EP News, October 27th, 2006 (No. 279)
The Week Ahead 30 October - 3 November 2006
MEPs in their constituencies. The week beginning 30 October is set aside for MEPs to work in their constituencies, so there are no official meetings of parliamentary bodies in Brussels. Parliament's offices in Brussels will be closed from Wednesday to Friday for the All Saints holiday. The UK Office will be open as usual.
This Week in Strasbourg 23-26 October 2006
Alexander Milinkevich - winner of the 2006 Sakharov Prize
Alexander Milinkevich is this year's winner of the Sakharov Prize. The Conference of Presidents - the political groups' leaders of the European Parliament - decided to award the prize for freedom of thought to the leader of the opposition in Belarus.
1956 Hungarian Uprising - European Parliament salutes bravery
In adopting a resolution on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and its historical meaning for Europe, MEPs recognise the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 as one of the emblematic manifestations in the 20th century of the pursuit of liberty and democracy that defied Communism in the Soviet bloc.
The European Parliament salutes the brave men and women of Hungary who, by their self-sacrifice, gave a beacon of hope to other nations under the stranglehold of Communist rule. MEPs underline that the democratic community must unequivocally reject the repressive and undemocratic Communist ideology and uphold the principles of liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and take a clear stand whenever they are violated. The House calls on all democratic countries to clearly condemn the crimes committed by all totalitarian regimes. [ More ]
Fight against breast cancer in the enlarged EU
In adopting a joint resolution on breast cancer in the enlarged EU, MEPs call on the European Commission to present without delay the progress report, which it called for by 2006 in its resolution of 5 June 2003, on the steps taken by the Member States to lower breast cancer mortality rates. The joint resolution was adopted with 641 votes in favour, 11 against with 4 abstentions. [ More ]
Parliament backs substitution principle for perfluorooctane sulfonates
The House adopted, by 632 votes to 10 with 20 abstentions, a report seeking to limit the use of perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOS), a toxic, bio-accumulative substance previously present in everyday consumer goods such as carpets and textiles as well as some industrial products. There will be exemptions for specific uses where no substitute can be found for technical or economic reasons. [ More ]
Go-ahead for European Payment Order
MEPs approved a recommendation for second reading on the European Payment Order, a procedure designed to speed up the settlement of cross-border payment claims. Arlene McCarthy (Lab, North West) led the debate.
The aim of the European Payment Order (EPO) is to enable individuals and businesses to enforce uncontested payments using an EU-wide standard procedure. Under the new regulation it will be possible, for example, to claim payment of unpaid bills for purchases made via mail orders or Internet retailers through a simple procedure. [ More ]
All timings are estimated and subject to change - Last updated 26 October 2006 Note to Users: |
||||
WHAT HAPPENS SOON IN RESPECT OF... |
RAPPORTEUR |
COMMITTEE TIMING |
PLENARY TIMING |
LINKS |
REACH Chemical Regulation (Updated 19 October 2006) |
Guido Sacconi details |
Environment Cttee 2nd reading, Committee vote 10 October |
either November 2006 in Strasbourg, or Brussels November session. | Reports adopted in Committee - recommendations on the proposed Directive and Regulation. |
Services Directive (Updated 26 October 2006) |
Evelyn Gebhardt details |
Internal Market Cttee - 23 October 2006 |
November 2006 | Draft report and 43 amendments avail. in 4 October 06 Cttee meeting docs. Cttee adopted the Common position without amendments on 23 Oct. |
Proposed Regulation on Definition - Description of spirit drinks (Updated 11 October 2006) |
Horst Schnellhardt |
Environment - adoption - 23 January 2007 |
March 2007 | Draft report available in German only in 3 October 06 Ctte meeting docs |
Proposed Directive on waste (Updated 3 October 2006) |
Caroline Jackson |
Environment - adoption 28 November 2006 |
February 2007 | Draft report and 622 amendments available in 10 October 06 Cttee meeting documents |
Amending TV without Frontiers Directive (Updated 26 October 2006) |
Ruth Hieronymi |
Culture - adoption - 13 November 2006 |
December 2006 | Draft report + 678 amendments tabled available in 13 November meeting documents. |
Mercury proposed amendment to Directive on Hazardous Substances (Updated 26 October 2006) |
Maria Sornosa |
Environment - adoption September 06 |
14 November 2006 | Draft report and amendments available in 13 September 2006 Cttee meeting documents. Final Cttee report not yet available. |
Shareholder voting rights - proposed amending Directive (Updated 26 October 2006) |
Klaus-Heine Lehne |
Legal Affairs - 20 December |
February 2007 | Draft report + 153 amendments available 2 October, in Cttee meeting documents |
| Car spare parts proposed amending directive/legal protection of design | Alexander Radwan |
Legal Affairs | January 2007 | no documents available yet |
| Supplementary pensions and free movement - proposed Directive (Updated 11 October 2006) |
Ria Oomen-Ruijten |
Employment - adoption - 24 January 2007 |
February 2007 | Draft report and 219 amendments available in 4 October 2006 Cttee meeting documents |
Driving licences, proposed directive, second reading (Created 26 October 2006) |
Mathieu Grosch |
Transport - adoption - 21 November 2006 | December 2006 | Draft report is available in 9 Oct. meeting docs. * Link to OEIL |
Railways package of proposals (rail freight, train crews, passenger compensation)
(Updated 26 October 2006) |
Georg Jarzembowski - details Dirk Sterckx - details Gilles Savary - details |
Transport - adoption - 18 December 2006 | January 2007 | no documents available yet. Common position avail. in OEIL. * Link to OEIL: |
Shipowners civil liability proposed Directive (Updated 3 October 2006) |
Gilles Savary |
Transport - adoption - February 2007 |
March 2007 | no documents available yet |
Shipping - obligations of flag states - proposed Directive (Updated 3 October 2006) |
Marta Vincenzi |
Transport - adoption - February 2007 |
March 2007 | Draft report available in 12 September 2006 Cttee meeting documents |
Mobile phone roaming charges (Updated 26 October 2006) |
Paul Rübig |
Industry - adoption 11 April 2007 |
May 2007 | no documents available yet |
Biofuels strategy (Updated 26 October 2006) |
Werner Langen |
Industry, adoption 2 October 06 |
November 2006 |
Draft report + 187 amendments available in 2 October Cttee meeting docs. Final Cttee report not yet available. |
Updates are now online on www.europarl.org.uk for the following procedures:-
Please visit http://www.europarl.org.uk/next/
The second round of the presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo will take place from 28-31 October 2006. Nine MEPs will form the EP delegation of election observers. Richard Howitt (Labour, Eastern), Robert Evans (Labour, London) and Fiona Hall (LibDem, North East) are members of the delegation.
EP News readers may recall that some months ago we published a new page on our website called "The things they say about us" - this contained our response to some of the UK press comments about the European Parliament in recent years.
Having watched the BBC TV drama "The Incredible Mrs Pritchard" this week, we may need a new section: "The things they don't say about us". The episode of Mrs Pritchard this week attempted to show how a European "directive" had lowered standards for aeroplane safety, leading directly to a horrendous accident over Walthamstow in North East London. The assertion was that this 'directive' had been decided in Brussels and that the UK parliament's scrutiny had let it slip in unnoticed.
In fact, there is actually a regulation - stronger than a directive - that set up a list of unsafe airlines banned in the EU, to avoid precisely the kind of incident portrayed in this week's programme. (Link to the Air Transport Portal).
It was the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers which jointly decided on the content of that regulation, which came into effect in January this year. Prime Minister Pritchard's Purple Alliance would of course be sitting round the Council of Ministers table with their counterparts from other Member States and would have a delegation of MEPs in the European Parliament.
We are hoping that, if there is a second series of the programme, we will see Mrs Pritchard, if she is still PM, heading off to Brussels for Council summits and meeting her party's MEPs prior to sessions of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
6 November 2006 - Committee on Development: Illegal logging, trade and sustainable development - programme
20 November 2006 - Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs: Conference on serious international crimes - programme
23 November 2006 - Committee on Employment and Social Affairs: Coordination of social security systems - programme
Link to the European Parliament's session calendar (2007 now available): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/expert/staticDisplay.do?id=118
Simon Duffin, simon.duffin@europarl.europa.eu, European Parliament UK Office, tel 020 7227 4300
To subscribe / unsubscribe / amend your subscription details
Please email André Vanderstock - andre.vanderstock@europarl.europa.eu
European
Parliament UK Office
2 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AA
tel 020 7227 4300
eplondon@europarl.europa.eu
European Parliament Office in Scotland
The Tun
4 Jackson's Entry
Holyrood Road
Edinburgh EH8 8PJ
tel 0131 557 7866
epedinburgh@europarl.europa.eu