Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Agenda

Brexit climax and Soros in Brussels This WEEK

  • 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.

UK and EU draft 'letter to Santa' on future relations

A draft accord on future UK-EU ties envisaged "ambitious, broad, [and] deep" trade relations, but lacked detail, including on Gibraltar and fisheries - 48 hours before Sunday's emergency summit.

Hungary to push ahead with 'Stop Soros' law on NGOs

The Hungarian government of Viktor Orban has said it will not wait until Friday, to hear a verdict of European legal experts on human rights, before going ahead with its bill curtailing NGOs who work with migrants.

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

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

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