Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Agenda

Barroso takes the stand in Dalli case This WEEK

  • Dalligate drags Commission president Barroso to the EU's top court this week (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso will take the witness stand at the European Court of Justice this week in the latest act of the Dalligate lobbying scandal.

He is to answer judges’ questions as a witness on Monday (7 July) in a case brought by former EU health commissioner John Dalli, who was forced out of the EU executive in 2012 amid allegations of bribery.

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

Dalli wants the Court to strike down Barroso’s request for his resignation, made on the grounds that he had secret contacts with tobacco firm Swedish Match, and is seeking symbolic damages of €1.

Lawyers from both sides give their arguments on Tuesday.

In Brussels, meanwhile, MEPs return after the European Parliament's constitutive session in Strasbourg.

Deputies will formally elect the chairpersons of the assembly's powerful legislative committees on Monday. Although the positions have been provisionally agreed, there have been suggestions that the Parliament's three centrist groups will prevent the euro sceptic EFDD group, led by Ukip's Nigel Farage, from claiming the leadership of the petitions committee.

Commission president nominee Jean Claude Juncker will make his pitch for the EU's top job when he meets with the Parliament's political groups on Tuesday and Wednesday (6/7 July).

Juncker, who will make a presentation followed by a debate, needs a majority of at least 376 MEPs to back his candidacy in Strasbourg next week.

He is likely to get the support of the Parliament pro-European groups, although the centre-left S&D group say that they are conditioning their support on whether the former Luxembourg prime minister will commit to implementing the EU's stability and growth pact with more flexibility to allow public investment.

The 18 Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Monday, before their counterparts for the entire EU gather on Tuesday to discuss the Italian presidency's economic priorities for the next six months.

The Eurogroup meeting is expected to confirm the latest €1 billion payment of Greece's bailout.

MEPs decide Parliament top jobs this WEEK

751 MEPs from 186 national parties will gather in Strasbourg this week, as the eighth European Parliament is formally constituted on Tuesday (1 July).

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.

Podcast

Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza

This week's Euroscopic explores the consequences of Moscow's terror attack, the convergence of public safety and border/migration policy in an EU election year, and the United Nations Security resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Latest News

  1. "Swiftly dial back" interest rates, ECB told
  2. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  3. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  4. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  5. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  6. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  7. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD
  8. Asian workers pay price for EU ship recycling

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