• Waste Directive - 1st reading - Caroline Jackson MEP (Cons, SW);
• CIA rendition flights - final report (Tuesday)
• Shareholder rights - 1st reading directive
• Chancellor Merkel and new President of the European Parliament;
• Voluntary Modulation - Farming (debate Tuesday; vote Weds).

 

Waste Directive - 1st reading - debate Monday; vote Tuesday

South West Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson will lead Monday's debate on the proposed new EU waste directive which aims to set a framework for dealing with the increasing mountain of waste produced across the EU. Recent European Environment Agency statistics suggest that in the EU we throw away about 3.5 tonnes of solid waste each year for every man, woman and child, amounting to some 1.3bn tonnes of waste a year.

97 amendments were adopted to the European Commission proposal by the Parliament's Environment Committee. Among the main issues they address:

• Clarifying definitions of waste, re-use, recycling, recovery, disposal, for example, to avoid continual recourse to the European Court of Justice to interpret what these terms mean;
• Setting targets for the prevention of waste;
• Laying down energy efficiency requirements for any new incinerators to assist local authorities' planning;
• Defining exclusions from the directive e.g. sewage sludge, animal by-products, animal carcasses.

This is the 1st reading in the so-called codecision procedure. After Tuesday's vote, the proposal will pass to the Council of Ministers. There are no time limits for the Council to reach its position, but if Council does not accept all of Parliament's amendments, the directive will return to Parliament for a 2nd reading at a later stage. Once the directive is adopted, Member States will have two years to put it into national law.

 

CIA rendition flights - report of Temporary Committee

Wednesday morning will see one of the liveliest debates of the week as MEPs discuss the final report of the Parliament's Temporary Committee into the use of European countries by the CIA, for so-called rendition flights. The report adopted in the committee (by 28 votes to 17, with 3 abstentions) deplored the passivity of some EU Member States in the face of illegal CIA operations. A majority of MEPs in the committee called for the Council of Ministers to launch a formal inquiry under Article 7 of the EU Treaty on breaches of fundamental rights.

The national governments singled out for criticism in the report are those from: Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the UK. For a fuller summary of the report, and the 12 paragraphs addressed specifically to the UK, see the Press Service background note and the Committee website.

 

Chancellor Merkel - German Presidency

The new President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, will make his inaugural address to MEPs on Tuesday at 9am (UK time). German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Commission President José Manuel Barroso, will respond.

Hans-Gert Poettering will be President of the European Parliament until the next European Parliament elections in June 2009.

Germany's European Affairs Minister will take part in Tuesday afternoon's debate looking ahead to the spring EU Summit (8-9 March, in Brussels). The Summit is expected to focus on the economy, energy and climate change. On Wednesday morning, MEPs will adopt a resolution intended to send a signal from the Parliament to the Summit laying out MEPs' priorities.

 

Farm payments - Voluntary modulation - debate Tuesday

MEPs are set to vote for the second time on European Commission proposals laying down rules on farm payments known as voluntary modulation. The proposals for voluntary modulation go back to the overall EU budget agreement reached in December 2005 under the UK Presidency - they allow Member States to cut direct payments to farmers by up to 20%, with any money saved being used for rural development programmes.

The Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject these proposals for the second time, on the grounds that they would jeopardise the survival of many farms, distort competition and signal a move towards a renationalisation of the CAP.

The European Parliament is only consulted on the voluntary modulation proposals, and the final say remains with the Council of Ministers. All eyes will be on the European Commission next week, however, to see if it agrees to withdraw the proposal, should the European Parliament reject it again.

 

Shareholder rights - 1st reading

Shareholder voting rights are the subject of a directive due for its 1st reading in a debate on Tuesday (vote Wednesday). The aim of the directive is to ensure that shareholders of an EU listed company can cast their votes at general meetings, no matter where they reside. The proposed directive simplifies procedures for voting, in particular proxy voting, and aims to improve access to information for shareholders.

36 amendments were adopted in the Legal Affairs Committee. The full report and amendments can be seen on europarl.europa.eu. If the Council of Ministers accepts all amendments adopted by the Parliament at 1st reading, the directive should be transposed into domestic legislation in 2009, with some of the provisions on proxy voting coming into effect at a later stage.

 

Other legislation and EU funding programmes

 

INSPIRE - Spatial Planning - 3rd reading - debate Monday

MEPs are due for their 3rd reading of the so-called INSPIRE directive, aimed at improving the sharing of spatial (or mapping) data across the EU. The directive sets up an information-sharing infrastructure in areas such as: the environment, urban planning, meteorology, mortality rates. The system could be in place by early 2009 if the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers adopt the text agreed in conciliation between the two institutions. Among the issues thrashed out in conciliation: public ownership of intellectual property rights; when public authorities may charge for providing data; and what exemptions should exist from the principle of sharing data.

This is the 3rd reading in the codecision procedure. MEPs will vote on the text agreed in conciliation with the Council of Ministers. If adopted, it will pass to the next Council of Ministers meeting for formal ratification. The directive would come into effect in 2009. The text adopted in conciliation can be found here.

The following UK MEPs spoke in the 1st and 2nd reading debates: 2nd reading (June 2006): John Bowis MEP (Conservative, London); Jim Allister (DUP, Northern Ireland); 1st reading (June 2005): Gerard Batten (UKIP, London).

 

Hercules II - debate Tuesday

The Hercules II programme is intended to support activities aimed at protecting the European Community's financial interests with project grants, conferences to exchange best practices and operational grants for organisations active in the field. The idea is to build networks, provide technical support and increase cooperation between Member State authorities and the anti-fraud office OLAF. Part of the funding will be for measures aimed at combating cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting. The new programme will run from 2007-2013, once approval has been given by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers.

 

UK MEPs

North East Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall will present her report on radio spectrum to MEPs on Tuesday evening. The deployment of many new technologies such as broadband and multi-media broadcasting depends on the existence of enough spectrum for players wishing to enter the market. But spectrum is a 'scarce' resource, and in the EU, the regimes for assigning spectrum differ from one Member State to another. Fiona Hall's report, already adopted by the Industry Committee, calls for guidelines and a European register of different types of licensing models.

 

OTHER ISSUES

• Illegal fishing: The European Commission is set to propose a new Regulation to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in 2007. MEPs will adopt a resolution giving concrete ideas and suggestions for input to the Regulation. The report adopted in the Fisheries Committee suggests: a register of vessels known to engage in illegal fishing; minimum penalties for serious infringements; eco-labelling schemes to help keep illegally-caught fish off the EU market; an EU coastguard - debate Thursday.
  
• Drift nets: MEPs are expected to nod through a proposal to bring in a uniform definition of drift nets, as the existing ban is not as effective as it could be and other marine life such as porpoises and dolphins continue to suffer. No amendments have been tabled to the European Commission proposals.
  
• Bluefin tuna: Bluefin tuna stocks are the subject of a vote on Wednesday. MEPs in the Fisheries Committee have asked for urgent introduction of control measures to combat overfishing and call for a recovery plan to be put in place. The legislation is a largely technical adaptation of EU law to Regional Fisheries Organisations measures. A public hearing was held in the European Parliament on the subject in September 2006. A summary is available from the Press Service website.
  
• Reform of the wine market: MEPs will be giving their input to the ongoing debate on reform of the wine sector when they debate a report from the Agriculture Committee on Tuesday evening. With levels of wine production in the UK growing, there is more interest in this debate than may have been the case a few years ago, especially as much of the discussion will centre on how to combat production surpluses, and targeting the allocation of new planting rights.
  
• Fight against international terrorism: A Foreign Affairs Committee report calling for more EU co-operation in the fight against international terrorism is due for debate Wednesday afternoon.
  
• Energy prices: The impact of higher energy prices on domestic users and industry is the subject of a report due for debate on Thursday morning. Among the issues raised in the report: need for a detailed plan to reduce EU dependence on oil; energy efficiency as a criteria for public procurement; suggested increases in minimum oil and gas stocks.
  
• Climate change: MEPs will adopt a resolution on climate change, following on from the debate held at the Brussels plenary session on 31 January. The only UK MEP to speak in that debate was Graham Watson (Lib. Dem., South West).

 

Full information can be found in "The Briefing" at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/tous_les_briefing/default/default_en.htm

 

 

 

Diary Dates

 

 

Further information