Summary

This week’s committee hearings will be important for the EU’s trade policy. On Wednesday, October 12, the Committee on International Trade (“INTA”) will debate the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”) with farmers, businesses and trade union representatives. The Commission still hopes to provisionally apply CETA during the EU-Canada summit to be hosted on October 27 to 28. Whilst legally Article 218(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) requires only the Council to decide on provisional application, the Parliament has pushed for a vote on any potential provisional application (see a response by Commissioner Malmström to a parliamentary question on the subject here, for example). Furthermore, the final ratification of the agreement will require the European Parliament’s consent. On Thursday, October 13, meanwhile, the Committee on Legal Affairs (“JURI”) will host a joint meeting with INTA to discuss the opinion issued by the Parliament’s legal service on the “Compatibility with the Treaties of the investment dispute settlement provisions in EU trade agreements” published on June 1, 2016. The new investment court system is an essential part of the EU’s ongoing trade strategy.

On Thursday, October 13, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (“ITRE”) will consider two separate draft resolutions concerning Commission measures, proposed in February 2016, to ensure the EU’s security of gas supply and establish information sharing between Member States with regard to their international agreements on energy. The first resolution concerns a Commission proposal to ensure gas supply to households and essential services in the event of a gas crisis through strengthening cooperation among Member States. This measure has become a political priority given the current relations between the EU and Russia, and the EU’s reliance on Russia for much of its gas. The second measure will develop further an existing information exchange mechanism between Member States on the intergovernmental agreements and instruments they enter into to ensure their energy supplies. Whilst before these agreements had to be submitted to the Commission after their conclusion, the Commission now seeks to exercise more oversight by requiring submission before their ratification.

MEP Soledad Cabezon Ruiz (SP, S&D) will present her own initiative report on improving access to medicines to the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (“ENVI”) on Wednesday, October 11. This report will address issues related to quality, safety and innovation, as well as therapeutic value and also look at how industry sets the pricing, taking the value of the new products into account. Should the Committee vote to proceed, the report will be debated in plenary and could lead to a resolution, which would serve to apply political pressure on the Commission.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (“AGRI”) will vote on Thursday, October 13, concerning new rules to curb an increased influx of plant pests such as Xylella Fastidiosa. The measures would include new mechanisms to identify and deal with dangerous plants quickly and make plant health certificates mandatory for all but individual travelers importing low-risk plants.

Various Commissioners and officials will also appear before the Parliament’s committees to discuss ongoing and forthcoming legislative initiatives. On Monday, October 10, the Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, will appear before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (“ECON”). On Wednesday, October 12, Violeta Bulc, Commissioner for Mobility and Transport, will report to the ENVI Committee on the outcome of the ICAO Assembly negotiations on the Global Market Based Measure (“GMBM”) scheme for aviation emissions. Given the high levels of controversy that a previous Commission proposal caused in planning unilaterally applying the EU’s carbon-trading scheme to international flights entering or leaving the EU, the EU’s view on whether the GMBM is sufficiently ambitious to meet its targets will be closely watched. Claire Bury, Deputy Director General of DG Connect, will appear before the ITRE Committee on Wednesday, October 12, to discuss the new Commission Telecoms package. Finally, also on October 12, Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, will address the AGRI Committee, on the CAP elements of the so-called “Omnibus Proposal,” which aims to simplify and make more flexible the existing CAP arrangements.

Meetings and Agenda

Monday October 10, 2016

Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector

15:00 – 18:30 

• Hearing of Dr. Antonio ERARIO, Head of Division, International Regulatory Affairs, Department for Transport, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Italy

• Hearing of Mr Alex BURNS, Chief Executive Officer, Millbrook Group, United Kingdom

Committee on Foreign Affairs

15:00 – 18:30

• Discussion with Helga SCHMID, Secretary General of the European External Action Service

• EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties – 2016/2030(INI)

  • Rapporteur Anna Elżbieta FOTYGA (ECR, PL)

  • Adoption of amendments

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

15:00 – 18:30 

• Structured Dialogue with Margrethe VESTAGER, Commissioner for Competition

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

15:00 – 18:30 

• Legislative scrutiny time: Instruments for better regulation in the field of consumer protection: – Consumer Markets Scoreboard for 2016  – Consumer Impact Assessment Tool

Committee on Transport and Tourism

15:00 – 18:30

• Agenda not available

Committee on Fisheries

15:00 – 18:30

• Agenda not available

Committee on Culture and Education

15:00 – 18:30 

• 10th Anniversary of the Lux Prize – exchange of views on “What role for European cinema in tomorrow’s Europe”

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

15:00 – 18:30

• Hearing on the reform of the Dublin System and Crisis Relocation – see Public Hearings

Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

15:00 – 18:30

• Workshop on equality between women and men in the European Union in 2014/2015, rapporteur Ernest URTASUN (Greens/EFA, ES)

• Situation of women refugees in Greece – discussion with Fotini KOUVELA, Secretary-General for Gender Equality, Greece

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

 Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector

09:00 – 18:30

• Hearing of Mr Ekhard ZINKE, President, Kraftfahrt Bundesamt (KBA), Germany and Mr Leif-Erik Schulte, Head of Technical Service, TÜV NORD Mobilität GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

• Hearing of Mr Claude LIESCH, Director, Société nationale de certification et d’homologation (SNCH), Luxembourg

• Hearing of Mr Laurent BENOIT, CEO and Ms Béatrice Lopez de Rodas, Director, UTAC CERAM, France

• Hearing of Mr Andre RIJNDERS, Senior Engineer Emissions and Fuels, RDW, Netherlands

Committee on Foreign Affairs

09:00 – 18:30

• Jointly with the Committee on Development: Discussion with young people of the European Youth Event (EYE) on the role of EU external action in dealing with migratory flows

• Jointly with the Committee on Development and in cooperation with the Subcommittee on Human Rights: Vote on the 2016 Sakharov Prize finalists

• In association with the Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula: Discussion with Mohammad AL-JEFRI, Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council of Saudi Arabia

Committee on Development

09:00 – 18:30

• Jointly with the Committee on Foreign Affairs: European Youth Event (EYE) – discussion with young people on the role of EU external action in dealing with migratory flows

• Jointly with the Committee on Foreign Affairs and in cooperation with the Subcommittee on Human Rights: Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2016: Vote on a list of three candidates

Committee on Budgets

09:00 – 18:30 

• General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2017 – all sections – co-rapporteurs: Jens GEIER (S&D, DE) and Indrek TARAND (Greens/EFA, EE) – Adoption of draft report

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

09:00 – 18:30 

• Establishing a Union Programme to support specific activities in the field of financial reporting and auditing for the period of 2014-20 (COD)

  • Repporteur: Theodor Dumitru STOLOJAN (EPP, RO)

• Towards a definitive VAT system and fighting VAT fraud (INI)

  • Rapporteur: Werner LANGEN (EPP, DE)

• European Semester for economic policy coordination: implementation of 2016 priorities (INI)

  • Rapporteur: Alfred SANT (S&D, MT)

• Green Paper on Retail Financial Services (INI)

  • Rapporteur: Olle LUDVIGSSON (S&D, SE)

• European Central Bank Annual Report for 2015 (INI)

  • Rapporteur: Ramon TREMOS I BALCELLS (ALDE, ES)

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

09:00 – 12:30

• Cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (Text with EEA relevance) – Discussion – Rapporteur: Olga SEHNALOVÁ (S&D, CZ)

• Approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States as regards the accessibility requirements for products and services – Discussion – Rapporteur: Robert ROCHEFORT (ALDE, FR)

Committee on Transport and Tourism

09:00 – 18:30

• Unleashing the Potential of Waterborne Passenger Transport (INI)

  • Rapporteur: Keith Taylor (Greens/EFA, UK)

• New opportunities for small transport businesses, including collaborative business models (INI)

  • Rapporteur: Dominique Riquet (ALDE, FR)

• Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures (COD)

  • Rapporteur: Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, NL)

• Proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of data on goods, passengers and accidents, (COD)

  • Rapporteur: Michael Cramer (Greens/EFA, DE)

• Market access to port services and financial transparency of ports (COD), vote on the text agreed during interinstitutional negotiations

  • Rapporteur: Knut Fleckenstein (S&D, DE)

• Hearing on “Transport noise: harmful to people! How to avoid?”

Committee on Regional Development

09:00 – 18:30

• Amending Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 as regards certain provisions relating to financial management for certain Member States experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability (COD)

  • Rapporteur: Iskra Mihaylova (ALDE, BG)

Committee on Fisheries

09:00 – 18:30

• Discussion with with Manuel BARANGE, Director of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division

Committee on Culture and Education

09:00 – 18:30

• Presentation of Charlemagne Youth Prize winners

• Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on Cultural and Creative Sectors in the EU (15.30-18.30)

Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

09:00 – 18:30

• Gender equality in trade agreements – presentation of an interim report of a study by Marzia FONTANA, independent researcher, former MA Gender and Development co-director of the University of Sussex: “Gender analysis of the future Comprehensive EU-Canada Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)” (12.30)

• Hearing on EU funds for gender equality

  • Rapporteur: Clare Moody (S&D, UK)

Committee on Petitions

09:00 – 18:30

• Hearing on obstacles to EU citizens’ freedom to move and work in the internal market as presented by the petitioners (09.00-12.30) – see Public Hearings

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

 Subcommittee on Human Rights

9:00 – 18:30 

• Jointly with the Committee on Development: Exchange of views on the human rights situation in Ethiopia

• Jointly with the Committee on Foreign Affairs and in association with the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee: Hearing: Turkey and the rule of law

Subcommittee on Security and Defence

09:00 – 18:30

• Hearing “International efforts to combat ISIL: military and strategic dimension” (see Public hearings)

• Briefing on the security situation in Kiev/Eastern Ukraine: discussion with Adriano MARTINS, Deputy Head of Division Eastern partnership bilateral, EEAS

Committee on International Trade

09:00 – 18:30

• Conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada of the one part, and the European Union and its Member States, of the other part – 2016/0205(NLE) . Rapporteur Artis PABRIKS (EPP, LV) – discussion with stakeholders

• Public hearing: Trade policy and the sustainability of wildlife (see Public hearings)

Committee on Budgetary Control

09:00 – 19:30

• ECA Special Report 9/2016 (2015 Discharge): EU external migration spending in Southern Mediterranean and Eastern Neighbourhood countries until 2014

  • Co- rapporteurs:   Iris Hoffmann (S&D, DE) and Marian-Jean Marinescu (EPP, RO)

• Presentation of the Special Report by the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible, Danièle LAMARQUE, and consideration of working document

  • Co-chairs: Ingeborg Grässle (EPP, DE), CONT Chair; and Jean Arthuis (ALDE, FR), BUDG Chair

• Discharge 2015 – General budget of the EU – European Commission – Agencies – Rapporteurs: Joachim ZELLER (EPP, DE) and Dennis de JONG (GUE/NGL, NL) – Discussions

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

09:00 – 18:30

• Discussion with Fons LEROY, Chair of the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES)

• Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services – Hearing – Interparliamentary Committee Meeting –

  • Rapporteur: Elisabeth MORIN-CHARTIER (EPP, FR)

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

09:00 – 18:30

• EU options for improving access to medicines – Consideration of draft report

  • Rapporteur: Soledad CABEZÓN RUIZ (S&D, ES)

• Discussion with the Commission on HIV/AIDs, Tuberulosis and Hepatitis C

• Joint AGRI, ENVI and DEVE discussion with FAO ahead of the World Food Day 2016 “Climate is changing: Food and Agriculture must too”

• Discussion with Ms Violeta BULC, European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport on the outcome of the ICAO Assembly negotiations on the GMBM

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

09:00 – 18:30

• European Electronic Communications Code (Telecoms Framework Review), Presentation by Claire BURY, Deputy Director-General of DG Connect

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

09:00 – 12:30 

• Joint  meeting with the Committee on Environment and Committee on Development ( 15.00-16.00 room JAN 2Q2)

• World Food Day 2016 – exchange of views with the FAO 

• Discussion with Phil HOGAN, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, on the CAP elements in the so-called “Omnibus Proposal”

• Protective measures against pests of plants (COD) – vote on draft recommendation for second reading, rapporteur Anthea McIntyre (ECR, UK)

 Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

15:00 – 18:30

• Joint  meeting with the Committee on Environment and Committee on Development ( 15.00-16.00 room JAN 2Q2)

• World Food Day 2016 – exchange of views with the FAO 

• Discussion with Phil HOGAN, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, on the CAP elements in the so-called “Omnibus Proposal”

• Protective measures against pests of plants (COD) – vote on draft recommendation for second reading, rapporteur Anthea McIntyre (ECR, UK)

 Committee on Legal Affairs

09:00 – 18:30

• Agenda not available

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

09:00 – 18:30

• DNA and dactyloscopic data in Denmark – automated data exchange (CNS), rapporteur Claude MORAES (S&D, UK) – vote on two simplified procedures (Rule 50(1) – without amendment

• Discussion with Commissioner Dimitros AVRAMOPOULOS, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship on visa reciprocity (11.00-12.00)

• Hearing on the Schengen Cooperation: present and future (15.00-18.00) – see Public Hearings

Committee on Constitutional Affairs

09:00 – 18:30

• Discussion with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, The Hon. Fabian PICARDO QC MP on the constitutional relationship of the United Kingdom with the European Union: the consequences of the results of the referendum of 23 June 2016 (15.00-18.30)

Thursday, October 13, 2016

 Subcommittee on Security and Defence

9:00 – 12:30

• Workshop “Relations between the EU Members States and Saudi Arabia in the field of security and defence” (See Public hearings)

 Committee on Budgetary Control

09:00 – 12:30

• European Court of Auditor’s Annual Report – Presentation of the Annual Report concerning financial year 2015, by the President of the Court, Mr Klaus-Heiner LEHNE

Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

09:00 – 18:30 

• Vote: Regulation on mercury and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1102/2008 – Adoption of draft report

  • Rapporteur: Stefan ECK (GUE/NGL, DE)

• Vote: EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking – Adoption of draft report

  • Rapporteur: Catherine BEARDER (ALDE, UK)

• Discussion with the Commission on the study on the implementation of the ambient air quality directive

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

09:00 – 18:30

• Vote: Measures to safeguard the security of gas supply – Adoption of draft report

• Rapporteur: Jerzy Buzek (EPP,  PL)

• Vote: Establishing an information exchange mechanism with regard to intergovernmental agreements and non-binding instruments between Member States and third countries in the field of energy and repealing Decision No 994/2012/EU -Adoption of draft report

• Rapporteur: Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, PL)

• Vote: Directive amending Directives 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles, 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators, and 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment

• Rapporteur: Pavel TELIČKA (ALDE, CZ)

• Vote: Directive amending Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste – Adoption of draft opinion

• Rapporteur: Pavel Telička (ALDE, CZ)

• Vote: Directive amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste – Adoption of draft opinion

• Rapporteur: Miroslav Poche (S&D, CZ)

• Vote: Directive amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste

• Rapporteur: João Ferreira (GUE/NGL, PT)

• Vote: Cost-effective emission reductions and low-carbon investments – Adoption of draft opinion

• Rapporteur: Fredrick Federley (ALDE, SV)

Committee on Legal Affairs

09:00 – 13:00

• Joint meeting with the Committee on International Trade : Discussion on the EP’s legal opinion “Compatibility with the Treaties of the investment dispute settlement provisions in EU trade agreements

• Liability, compensation and financial security for offshore oil and gas operations (INI),

• Rapporteur: Kostas Chrysogonos (GUE/NGL, EL)

• Vote on draft report

• The application of the European Order for Payment Procedure (INI)

  • Rapporteur Kostas CHRYSOGONOS(GUE/NGL, EL)

  • Vote on draft report

• Commissioners’ declarations of interests – Guidelines (INI)

  • Rapporteur Pascal Durand (Greens/EFA, FR)

  • Vote on draft report

• Joint Public Hearing with the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee: on public international law perspectives on the prosecution of Daesh’s crimes against women and girls before international jurisdictions

 Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

09:00 – 12:30

• Agenda not available