EUROPE 13075/21).
Institutional. It should also be noted that on Tuesday, the European Parliament will extend the mandate of the Special Committee on foreign interference in all democratic processes, including disinformation (ING2), for another three months.
Economy. In the economic field, MEPs will debate on Monday the agreement reached with the EU Council on the introduction of ‘REPowerEU’ chapters in national recovery plans (see EUROPE 13084/15) and approve it on Tuesday. This agreement includes 20 billion euros of new money and the activation of the loan component of the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan to accelerate the energy transition and reduce dependence on Russian hydrocarbons. The introduction of these chapters and the resulting changes to national recovery plans will also allow Member States to integrate the new priorities for investment in ‘net zero’ industry set out in the Green Deal Industrial Plan presented in early February (see EUROPE 13112/2).
On Wednesday, MEPs will debate with the ECB President, Christine Lagarde, the ongoing normalisation of the Frankfurt-based institution’s monetary policy (see EUROPE 13113/4). They will adopt their 2022 annual report the following day.
On Tuesday afternoon, the plenary will debate with the European Commission and the Council of the EU the creation of a European committee on ethics, promised by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the beginning of her mandate in 2019. Less ambitious than the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12925/19), the Commission is slowly pursuing its consultations in view of a proposal expected during 2023. The alleged corruption scandal at the European Parliament, however, increases the urgency of acting on the issue.
Finance. Parliament will debate on Tuesday and vote on Wednesday the Interinstitutional Agreement with the EU Council on the ‘European Long-Term Investment Fund’ (ELTIF). The agreement was approved in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) on Thursday 12 January (see EUROPE 13098/29). The aim is to make these up to now little-used investment funds more attractive in order to stimulate the financing of long-term projects such as infrastructure, real estate or SMEs throughout the EU.
Trade. On Tuesday 14 February, MEPs will vote on the agreement reached on 30 November by representatives of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Constitutional Affairs with the EU Council on the European Union’s rights in the implementation of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (see EUROPE 13075/27, 13040/14). Negotiators agreed on how to enforce the EU-UK withdrawal and trade and cooperation agreements if the UK breaches them, and empowered the European Commission to take unilateral measures to restrict trade and investment and to adopt other remedial or safeguard measures.
Minimum income. MEPs will debate adequate minimum incomes in the EU on Wednesday and vote on a resolution on Thursday calling on member countries to gradually increase their minimum income schemes to at least above the national poverty line. The resolution will also ask the Commission to propose a European directive on the subject (see EUROPE 13106/2). In a debate on Wednesday afternoon, MEPs are expected to ask about the Commission’s plans to monitor whether minimum income has been effectively implemented in EU countries and to involve the social partners at EU level.
Health. MEPs will adopt, on Tuesday 14 February under urgency procedure, transitional provisions to avoid shortages of medical devices (see EUROPE 13108/9) and are expected to endorse the creation of a sub-committee of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), dedicated to public health (see EUROPE 13102/19).
Research. MEPs are expected to vote on Wednesday 15 February on Eva Maydel’s report on the creation of a European Chips Joint Undertaking under Horizon Europe.
Combating violence against women. MEPs will vote on a report encouraging the EU Council to ratify the Istanbul Convention (see EUROPE 13107/13) on Wednesday, after debating it the day before. While the text condemns the backlash against the Convention, co-rapporteurs Łukasz Kohut (S&D, Polish) and Arba Kokalari (EPP, Swedish) are counting on the Swedish EU Council Presidency to bring the dossier to a successful conclusion (see EUROPE 13107/12).
Fertiliser. Finally, the European Parliament will call for measures in favour of organic fertilisers and the suspension of import duties for mineral fertilisers when it adopts, on Thursday 16 February, a resolution analysing the European Commission’s communication on fertilisers (see EUROPE 13111/8). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin with the editorial staff)