Strasbourg, 16/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the calendar of its plenary sessions for 2002, on Wednesday, the European Parliament again came down in favour of holding four-day only sessions, in Strasbourg, without the Friday morning session. In its draft calendar, the Conference of Presidents reintroduced the Friday session, which had been abolished for 2001, following the approval of amendments. For the second time, however, this session was removed, following adoption of the amendments tabled by British Labour MEP Terence Wynn and 82 others, and Andrew Duff, for the Liberal group, and 12 others. This time, however, these amendments were secured by a closer majority that last year: 246 in favour, 237 against and 19 abstentions.
Plenary did, however, reject (132 in favour, 361 against and 18 abstentions) amendments tabled by Bernd Posselt and Joseph Daul, German and French members of the EPP Group, calling for the abolition of mini-sessions in Brussels, and Gianfranco Dell'Alba, of the Bonino list, aimed, on the contrary, of extending these sessions by a day (150 in favour, 330 against, 26 abstentions) or half a day (162 in favour, 327 against, 21 abstentions).
Here is the calendar finally adopted:
From 14 to 17 January in Strasbourg;
From 4 to 7 February in Strasbourg; 27 and 28 February in Brussels;
From 11 to 14 March in Strasbourg;
From 8 to 11 April in Strasbourg; 24 and 25 April in Brussels;
From 13 to 16 May in Strasbourg; 29 and 30 May in Brussels;
From 10 to 13 June in Strasbourg;
From 1 to 4 July in Strasbourg;
From 2 to 5 September in Strasbourg ; from 23 to 26 September in Strasbourg (the holding of two sessions in Strasbourg in September is a novelty);
9 and 10 October in Brussels; from 21 to 24 October in Strasbourg (usually there are two plenary session in Strasbourg in October);
6 and 7 November in Brussels; from 18 to 21 November in Strasbourg;
4 and 5 December in Brussels; from 16 to 19 December in Strasbourg.
Among the MEPs who voted for the abolition of Friday sessions in Strasbourg, we find some French ones: the Greens, Auroi, Cohn-Bendit, Flautre, Lipietz and Pietrasanta and Rod, and members of the United Left, Fraisse and Vacheta. Voted along these lines were 86 members of the Socialist Group (of practically all nationalities except France), 61 of the EPP/ED Group (mainly English, but a majority of the members of the Group voted against), 37 of the liberal Group, 31 of the Greens/EFA Group, 16 of the united Left/Nordic Green Left, 8 of the Technical Group of Independents (almost all members of the Bonino list), 5 of the European of Democracies and Diversities Group (including Denmark's Jens-Peter Bonde, who also voted for the abolition of plenary sessions in Brussels), of the Union for a Europe of Nations.