Brussels, 23/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The 35 Romanian observers and their 18 Bulgarian colleagues will be received at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 26 September with great ceremony, where they will take their seats and take part in the work of the plenary (without the right either to take the floor or to vote, although they can speak within the political groups who will host them), until their countries have acceded to the EU, which is scheduled to happen on 1 January 2007. The President of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, will welcome them at the opening of the plenary session, on Monday afternoon, and then will greet them all individually, at a welcome ceremony organised for them afterwards. On Tuesday, still by invitation of President Borrell, there will be a reception followed by a concert in the Court of Honour of the EP. On Wednesday evening, and he Romanian and Bulgarian observers will be received by the Mayor of Strasbourg, Fabienne Keller. When asked on Friday about the usefulness of the presence of the observers when there is not yet interpretation into Romanian or Bulgarian, the spokesperson of the EPP-ED group said that the " linguistic abilities" of the observers expected by the largest group of the European Parliament were "excellent", and that the Bulgarian and Romanian MPs could speak in "German, Spanish, Hungarian, French and, in most cases, English".
On Monday afternoon, having welcomed the observers, President Borrell will address the plenary, taking stock of the past year and the tasks awaiting the Parliament in the years to come and, according to a press release, will raise the following issues: "where are we with enlargement? How should we proceed with the budgetary debate, which is today at deadlock? What part can the European Parliament play in the period of reflection which is opening up on the future of Europe? What legislative conclusions can we draw from it? Which are the priority dossiers in train and how can we get the citizens interested in them?". The press release states that Mr Borrell will discuss "recent announcements by the Commission on the likelihood that certain legislative texts will be withdrawn" under the "Better Regulation" initiative, on which Commissioner Verheugen is to take the floor on Tuesday afternoon. Speaking to the press on Friday, the spokesperson to the Greens/EFA Group confirmed the criticism voiced on this subject by this group at the meeting of the Conference of the Presidents of the political groups, which was held in Brussels (EUROPE 9033). We will discuss all of this with President Barroso, at the session of the conference of the Presidents to be held next Wednesday in Strasbourg, said the spokesperson to the Greens, pointing out that in the past, the Commission has always withdrawn proposals from time to time; this is nothing new, and it should not be "sold as some great political initiative" he said.
On Tuesday, the plenary will vote on the report by German Liberal Alexander Nuno Alvaro (ALDE), who proposes to reject the proposed framework-decision put forward by France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden on retaining telecommunications data, particularly to fight terrorism and crime. This rejection is particularly justified as the European Commission has just proposed a directive on this subject, with Parliament co-decision, said the spokesperson to the ALDE group on Friday (see EUROPE 9032 for Mr Frattini's proposal).
A further point was also added to the draft agenda of the EP, with a statement made by the Commission on Tuesday, on the recent EU/United States viticulture agreement (see EUROPE 9028 on the EU/United States agreement and 9032 on the draft agenda).
On Wednesday morning, the session will start with the highly-anticipated discussion on the opening of negotiations with Turkey and the additional protocol, which was adopted further to the most recent wave of enlargement of the EU (see other article and EUROPE 9033 on the counter-declaration of the 25, further to Ankara's declaration on its non-recognition of Cyprus).
Speaking to the press on Friday, the spokesperson to the Greens/EFA also stressed the importance of the statements anticipated for Wednesday from the Council and the Commission on the increase in oil prices (see EUROPE 9033 for more on this). In this context, he stressed, the proposals of Luxembourg MEP Claude Turmes, "Green Mister Energy", on renewable energy (which were discussed during Wednesday's night possession) are more topical than ever.
On Thursday afternoon, during the debate on infringements of human law, democracy and the rule of law, the Parliament will discuss the situation in Nepal, Tunisia and Uzbekistan (see other article on the cancellation of a visit of MEPs to Uzbekistan).