Brussels, 31/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament political groups brought a certain number of changes to the agenda of next week's plenary session in Strasbourg (see also EUROPE of 27/28 August, p.6). Other changes may be made on Monday evening during the definitive adoption of the agenda by the plenary session. Changes essentially concern the following days:
Tuesday 4th September
- As hoped by the Committee on Foreign Affairs (see EUROPE of 30 August, p.2), a debate on the situation in the Middle East was at the top of Tuesday's agenda. It will be opened by a Council declaration, delivered by Belgian Prime Minister Louis Michel, and a declaration by the European Commission. No resolution is foreseen after the debate but a draft recommendation could be prepared with a view to adoption during the sitting on 19 and 20 September in Brussels, after a debate with the High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, who will be visiting the Middle East early next week. The EP Committee on Foreign Affairs questioned Louis Michel on the EU's action in the Middle East earlier in the week (see EUROPE of 29 August, p.2).
- The discussion on the twelve reports on progress achieved by the candidate countries should begin mid morning. The other debates are deferred. The Watson report on the fight against terrorism will be examined on Wednesday morning. The joint discussion on the Schmidt report on the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Collins report on the protection of air passengers within the EU will be held on Tuesday evening (from 21h00 to 24h00), after a Commission statement on the results of the Bonn Conference on Climate Change.
- The European Commission communication should cover the White Paper on reform of European governance and be presented by President Romano Prodi. EUROPE has reason to believe that the group presidents are not pleased with this choice and would have liked the Commission to use the short debate on Tuesday evening to present the day's decision. They felt that the White Paper, already published during the parliamentary break, should be the subject of a broad debate. Furthermore, Mr Prodi may also be invited to the meeting of the Conference of Presidents scheduled for Thursday, in Strasbourg.
Wednesday 5th September
- The day will begin with a debate on the results of the G8 meeting in Genoa, with the declarations of the Commission and Council, but will not result in the adoption of a resolution. Discussions will, however, allow those who so wish to evoke the violence and the behaviour of the forces of law and order. EUROPE recalls that the GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA Groups had called for discussion on this theme in particular. The plenary may also decide, on Monday evening, to vote on a resolution as a conclusion to the debate. The decision to stick to a simple discussion had been carried by a slim majority (just two votes). Only the EPP-ED, ELDR and UEN groups are opposed to the adoption of a resolution. The session will continue with the discussion of the Watson report on terrorism, then by other reports already set out in the provisional agenda, the Schmid report on Echelon being finally discussed in the afternoon.
The themes retained for the emergency debate on Thursday are: Zimbabwe; - foot and mouth disease; - human rights; - anti-personnel mines; - and drought in Central America.