On Monday 11 September, MEPs will return to the Strasbourg plenary session, which on Wednesday morning will be dominated by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s final State of the Union address before the European elections, as well as the export of Ukrainian grain.
The extreme heat of the summer, with its increasing number of fires, will also dominate the plenary. Another guest will be the wolf, whose protected status will be debated.
State of the Union Address. The expectations of the European Parliament groups are diverse. For the EPP Group, the Commission will have to put European citizens back at the centre of European policies and provide “the education that has not been provided to date” on the texts of the ‘Green Deal’, explained the group on Friday 8 September.
For the S&D group, Ursula von der Leyen will have to pursue the “progressive” reforms to which the group had made its support conditional in 2019. The situation is pretty good at this stage, with the Green Deal and gender equality, “but the work is not finished”, emphasised Utta Tuttlies, the group’s spokeswoman.
Ms von der Leyen will also have to strengthen the European pillar of social rights, with a clear message about “putting an end to austerity”. For Renew Europe, it will be imperative to finalise the major projects of the legislature, and the group is particularly looking to Ms von der Leyen to give impetus to the ‘Asylum and Migration Pact’. The Greens/EFA and The Left groups will be waiting for her on climate challenges, but also on respect for human rights at a time when the EU has signed agreements with third countries that violate migrants’ rights.
For the ECR and ID groups, it will be necessary to move away from “dogmatism” on the ‘Green Deal’ and, for ID, to halt migration and the increase in the European budget.
Energy. This is a complex issue that will dominate the opening session on Monday. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, will announce the mandate to launch the inter-institutional negotiations on the reform of the electricity market, but Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe, French) wants to contest this decision (see EUROPE 13226/1). He will need to collect 72 signatures to organise a new vote, which would take place on Thursday.
On Tuesday morning, MEPs will also debate the Renewable Energy Directive, which will be put to the vote on Thursday (see EUROPE 13153/1, EUROPE 13204/3).
Ukrainian grain. On Tuesday, the Commission will make a statement on Ukrainian grain exports, following the end of the international agreement (Black Sea grain initiative). With the temporary restrictions on imports of this grain into EU countries close to Ukraine due to expire on 15 September, the Commission is looking for a solution that satisfies everyone (Ukraine, Eastern European countries, etc.). Many Member States would like to see these restrictions lifted, and the proposals put forward (to subsidise Ukrainian exports) by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, do not seem to convince everyone (see EUROPE 13244/15).
Internal market/industry. The European Parliament will vote on three texts: - MEPs will vote on the provisional agreement on geographical indications for industrial products on Tuesday, after debating it the day before (see EUROPE 13174/7); - They will also vote on the report by Mr Schwab (EPP, German) on the Single Market Emergency Instrument (‘SMEI’) on Wednesday (see EUROPE 13225/11).
Nicola Beer’s (Renew Europe, German) report on access to critical raw materials will then be put to the vote on Thursday, following a debate on Wednesday. The Industry Committee (ITRE) adopted its mandate on 7 September (see EUROPE 13245/1).
On Wednesday, MEPs will also put an oral question to the Commission on the EU-US agreement on critical minerals, with a resolution on the subject on Thursday.
Migration. On Tuesday morning, MEPs will question the Council of the EU and the Commission on the agreement on migration sealed in July with Tunisia to prevent migrants from leaving for the EU (see EUROPE 13240/5)
Civil protection/Disasters. On Tuesday morning, MEPs will debate the EU’s resilience to extreme weather events, such as heat waves, floods and forest fires, which have increased in number this summer.
Transport. On Tuesday, MEPs will also vote on the ‘RefuelEU Aviation’ regulation on alternative fuels for aviation (see EUROPE 13170/3). The text was the subject of an institutional agreement in April and was approved by the Council in June (see EUROPE 13206/27).
GMO. On Tuesday, MEPs will vote on proposed objections to market authorisation in the EU of two herbicide-tolerant varieties of genetically modified maize imported for food use (see EUROPE 13225/7).
Fundamental rights, gender equality and Roma children. The Commission will address MEPs on Tuesday on the subject of the normalisation of far-right and far-left discourse, including antisemitism.
On Wednesday, Maria Noichl (S&D, German) will present her report calling for the development of a European approach to regulating prostitution, proposing in particular to criminalise the purchase of sexual services, an issue which divides the political groups (see EUROPE 13210/24). It will be voted on Thursday.
On Thursday, the Commission will also discuss discrimination and violence against women in sport, following the ‘Rubiales’ affair during the Women's World Cup.
On Thursday, MEPs will also question the Commission on ways to combat discrimination against Roma children in education.
Large carnivores. On Wednesday, MEPs will discuss the protection status of wolves and other large carnivores within the EU. On 4 September, the Commission announced that it was ready to present “a proposal to modify the protection status of the wolf in the EU and to update the legal framework in order to introduce, where necessary, greater flexibility in the light of the evolution of this species” (see EUROPE 13242/5). The European Parliament is in favour of changing this status.
European Commission/Institutional. On Tuesday, the assembly will vote on the appointment of Iliana Ivanova as European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, Sport and Youth. Its hearing by the relevant parliamentary committees has already convinced MEPs (see EUROPE 13243/1, 13243/2).
Two other important issues will be put to the vote on Wednesday. The European Parliament will therefore be asked to ratify its own composition for the 2024-2029 legislature. Compared to the European Parliament’s initial proposal to increase the number of seats in the assembly from 705 to 716 (see EUROPE 13202/11), the Council of the EU wishes to grant four additional seats to France (+2) and to Belgium and Poland (+1 each) (see EUROPE 13237/13).
After a debate on Monday, MEPs will approve the reform of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, which aims to strengthen the rules on transparency and ethics in parliamentary work (see EUROPE 13245/12). What will be observed is the ability of the left and centre-right groups to obtain an absolute majority of MEPs on provisions strengthening the draft ‘Bischoff’ report, which the EPP group rejected in the Institutional Affairs Committee.
Budgetary control. On Wednesday, MEPs will vote on the appointment of Katarína Kaszasová to the European Court of Auditors.
Taxation. Also on Wednesday, they will vote on the opinion report on the revision of administrative cooperation in tax matters ‘DAC8’. This report was approved by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) (see EUROPE 13211/16) in June, while the Council reached agreement at the May ‘Economic and Financial Affairs’ Council (see EUROPE 13183/1).
Environment/Air Quality. On Wednesday, MEPs will adopt the European Parliament’s position on the revision of air quality standards in the EU to bring them more into line with WHO standards, on the basis of a report by Javi López (S&D, Spanish) (see EUROPE 13210/7).
EYCS. MEPs will vote on Tuesday and Thursday on two reports from the Culture Committee, on the European Schools system and on the future of the European book industry (see EUROPE 13225/25).
Defence and Foreign Affairs. On Monday evening, the rapporteurs on the European defence industry reinforcement through common procurement act (EDIRPA), Michael Gahler (EPP, German) and Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, Polish), will present the institutional agreement reached on 27 June and validated by the relevant European Parliament committees on 18 July (see EUROPE 13225/29). The European Parliament will vote on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, MEPs will also debate the situation in Iran with EU High Representative Josep Borrell, one year after the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini in detention (see EUROPE 13025/28). They will also discuss the reports by Nacho Sánchez Amor (S&D, Spanish) on Turkey and Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Lithuanian) on relations with Belarus. These reports will be put to the vote on Wednesday 13 September.
On the same day, after the State of the Union address, MEPs will hold a formal sitting to hear the exiled leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
The EU High Representative will make a statement on Tuesday on EU/Latin America and Caribbean relations, following the Brussels summit in mid-July (see EUROPE 13225/1, 13224/1). MEPs will also adopt a resolution on the rule of law in Guatemala, where the elected President, Bernardo Arévalo, is facing attempts to undermine the democratic process (see EUROPE 13239/22).
There will also be a debate on the situation in the Sahel and Central Africa following the military coups in Niger (see EUROPE 13240/3, 13239/4) and Gabon (see EUROPE 13240/4). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with the editorial staff)