Brussels, 04/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament returns to the normal rhythm of its activities as of next week, with meetings of the parliamentary committees of which the first will be, Monday, that of its Constitutional Affairs Committee (see page 3 of this Bulletin).
As usual, the Conference of EP Presidents and political groups will meet on Thursday to prepare the plenary session of the following week in Strasbourg: for the second time in a row, this meeting will take place in the absence of the President Nicole Fontaine who will be carrying out a official visit to Ouagadougou (see yesterday's EUROPE, pages 9, 10 and 12). Last December, Mrs Fontaine was in Nice for the European Council. The Conference of Presidents should among others examine a request by Pasqualina Napoletano (Democratici di Sinistra) intending to include into the agenda of the plenary a debate on the consequences for the health of soldiers of the use in Kosovo of certain weapons belonging to NATO containing depleted uranium (see yesterday's EUROPE, page 3). Among the other points to be retained on the agenda of the Conference of Presidents, will be: - the classification of documents linked to the security and defence policy as well as the possible creation of a restrained commission that will have access to these documents, - a demand by the German Christian Democrat Diemut Theato, President of the Budgetary Control Committee, aiming to create a temporary sub-committee for the Fléchar affair.
The Office of the Parliament should, as for it, examine a proposal by the Vice-President Renzo Imbeni (Democratici di Sinistra) concerning the publication of consolidated data on the presence of MEPs in plenary. At present, the minutes of the session already include in annex a list of MEPs present, it would presently concern, in a desire for transparency, to offer in a regular manner a figured indication of the presence for a given period of sessions. The Office should also discuss the complaint made to the European Ombudsman by the unlisted Basque Koldo Gorostiaga (Euskal Herritarrok) following the withdrawal of the right to access to the European Parliament premises from which benefited, as a former MEP, Karmelo Landa Mendibe, his badge had been withdrawn from him due to demonstrations of support for extremist actions by the Basque nationalists. Through proposals by the Vice-President Guido Podestà (Forza Italia), the Office should also examine measures to be taken to adapt the infrastructures and the working practices of the Parliament in the context of the future enlargement of the EU.