A series of measures to combat the financial crisis, greater access to health treatment when abroad and caps on roaming charges for mobile phones are just some items on the plenary agenda in Strasbourg.
A series of measures to combat the financial crisis, greater access to health treatment when abroad and caps on roaming charges for mobile phones are just some items on the plenary agenda in Strasbourg. Also being debated by MEPs from 21-24 April will be the opening of Europe's gas and electricity markets, an overhaul of fisheries policy and plans to extend music copyright from 50 to 95 years. Keeping illegal timber out of the shops and tackling bugs in Europe's hospitals will also be debated.
Below are some of the points on the agenda;
Credit Rating Agencies: responsible for the current financial crisis?
French Christian Democrat MEP Jean-Paul Gauzes for the Economics Committee will be putting forward a legislative report on Credit Rating Agencies. A credit rating agency (CRA) is a company that provides opinions on the future value of companies, securities or obligations. Wednesday.
Better oversight of insurance industry
British Labour MEP Peter Skinner will be putting forward a legislative report on Solvency II, the taking up and pursuit of the business of insurance and reinsurance. The new legislation seeks to achieve a major overhaul of the supervisory framework to enhance the financial stability of the insurance industry. Wednesday.
E-money: making it safer
The offer of e-money services should be enhanced by boosting innovation and improving consumers' confidence with a legislative report put forward by UK Conservative John Purvis for the Economics Committee. Updating the existing legislation on e-money business to achieve a true single market allowing this industry to expand is the objective of the report. Friday.
Tax havens: more scrutiny says Economics Committee
EU Member States should agree to exchange full information on interest earned on saving accounts by July 2014, says the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Members also call for an end to tax havens.
Healthcare whilst abroad
The general aim of the draft directive on cross-border healthcare is to ensure that there are no obstacles to patients who seek treatment in a Member State other than their own. It also clarifies the right to be reimbursed after a treatment in another Member State. These rights have been confirmed in European Court of Justice Judgments but are not yet included in EU legislation. The directive also aims to ensure high-quality, safe and efficient healthcare and to establish healthcare co-operation mechanisms among Member States. Parliament will vote at first reading on plans to give patients the right to seek healthcare abroad more easily and be reimbursed for the costs. The Environment and Public Health Committee's report also calls for patients to be properly informed about their rights when treated outside their home country. Thursday.
Opening of electricity and gas market debated
Europe's electricity and gas markets will be further liberalised while the rights of energy consumers are strengthened. Parliament will debate and vote on a compromise agreed with the Czech Presidency on a wide-ranging package of energy market legislation. The informal compromise negotiated by Industry Committee MEPs with the Czech Presidency still needs to be backed by the whole Parliament and the Council of Ministers. Tuesday.
Charges for calling, texting and mobile internet surfing
Charges for calling, texting and mobile internet surfing will be cut from 1 July 2009. MEPs negotiated a compromise with the Czech Presidency on the extension of the 2007 which will be debated and voted on in Strasbourg. Tuesday.
Tyre labels to show efficiency, safety and noise
Tyre buyers will be better informed about their fuel-efficiency, safety and noise performance thanks to a mandatory tyre label proposal put forward by the Industry Committee. Like the European energy label, the tyre label will use fuel-efficiency classes ranging from best-performance (green “A” class) to worst (red “G” class). It will also show the tyre's wet grip and noise performance.
Oil: reserve stocks needed
MEPs are concerned that a sudden shortage of crude oil - one of the main energy sources of the EU - could be extremely damaging to the economies of Member States, and that could also “compromise” national military capabilities. The risk of an unexpected shortage of oil has increased in recent years due to increasing global demands, the concentration of oil supplies in often unstable areas and decreasing resources within the European Union.
zero energy buildings from 2019
All buildings built after 31 December 2018 will have to produce as much energy as they consume on-site, says a report put forward by the Industry Committee, amending the 2002 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. MEPs in the committee also call for more public investments in energy-efficient buildings.
Rare diseases: an invisible threat
Although the incidence of each rare disease is very low, millions of people are affected across the European Union because the number of such diseases is high. There are between 5,000 and 10,000 rare diseases, with a total number of sufferers ranging between 27 and 36 million people. Rare diseases contribute heavily to the death rate in Europe but often go unrecorded owing to weaknesses in healthcare data systems. Concerted action at EU and national level is needed to tackle this problem, according to a report tabled to plenary by the Environment and Public Health Committee. Thursday.
War on hospital bugs
The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee is urging Parliament to back measures designed to reduce the millions of infections picked up by patients in hospitals each year. The recruitment of specialised nurses, better education, support for research and better information for patients are among the measures proposed. Patient safety is of increasing concern in healthcare systems everywhere. The most common problems are healthcare associated infections, medication-related events and complications during or after operations. Many such problems could be avoided fairly easily. Thursday.
Action plan for urban mobility
Sixty per cent of Europeans lived in urban areas in 2005, and that number will rise to eighty per cent in 2020, making urban transport a major component of goods and passenger transport in Europe. A significant proportion of greenhouse gases are generated by road traffic in urban areas. Parliament will vote on a report by the Transport Committee that seeks to prompt EU action on problems relating to urban mobility such as congestion and pollution.
Intelligent Transport Systems to make roads safer and more efficient
Fresh ideas are needed to cope with increasing congestion on transport systems (freight road transport is expected to increase by 55% and passenger road transport by 36 % by 2020) and the related energy consumption and negative environmental impacts (CO2 emissions from transport will grow a further 15% by 2020). Modern information technology can do much to improve road safety and traffic efficiency but the maximum benefit will be reaped only if measures are coordinated at European level. With this in mind, MEPs will be asked to approve with amendments a draft directive on the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport.
Shifting freight traffic from road to rail
Increased funding for projects that seek to shift freight from road to rail, and better compatibility between European rail networks, are the subject of two reports being tabled to plenary by the Transport Committee. German Socialist Ulrich Stockmann drafted the report on a regulation on “Marco Polo”, an EU funding programme which encourages the shift of freight transport from road to other, more sustainable and environmentally-friendly transport modes: rail, sea, and inland waterways. Freight transport companies who present projects which apply this “intermodal shift” are eligible for funding.
New rights for bus, coach and ship passengers
Parliament will vote at first reading on two regulations designed to replicate for bus, coach and ship passengers certain rights already granted to air travelers under EU rules. There will be stricter rules on compensation for delays and cancellations and on payments in the event of accidents and assistance for disabled passengers.
Road transport package set to speed through Parliament
Fewer empty lorries on Europe's roads, longer maximum working hours for coach and bus drivers, and tougher inspections of transport companies are among the key aims of the “road transport package” set to be approved by Parliament in Strasbourg. Members of the EP Transport Committee have hammered out a second-reading agreement with the Council on the three regulations making up the package: on cabotage rules, on maximum working hours for coach and bus drivers and on rules governing road haulage firms.
Deforestation and forest degradation
Recent studies show that there is potential for reducing global greenhouse emissions by 40 % by 2030 and that, at a cost of less than half of one percent of global GDP, wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energies could provide almost a third of total global power needs; whereas energy efficiency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter and whereas deforestation could be almost halted. Tuesday.
Stricter rules to keep illegal timber off the EU market
Stricter rules on timber sold in the EU are needed to combat illegal logging - the main cause of deforestation - says a report by Caroline Lucas (Greens/EFA, UK) for the Environment Committee. All the operators in the timber supply chain must prove the legality of their timber and illegal timber suppliers must pay penalties that reflect the degree of environmental and economic damage, it added. EU rules need to be more effective, as 20 to 40% of global industrial wood production is from illegal sources, stress the Environment committee, which calls on the Commission to table tough legislation to ensure that illegally harvested timber and timber products are removed from the EU market, through a concrete system of traceability and monitoring. Tuesday-
Music copyright to be extended to 95 years
Copyright term for music recordings must be extended from 50 years to 95 years, says legislation put forward by Irish UEN Member Brian Crowley for the Legal Affairs Committee. Increasing the term of copyright protection would ensure that performers and producers continue to receive royalties for 95 years from the first publication or performance of their song, according to a Commission proposal backed by the committee. Wednesday.
Strengthening the fight against nuclear proliferation
The next Review Conference of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is scheduled for 2010, and according to MEPs, it should be a chance to put the production, use and disarmament of nuclear weapons under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The conference also presents an opportunity to reach a consensus on a treaty to end the production of fissile material for military purposes. Thursday.
MEPs report on the Petitions Committee in 2008
The report summarises the work of the Committee on Petitions for 2008. The UK submitted the sixth highest number of petitions, whilst Ireland submitted the largest number of petitions per capita. The issues covered ranged from landfill sites to the planned route of the M3 in Ireland to the Equitable Life affair in the UK. The Committee on Petitions also expresses its hope that its powers will be extended in the next Parliament, to better allow it to represent the views of the European people. Tuesday.
Budgetary control: MEPs set to postpone approving Council spending
MEPs suggest postponing the approval of the EU Council of Ministers' spending for 2007. The Budgetary Control Committee said Council's administrative spending had in fact become increasingly operational, and that Parliament should therefore have scrutiny over the Council budget. Yet the Council has consistently refused to give the committee the facts. Tuesday / Wednesday.
Western Balkans
The prospect of future EU membership for countries of the Western Balkans is the primary guarantor of stability and a driver of reforms, say MEPs in a report drafted by Swedish Christian Democrat Anna Ibrisagic. Full membership to the EU of countries that satisfy the Copenhagen criteria must not be delayed or denied, says MEPs to the Commission and to the Member States. The EU's leverage in the Western Balkans depends on the credibility of its commitment to a European future for the region. MEPs ask the Commission and the Member States not to unduly delay or deny full membership of the EU for countries that satisfy the Copenhagen criteria. Thursday.
Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
MEPs will debate the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina after hearing statements from the Council and Commission. Parliament will also vote on a resolution on this topic. The draft resolution says that only a single sovereign state of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) can aspire to join the EU. Concerned at the deteriorating political climate in the country, MEPs deplored the “paucity of attention” paid to it by the Council and the “lack of determination” shown by Member States. Thursday.
Fisheries policy needs overhaul
The Committee on Fisheries calls for improved governance of the Common Fisheries Policy through better financing and more efficient representation for parliamentarians at all levels of policy making. The report, expresses its concern at the lack of formalised participation by MEPs at meetings of the Regional Fisheries Organisations, and is calling for clarification of their position in both regional and international meetings concerning fisheries policies. It is also calling for members of the Fisheries Committee “to be given observer status at meetings of the Council of Fisheries Ministers.” Tuesday.
Rules on recreational fishing
MEPs want to rewrite the rules on recreational fishing in its consultative report on a proposed “control regulation” to ensure compliance with common fisheries policy (CFP) rules. It also replaces proposed rules to enable the Commission to close fisheries or reduce quotas with new ones on unused quota transfers, and said that EU budget aid should be available for installing vessel monitoring systems and electronic logbooks. Tuesday.
Europe must deliver a common immigration policy, say MEPs
An own-initiative report is proposing a blue-print for a common policy on European immigration. The report recognises the importance of legal immigration, in the face of Europe's ageing population and declining workforce, but also urges Member States to jointly tackle the problems caused by illegal immigration. Tuesday.
Protecting citizens from the effects of profiling
At a time when our personal data is accumulating on the internet and in data-bases, a Parliamentary report warns against the dangers of 'profiling' of European citizens on the basis of criteria such as ethnicity, religion, gender or age, especially by the police. MEPs are warning against the excesses of the system and call on Member States to shed light onto these practices. Thursday.
Calendar of part-sessions 2010
Parliament will vote on the calendar of part-sessions for 2010 on Wednesday (22 April) at midday based on a proposal from the Conference of Presidents. Wednesday.
Human rights in the world
As usual the session ends with three debates and votes on human rights issues in the world. On this occasion, the topics are: Women's rights in Afghanistan, support for the Special court in Sierrra Leone and the humanitarian situation of residents in Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Friday.