EU climate law and Thunberg visit This WEEK

The environmental activist Greta Thunberg will meet also on Wednesday with the college of commissioners to exchange views on the EU's climate law, as well as with the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and the members of the parliament's committee of environment, public health and food safety (ENVI).

On the same day, Timmermans will launch an open public consultation on the Green Deal for citizens and stakeholders during the climate pact citizens' dialogue event, which will take place together with a ceremony for EU mayors focused on climate action.

Also, the EU's climate chief will be in Johannesburg on Monday (2 March) to discuss with South African authorities the challenges and opportunities of climate action.

On Thursday (5 March), environment ministers will gather in Brussels to discuss air pollution, EU water legislation and the environmental dimension of the European Semester, as well as the new EU climate law and the just transition mechanism of the Green Deal.

Ahead of the United Nations (UN) climate conference in Glasgow in November (COP26), the ministers will also try to adopt the EU's climate long-term strategy - an obligation under the Paris Agreement - based on 2050 climate-neutrality goal.

Additionally, EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will chair an informal meeting of EU defence ministers that will take place in Zagreb from Wednesday until Friday (6 March).

Defence ministers are expected to discuss European security and defence cooperation, stability in the immediate neighbourhood, new threats and the EU-Nato coordination.

Idlib

Also on Thursday, the leaders of Turkey, Germany, France and Russia will meet to discuss the situation in Syria's Idlib region.

Merkel and Macron have recently expressed alarm at the intensifying clashes between Turkish and Russian forces there, which have pushed one million Syrians to move to the Turkish border.

Meanwhile, Sassoli and the president of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet on Tuesday (3 March) with the prime minister of Norway, Erna Solberg.

The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) organise on Wednesday their Africa Summit with several speakers, such as the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo.

Also on Wednesday, Sassoli will meet the president of the European Committee of the Regions, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, who hopes to increase the representation of local and regional authorities in the EU during its mandate.

"EU's legitimacy must be based on the representativeness ensured by all its elected European politicians, from local, regional, national and EU levels," Tzitzikostas told EUobserver.

Coronavirus

On Thursday, the ENVI committee will discuss with the commission the last developments of coronavirus, which "has pandemic potential," according to the World Health Organization.

Health ministers will gather in Brussels on Friday for an extraordinary meeting to better coordinate the EU's response to coronavirus.

Ahead of International Women's Day (8 March), the parliament's women's rights and gender equality (FEMM) organises on Thursday an event on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the UN Beijing Declaration, which set out strategic objectives to achieve gender equality.