The Brussels bubble is back in full swing after the Christmas and New Year season, with defence and security high on this week’s agenda.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is still recovering from pneumonia at home in Germany. And if she isn’t back by Wednesday, European Commission executive vice president Teresa Ribera will be chairing the commissioners' weekly meeting.
The Competitiveness Compass, which is expected to guide the new commission's work over the next five years, is due to be unveiled this week but could still be on hold due to von der Leyen’s illness.
The defence ministers of France, the UK, Italy, Germany and Ukraine are expected to meet in Warsaw on Monday (13 January) to further discuss Ukraine’s military needs.
This follows last week’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany, the last Ramstein format meeting before US president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. “We need to do everything possible to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, in terms of training and equipment, to prevail in this fight,” Nato chief Mark Rutte said last week.
In his first official visit to the European Parliament, Rutte will address members of the committee of foreign affairs, the defence subcommittee and the parliament’s Nato delegation on Monday.
On Tuesday (14 January), Finland will host a summit with Nato countries bordering the Baltic Sea to address security threats in the region — after an incident on Christmas Eve resulted in an electricity cable and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia being damaged, weeks after a similar cable-cut mystery hit the region.
The meeting, hosted by the resident of Finland and Estonia’s PM, will also include the participation of leaders from Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, and European Commission vice-president Henna Virkkunen.
Nato said last month that it will increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructures, as recent incidents are seen by experts as part of a hybrid war between Russia and the West. The Kremlin has denied involvement in damaging the cables.
“The sea domain is currently the most contested because it’s also strategically important,” a commander of the Estonian military told AP in December.
Iran will hold nuclear talks with France, the UK and Germany on Monday and Tuesday (13 and 14 January) in the Swiss city of Geneva — amid concerns over the country's nuclear programme and its compliance with international obligations.
The meeting comes after French president Emmanuel Macron said last week Tehran's uranium enrichment drive was "nearing a point of no return” and hinted at possible sanctions if no progress is made.
Earlier in December, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran is speeding up uranium enrichment to 60 percent, nearing weapons-grade levels.
For his part, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian is set to visit Moscow on Friday (17 January) in a sign of Tehran's close cooperation with Russia.
Meanwhile, ahead of the annual meeting taking place in Davos next week, the World Economic Forum will launch its annual Global Risks report on Wednesday (15 January).
In Brussels, MEPs in the parliament’s foreign affairs committee will also have an exchange of views with the new EU commissioner for enlargement Marta Kos on Tuesday. Talks will focus on the 2024 Enlargement Package adopted by the EU Commission last October.
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will discuss with MEPs in the trade committee on Thursday the controversial EU-Mercosur agreement which was wrapped up in early December — despite opposition from several EU countries led by France.
On the same day, MEPs in the budget committee will discuss financial assistance to Egypt and Jordan. As part of a €7.4bn aid and investment package agreed with the Egyptian government last year, the EU is expected to provide Egypt with up to €5bn in medium-to long-term loans until 2027. Likewise, the EU is set to provide a €500m loan to Jordan between last year and 2027.
The subcommittee working on tax matters will host a debate about the impact of taxation on gender equality on Monday, while the fate of the Capital Market Union (CMU) will be discussed by the economic committee on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Hadja Lahbib, the new EU commissioner for preparedness, crisis management and equality will meet with Palestinian PM and foreign affairs minister Mohamad Mustafa — amid talks for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Elena is EUobserver's Managing Editor. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.
Elena is EUobserver's Managing Editor. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.