EP News, April 8th, 2005 (No. 205)
11 - 15 April 2005
MEPs meet in Strasbourg next week for a plenary session of the European Parliament. Highlights of the agenda include:
2003 EU budget - Reforming the accounting procedures? (Tuesday)
Terry Wynn MEP (Labour, North West) will lead one of the major debates of the week on Tuesday morning, as MEPs discuss the EU's 2003 accounts. As well as voting on whether to clear the 2003 spending of EU funds, the European Parliament will adopt a resolution with proposals on how to improve existing control systems.
The report adopted in the Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee calls for the managing authority of each Member State (in the UK, this is the Treasury) to state each year that proper control systems are in place for the management of EU funds. Where EU funding is jointly managed by the European Commission and the Member State (which is the case with the majority of EU funding), the Commission alone cannot solve the problem.
Terry Wynn MEP has said: 'What I propose is a simple and clear national declaration of assurance as regards EU funds. I want the current system of control to be further developed into a global disclosure statement per Member State. This goal should be realised sooner rather than later. The financial management in the European Union is, at present, not good enough.'
European Parliament's accounts 2003
MEPs will also discuss the spending of the European Parliament's own budget for 2003. Again, a resolution will be voted on Wednesday, following Tuesday's debate. Among the issues here will be: Strasbourg and the costs of moving between the Parliament's other sites in Brussels and Luxembourg. MEPs will hold a vote on whether Brussels should be the single seat for the European Parliament sessions (recall, however, that the ultimate decision on this rests not with MEPs themselves, but Member State government leaders who sign the EU treaties). Debate will also include the issues of MEPs' salaries (currently tied to the salary of backbench MPs) and smoking within the Parliament's buildings.
LEGISLATION
Social legislation - road transport (2nd reading, debate Monday)
Drivers' working conditions are the subject of new EU rules receiving their 2nd reading in the European Parliament next week. MEPs will be voting on:
- rest periods
- driving hours
- minimum ages for HGV and coach drivers
- frequency of roadside checks
- penalties
- exemptions from the rules (eg whether to exclude courier vehicles).
Also at issue is whether to postpone the compulsory fitting of digital tachographs in lorries which under existing rules would have to be introduced by August this year.
367 MEPs must vote in favour of any amendment for it to be passed at 2nd reading. Following this 2nd reading in the codecision procedure, the Council of Ministers must decide whether or not to accept the European Parliament amendments. If any amendment is rejected by the Council, conciliation will begin to agree on the final text of the legislation.
Visit the Legislative Observatory for a summary of the proposal and amendments, and links to the texts: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/file.jsp?id=239142
Eco-design - energy efficiency (2nd reading directive, Tuesday)
Energy-efficient domestic and office appliances are the subject of a proposed directive amending existing EU rules. One of the aims is to give consumers more information about the environmental impact of their dishwashers, washing machines, hairdryers, laptops and other products which together are responsible for about 40% of CO2 emissions. This framework directive would be followed by precise eco-design rules in subsequent proposals.
Some of the amendments adopted at committee stage focus on better consumer information; others seek to lighten the burden on small companies.
Visit the Legislative Observatory for a summary of the proposal and amendments, and links to the texts: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/file.jsp?id=235362
If the Council of Ministers does not accept all amendments adopted at 2nd reading by the European Parliament, we proceed to conciliation between Parliament and Council.
Sulphur content - marine fuels (2nd reading directive, Tuesday)
The aim of this directive, receiving its 2nd reading on Tuesday, is to tighten up the existing rules on levels of sulphur in marine fuels (emissions from sea-going ships in European waters have increased by almost 30% in the last 10 years). The amendments adopted at the committee stage rejected the more relaxed timetable and percentage limits proposed by the Council of Ministers.
If the Council of Ministers does not accept all amendments adopted at 2nd reading by the European Parliament, we proceed to conciliation between Parliament and Council.
Visit the Legislative Observatory for a summary of the proposal and amendments, and links to the texts: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/file.jsp?id=227582
Recycling motor vehicles (1st reading directive, Wednesday)
This proposed directive aims to improve the re-use, recycling and recovery of new passenger cars and light-duty vans and trucks. Amendments to be discussed by MEPs concern who is responsible for type-approval and the criteria and timing for such checks. MEPs at committee stage also called for a longer transitional period prior to the introduction of the new rules.
Visit the Legislative Observatory for a summary of the proposal and amendments, and links to the texts: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/file.jsp?id=241752
Toluene / TCB (1st reading, Wednesday)
MEPs will be voting on a change to the rules on marketing and use of toluene (which can be present in aerosols, paints, varnishes and glues) and TCB (trichlorobenzene - used principally in herbicides and munitions).
Visit the Legislative Observatory for a summary of the proposal and amendments, and links to the texts: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/oeil/file.jsp?id=243312
Other legislation
UK MEPs
Other issues this session
ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly Meeting - Mali, 16-21 April 2005
The 9th session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly takes place in Bamako, Mali, from 16-21 April.
The Assembly will consider committee reports on: progress made in achieving universal primary education and gender equality in the ACP countries in the context of the Millenium Development Goals; budgetisation of the European Development Fund; post-conflict rehabilitation in the ACP countries.
Urgent debates will cover the situation in Sudan and in the African Great Lakes Region. There will be workshops on: cotton sector in Mali; desertification and saving the River Niger; negotiations on economic partnership agreements in West Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. A debate is scheduled on the impact of the December 2004 tsunami on ACP countries and prevention of future tsunamis.
Glenys Kinnock (PES, Wales) will co-preside the Assembly. Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, and Peter Mandelson, Commissioner for Trade, will make statements.
Website: http://www.europarl.eu.int/intcoop/acp/10_01/default_en.htm
Edited committee agenda below, with links to full agenda on www.europarl.eu.int, and working documents on the committees' websites:
| (BUDG) Budget | [ short agenda - full agenda - committee homepage ] |
| (PECH) Fisheries | [ short agenda - full agenda - committee homepage ] |
| (LIBE) Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs | [ short agenda - full agenda - committee homepage ] |
BUDG - Budgets [ list of committees ] [ next ]
FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVES 2007-2013
BUDGET 2006
top of page - full agenda - committee homepage - next
PECH - Fisheries [ list of committees ] [ next ]
top of page - full agenda - committee homepage - next
LIBE - Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs [ list of committees ] [ next ]
top of page - full agenda - committee homepage - next
DIARY DATES - next
FURTHER INFORMATION - top
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