Friday

29th Mar 2024

Agenda

Migration summit, quotas This WEEK

  • EU Council chief Donald Tusk called the summit following requests by Austria, Germany, and Slovakia (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

EU leaders, at a snap summit next week, will hold a broad debate on how to handle the unfolding refugee crisis.

Their interior and justice ministers will, in Brussels on Tuesday (22 September), first try to agree on a European Commission proposal to relocate a further 120,000 people based on obligatory quotas.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The opponents, mainly from central and eastern Europe, could be outvoted by the big pro-quota bloc, which includes France and Germany.

The Commission could also water down its idea to voluntary quotas, if voluntary pledges meet the 120,000 figure.

Another possible outcome is that the anti-quota bloc bumps the Commission idea onto the agenda of the emergency migration summit, to be held the following day, on Wednesday.

The EU leaders are to debate all aspects of the crisis: border security; Schengen-area rules; financial assistance; and how to help states such as Turkey, which hosts 2 million refugees.

The anti-quota bloc has claimed one reason for its resistance is lack of clarity on the wider issues.

With dramatic developments on the EU’s borders with Balkan states on a daily basis, it’s hard to predict what else the crisis might bring next week.

For their part, MEPs will, at committee level, also discuss migration on Tuesday.

On the same day, they will question finance ministers from Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain on sweetheart tax-avoidance deals, revealed in the so-called LuxLeaks affair.

On Monday, deputies on the economic affairs committee will hear from eurozone finance chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem on the state of play of the Greece bailout, a day after a snap general election in Greece.

They’ll hear from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi on Wednesday on the health of the single currency.

MEPs dealing with international trade will, on Monday, discuss the Commission’s new idea on how to replace the ISDS in TTIP.

The alphabet soup refers to a special court (ISDS) in which private investors can challenge government policy in the framework of the EU-US free trade pact (TTIP).

The Commission has softened the ISDS model, widely hated by rights campaigners, with a more government-friendly version.

The Luxembourg EU presidency will, on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, hold informal meetings with energy and health ministers.

But EU officials will also start packing bags for the UN general assembly in New York, which begins the following week, and which also has migration and the Middle East top of the EU agenda.

Refugee crisis prompts snap EU summit

EU leaders are to hold emergency talks next Wednesday, amid EU border crackdowns and disagreements on how to share 120,000 refugees.

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.

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.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us