Agenda
Brexit climax and Soros in Brussels This WEEK
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A defaced poster of George Soros in Budapest last year. The Hungarian government one among several to have demonised Soros for funding aid for refugees (Photo: Lydia Gall/Human Rights Watch)
Brexit talks are set to climax at a special summit in Brussels on Sunday (25 November), when the 28 EU leaders give their political assent to a UK withdrawal contract and a much more loosely worded declaration on future relations.
The moment, barring 11th-hour snags on the future of Gibraltar or fishing rights, will mark the end of 18 months of negotiations.
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Theresa May likely to seal EU leaders' approval, but less sure of MPs' support back home (Photo: Number 10 - Flickr)
But it will still fall short of guaranteeing an orderly Brexit, amid concerns that rebel MPs in Britain's ruling minority Conservative party could try to bring down their leader or that the British parliament could vote down the deal in December.
The rest of the week is shaping up to be less eventful, but does bring a handful of VIP guests to the EU capital.
George Soros, the US philanthropist demonised by populists and anti-Semites on both sides of the Atlantic, will meet European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans on Monday.
Denis Mukwege and Nadia Mura, this year's Nobel peace laureates, will discuss gender and human rights in Africa with EU development ministers on Tuesday.
Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister, will share his thoughts on the future of Europe with MEPs on Wednesday.
Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, will also discuss VAT reform with MEPs on Monday.
Bank scandals
The deputies might want to throw in some extra questions on money laundering and tax evasion, amid recent scandals involving Denmark and Germany's largest banks.
But a special MEPs' committee, called Tax3, will also take a detailed look at the so-called 'cum-ex scandal' on Monday - a scam which saw EU taxmen defrauded of €55bn by British, French, German, and Spanish lenders and their clients.
The same committee will also discuss "aggressive tax planning" by multinationals with EU financial affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici the next day.
The scientists who sat on the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the most authoritative body dealing with climate change - will meet MEPs on the environment committee on Monday.
UN and EU migration experts and those from the International Migration Organisation will also discuss the situation in Libya with the civil liberties committees on Tuesday.
In other events, youth and culture ministers will discuss how to help integrate young refugees into European society and how to stop fake news on Monday and Tuesday.
A mixed bag of EU ministers meeting in the competitiveness council on Thursday and Friday will also discuss the future of the EU's space programme and cohesion funds - funds to poorer regions, such as those in Hungary and Poland, which could face cuts due to the two countries' recent anti-European behaviour.
Juncker and MBS
Meanwhile, away from Brussels, EU Council and European Commission heads Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker will mingle with Saudi Arabia's Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud (often shortened to MBS) at the G20 summit in Argentina starting Thursday.
The controversial decision to invite MBS, suspected of ordering the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has failed to prompt boycotts so far.
