Brussels, 07/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Conference of President has modified its agenda (see EUROPE 4 February p 16) for the EP plenary session next week in Strasbourg. These changes essentially involve the order of the work: common discussion, forecast for Monday evening on movement of persons but which will now take place on Tuesday morning instead of the debate on the Cauldron report (clinical trials in developing countries) is now in the March session. The Stihler report on breast implants set for Tuesday will be examined on Thursday morning instead of the Whitehead report on consumer policy, which has been postponed till March as well. Tuesday evening, the Commission's communication presented by Michaele Scheyer will focus on the adaptation of financial perspectives to enlargement (see p 8). During the Conference of Presidents, several political groups displayed worries about the possible use of enlargement by the Council to amend perspectives without consulting the EP and which would contravene the inter-institutional agreement. Thursday afternoon, after a declaration by the Commission on the crisis in the steel sector, the debate on human rights will focus on Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
The Conference of Presidents also decided not to send an official EP delegation to Baghdad and not to hold a debate on the Iraqi issue during the session, unless the plenary decides otherwise. An extraordinary meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs with Greek Defence Minister Mr Papantiou, the defence committees of the national parliaments and a delegation of the NATO Assembly will be held on 18 February to discuss ESDP and Iraqi.
During the Conference of Presidents on Thursday next in Strasbourg, there will be an exchange of views on the European Convention with Messrs Hänsch and Mendes de Vigo (an EP delegation to the Convention will be meeting on Tuesday morning). The Conference of Presidents is also expected to examine the request made by the PES Group to create a temporary committee following the Prestige oil tanker disaster. It may also decide to create a working group for monitoring the use of Community funds in Palestine (EUROPE of 4 February, p.15, 5 February, p.13, and 6 February, p.17).
Furthermore, an extraordinary meeting of the constitutional committee will be held on 27 February with Dominique de Villepin and Joschka Fischer, to discuss the Franco-German contribution to the work of the Convention.