Brussels, 10/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - The series of meetings to establish the European Parliament's committees will begin next week in Strasbourg. Twelve committees will meet in the afternoon of Thursday 16 July to elect their chairs and vice-chairs and the remaining committees will hold their constitutive meetings in Brussels on Monday 20 July 2009. No formal decisions have yet been taken but the following breakdown of posts among political parties is expected:
European People's Party (9 committees): Foreign Affairs (likely to be chaired by Italy's Mario Mauro, who has withdrawn from the running for EP president), Security and Defence Sub-Committee (the name of France's security and defence expert Arnaud Danjean is being mentioned), Budgets (France's Alain Lamassoure, former rapporteur on the general budget and former budget minister), Industry, Research and Energy (probably German CDU MEP Herbert Reul), Legal Affairs (Germany's Klaus-Heiner Lehne), Fisheries (yet to be decided), Regional Development (probably a Spanish or Polish MEP, possibly former EU Commissioner Danuta Hübner), Culture (Germany's Doris Pack) and Constitutional Affairs (most likely former Italian judge Carlo Casini).
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (6 committees): International Trade (to be chaired by a Portuguese MEP), Employment and Social Affairs (France's Pervenche Berès), Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (former Spanish justice minister Juan Fernando López Aguilar), Environment, Health and Food Safety (most likely to be chaired by a German MEP), Transport and Tourism (the UK's Brian Simpson) and Agriculture and Fisheries (former Italian farm minister Paolo De Castro).
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (2 committees): Economic and Monetary Affairs (the UK's Sharon Bowles) and the Budgetary Control Committee (Italy's Luigi De Magistris). Chairmanship of a temporary Financial Crisis Committee that is due to be created will probably go to German Liberal MEP Wolf Klinz (with Pervenche Berès as rapporteur).
Greens-EFA (2 committees): Development (former French judge Eva Joly) and the Human Rights Sub-Committee (Finland's Heidi Hautala).
Conservatives and European Reformers (1 committee): Internal Market and Consumer Protection (most likely to be chaired by the UK's Malcolm Harbour).
United European Left-Nordic Green Left (1 committee): Women's Rights and Gender Equality (yet to be decided, will probably be chaired by a woman).
Europe for Freedom and Democracy (1 committee): Petitions (yet to be decided). (A.B./transl.fl)