Monday

2nd Oct 2023

Agenda

Socialists open political season this WEEK

  • Belgium's PM Elio di Rupo is the key speaker at the Socialist congress (Photo: fotospresidencia5)

The EU's political season ahead of the 2014 elections will kick off this week with a Socialist Party congress, setting the ground for a centre-left candidate to run for the head of the European Commission.

The congress, which takes place every two and half years, is expected to change the inner rulings of the party allowing them to table a proposal when the current top commissioner, Jose Manuel Barroso, ends his second mandate, in 2014.

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Barroso himself earlier this month said all political parties should choose candidates for the post. The Portuguese politician has already served two mandates but could, in theory, stand for another term.

But centre-right leaders within the European People's Party would need to endorse him one more time. Speculation is already rife about his successor, with names such Poland's PM Donald Tusk, Latvian premier Valdis Dombrovskis or Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen, currently head of Nato.

With centre-left parties having come back to power in France, Belgium and Denmark, the balance of power favouring the EPP in the EU institutions may shift if the trend is confirmed in the 2014 elections for the EU Parliament. Currently, the Socialists only have the post of EU foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, and the head of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.

The EPP will also hold its own party congress next month in Bucharest, Romania. The Socialists were initially also supposed to meet in Bucharest, but they moved it to Brussels after political infighting between the centre-right president and the Socialist premier.

Ministers for EU affairs meanwhile will meet in Brussels on Monday are set to have a first serious discussion on EU taxes as part of the efforts made by the Cypriot EU presidency to reach a deal on the EU budget for 2014-2020.

EU regulation for the financial sector is also going through the legislative machinery, with a vote in the responsible parliament committee on Wednesday and a debate the next day about the proposals for a single supervisor for banks in the eurozone.

Eight MEPs dealing with civil liberties are off on Monday on a fact-finding mission to Hungary to check whether Budapest is sticking to commitments to restore the independence of the media, judges and the central bank.

The conduct of EU agencies will be in the spotlight on Wednesday when MEPs are expected to give the green light to signing off their accounts after having delayed the decision in spring. Romanian MEP Monica Macovei, who is drafting the Parliament's position, will ask that the accounts of one agency, the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen, are not signed off. The agency's director is being scrutinised by Olaf for alleged mismanagement of funds.

Growth and budgets in the spotlight this WEEK

A European Parliament vote on the EU budget for 2013 and a multi-billion euro European Commission proposal to create more jobs dominate this week’s agenda.

European Political Community and key media vote This WEEK

A major meeting of leaders from all over Europe will take place this week, with security and enlargement as key topics for discussion. In the Parliament, MEPs are expected to vote on the European Media Freedom Act.

China trade tension and migration deal This WEEK

An EU-China high-level economic is scheduled on Monday amid renewed tensions. Later this week, EU home affairs ministers will discuss the EU-Tunisia deal and the state of play of the EU pact on asylum and migration.

Spain's EU-language bid and UN summit This WEEK

While the heads of EU institutions are in New York for the UN high level meeting, Spain's EU presidency will try to convince ministers to make Catalan, Basque, and Galician official EU languages.

Von der Leyen's State of the Union address This WEEK

The EU's political season is back in full swing after the summer break, with the EU Commission president's State of the Union address on Wednesday. Meanwhile, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya will also address the European Parliament.

Opinion

Why EU Commission dumped Google's favourite consultant

This should be a wake-up call to ensure consultancy firms with a vested interest are permanently excluded from public tenders. The close relationship between the EU's competition authority and economic consultants poses a serious risk to its independence.

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