Friday

29th Mar 2024

Agenda

NEXT WEEK: EU summit to tackle Treaty change

  • Member states are wary of major EU treaty changes are the difficulties in getting the Lisbon Treaty approved (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

A European summit tops the agenda next week (13-19 December), with EU leaders set to agree a limited EU treaty change in order to set up a permanent rescue mechanism for countries in financial difficulty.

While governments insist financial support for Greece and Ireland is not in breach of the treaty's 'no bail-out' clause, German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to be wary of her country's constitutional court, with several legal challenges currently ongoing.

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To end future legal uncertainty, EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (16-17 December) are expected to agree new language to be inserted into the EU rulebook, although the exact phrasing is still being negotiated.

Germany is keen that future handouts from a permanent crisis fund, set to take over from the temporary European Financial Stability Facility in mid 2013, should also include terms that force private sector investors to share the costs.

Foreign affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday (13-14) under various formats will prepare the summit's draft conclusions. They are also expected to endorse a draft regulation to set up the European Citizens' Initiative, a new petition procedure allowing citizens to call for EU action in a particular area.

A range of enlargement issues and the EU's 2020 growth strategy are also on the agenda, with EU high representative Catherine Ashton and EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule scheduled to participate in a Eastern Partnership ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Also on the agenda for Monday, foreign ministers will discuss developments in a range of different trouble-spots across the globe, including Sudan, the Middle East, Somalia, Côte d'Ivoire, Afghanistan and Iran.

EU fishery ministers will role up their sleeves for the annual cat-fight on Monday over who gets to plunder what from Europe's increasingly depleted seas. Electoral pressure means ministers typically agree TACs and Quotas in excess of scientific recommendations.

MEPs sitting in plenary in Strasbourg next week (13-16 December) are also likely to vote in support of the European Citizens' Initiative, with a second big vote on next year's EU budget set to take place Wednesday (15 December).

A dispute between member states and the European Parliament over next year's budget has rumbled on for several months, but a series of 11th-hour compromises has enabled the parliamentary vote next week before MEPs jet off on their holidays.

Also on Wednesday, parliament's human rights award - the Sakharov Prize - is scheduled to be awarded to this year's winner, Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas, although doubts remain over whether Mr Farinas will be allowed to travel to Strasbourg.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek has written to Cuban President Raúl Castro, asking him to sanction the journey. "Remember that they consider us to be 21st Century slaves without freedom of movement," Mr Farinas said of the Cuban regime in October, while speaking to EUobserver by phone.

MEPs will also vote on tougher rules to combat human trafficking, as well as a new European Protection Order which would enable victims of crime who are granted protection in one member state to potentially get similar protection if they move to another.

Finally, on Thursday (16 December) EU social affairs commissioner László Andor will unveil a new flagship initiative to fight poverty. Member states agreed earlier this year to lift at least 20 million people out of poverty and exclusion by 2020.

Environment, Ukraine imports, fish and Easter this WEEK

This week, expect no more than talks on environment, agriculture and fisheries, including discussions between the Polish and Ukrainian governments over angry protests by Polish farmers objecting to cheap grain imports from Ukraine.

EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK

This week, EU leaders come together in Brussels for their usual two-day summit to discuss defence, enlargement, migration and foreign affairs. EU ministers for foreign affairs and EU affairs will meet earlier in the week to prepare the European Council.

EU summit prep work and von der Leyen's Egypt visit This WEEK

MEPs will hold a debate with EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen about the next European Council on Tuesday. Later this week, on Sunday, von der Leyen will be in Egypt for talks regarding a potential 'cash-for-migrant-control' deal.

Defence, von der Leyen, women's rights, in focus This WEEK

Ursula von der Leyen is expected to be confirmed as the EPP candidate for president of the next EU Commission. A new defence strategy will be unveiled this week, while the ECB is expected to maintain interest rates.

More farmers, Ukraine aid, Yulia Navalnaya in focus This WEEK

EU agriculture ministers meet in Brussels amid new farmers' protests. MEPs will hear from Alexei Navalny's widow and give the final green light to the €50bn Ukraine facility, while the CBAM proposal faces a formal challenge at a WTO meeting.

New Red Sea mission and more Russia sanctions This WEEK

EU foreign affairs ministers launch the bloc's new Red Sea naval mission, plus hold talks on new sanctions against Russia — amid Hungarian objections — on Monday. Plus a home for the EU's new anti-money laundering authority will be picked.

Opinion

EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania

Among the largest sources of financing for energy transition of central and eastern European countries, the €60bn Modernisation Fund remains far from the public eye. And perhaps that's one reason it is often used for financing fossil gas projects.

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