Highlights of next week's European Parliament agenda in Strasbourg include:

• EU Solidarity Fund - flood relief for the UK - debate Mon; vote Tues
• European Parliament 50th birthday (Ceremony Wednesday)
• European Institute for Technology - 2nd reading
• Aviation security - 3rd reading
• Older people quality of life - report by Neena Gill MEP (Lab, West Mids)

 

EU Solidarity Fund - flood relief

Last summer's floods in parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland caused widespread damage. Many families and businesses are still living with the consequences.

The UK made an application for assistance under the EU's Solidarity Fund and last week the European Parliament's Budgets Committee approved an overall amount of €162.4 million for the UK. The full Parliament now needs to approve this transfer.

The UK application indicated the regions that were affected by the floods. These are: East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire/Humber, South West England, Wales, Northern Ireland. All of these regions would be eligible for a share of the funding.

MEPs will debate the matter on Monday evening and vote on Tuesday.

Once the formal decision has been taken at EU level, it will be up to the UK Government to decide how the monies should be allocated.

 

European Parliament 50th birthday

The European Parliamentary Assembly met for the first time in Strasbourg in March 1958. MEPs will be marking this 50th anniversary on Wednesday at 2pm (UK time).

All former Presidents of the European Parliament have been invited, including Lord Plumb who is the only UK MEP ever to be EP President. Jim Hood MP will also attend, on behalf of the House of Commons Speaker, and Baroness Hooper will represent the Lords.

The European Parliament's audio-visual services have prepared audio and video files of highlights from the last 50 years. Among those which may be of interest to readers in the UK:

June 1979: 1st European elections
December 1981: Margaret Thatcher to the European Parliament
May 1985: Ronald Reagan to the EP
October 1988: Pope John-Paul II to the EP
June 1990: Nelson Mandela receives the Sakharov Prize (for 1988)
May 1992: HRH Queen Elizabeth II addresses the European Parliament July 1996 Visit to UK by BSE Committee of Inquiry
October 1996: Dalai Lama addresses MEPs
May 1998: Gordon Brown attends EP as Chancellor during UK Presidency
January 2003: Dockers protest outside the EP

Other highlights: Visits of Presidents Sadat (1981); Yeltsin (1993); Karzai (2005); PM Rabin (1993); Yasser Arafat (1993).

You can download the video kit in professional quality, from this FTP link:
ftp://epavvideoget:mo12ssb@ftpeps01.europarl.eu.int/epavvideo/archives/50ansPE

The audio kit will be accessible on EP LIVE:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/eplive/public/default_en.htm

 

European Technology Institute

The European Institute for Innovation and Technology is likely to get the go-ahead following Tuesday morning's debate and Wednesday's 2nd reading vote.

The Institute would not be a university on its own dedicated site. Instead it would have a Governing Board whose job would be to select the universities, companies or other stakeholders which would form 'Knowledge and Innovation Communities' (KICs). Each KIC should have at least three partner organisations, based in two or more Member States of the EU: at least one partner would be a university and at least one a private company. Universities taking part in a KIC will be encouraged to add an EIT label to the degrees they award.

The first 18 experts to sit on the Governing Board should be selected later this spring. Funding will come from a combination of public and private sources, with €308m from the EU budget.

 

Aviation security

Monday evening's key legislative debate concerns a new EU regulation on civil aviation security. This is the 3rd reading in the European Parliament and MEPs are now voting on a text which has been thrashed out in negotiations between the Parliament and Council. A simple majority of MEPs is needed to approve the final text. Once adopted by both the Parliament and Council, it will be published in the EU's Official Journal and will take effect 24 months later, at the latest.

At issue are rules on: screening of passengers and baggage; aircraft security checks; in-flight security, such as 'sky marshals' and rules on the carriage of weapons on board. The Regulation as it is now worded leaves a lot of leeway for Member States, for example on the issue of using 'sky marshals' or on how the cost of any security measures should be shared between passengers, airlines, airports or other agencies.

The following UK MEPs took part in the debate at 2nd reading (April 2007): Philip Bradbourn (Cons, West Midlands); Robert Evans (Lab, London); Jim Nicholson (UUP, Nthn Ireland).

 

Older people quality of life

West Midlands Labour MEP Neena Gill will lead Wednesday evening's debate on a new research programme designed to help older people stay healthy and live independently for longer. The 'Ambient Assisted Living' programme will help foster EU-wide co-ordination of R&D, much of which is currently being done in isolation in individual Member States. The aim is to help move from the R&D stage to actual products introduced on the market and to ensure that they are available to all of Europe's older people.

As many as 20 EU Member States have now signed up to the AAL Programme, including the UK. The Technology Strategy Board, under the auspices of the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) will oversee UK spending under AAL. http://www.berr.gov.uk/dius/innovation/technologystrategyboard/page40218.html

The amendments to the proposed programme adopted at committee stage relate to the criteria for selecting projects. Although this is the 1st reading in the codecision procedure between Parliament and the Council of Ministers, it is hoped that agreement can be reached quickly with the Council so that the Programme can get under way as soon as possible this year.

OTHER ISSUES

• Milk: Milk quotas are set to be discussed on Tuesday afternoon as MEPs get the chance to express their views on the latest proposals from the European Commission. A majority in the Parliament's Agriculture Committee supported the proposed 2% increase overall, but suggested that there should be a mechanism for balancing out between EU Member States which exceed their annual quota and those that produce less than the allocated amount. The Council of Ministers has the final say on matters in the field of agriculture.
  

• CAP health check: The Common Agricultural Policy is currently undergoing a 'health check'. A report on the subject from Parliament's Agriculture Committee, chaired by South West Conservative MEP Neil Parish, will be debated on Tuesday afternoon. Among the issues discussed in the report: the whole system of farm payments; the de-coupling of aid from production; and the extent to which it should be possible to shift funding from market support to rural development, including whether this so-called 'voluntary modulation' should be compulsory.
  
  The resolution set for adoption on Wednesday will set out the European Parliament's position on the 'health check' ahead of formal proposals for legislation on which the Parliament would be consulted.
  

• Taxation of unleaded petrol and diesel: Fuel taxes are often in the news in the UK. Wednesday's debate in the European Parliament will therefore have all the more resonance in the UK given that the subject is likely to crop up again in the UK Budget statement next week. The European Parliament report addresses a proposal to increase the EU-wide minimum rate for diesel tax so that it matches the current minimum rate for unleaded petrol. The report from Parliament's Economic Committee also suggests a moratorium on further increases in petrol and diesel tax in those Member States which already have the highest rates. The European Parliament does not have the final say in this matter (that goes to the Council of Ministers), but a lively debate is likely.
  

• Global Energy Efficiency Fund: MEPs are set to welcome the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund, which is designed to provide risk capital for renewable energy generation in developing countries. It will be set up as a public-private partnership and will focus on projects below €10million, which are usually ignored by commercial investors and international financial institutions. (Debate Wednesday evening).
  

• Women: As usual for the parliamentary session nearest to International Women's Day, MEPs will be discussing the situation of women in several debates. First, on Tuesday evening, a report on women in rural areas will be debated. This will focus largely on the trend for fewer women to live in rural areas - so-called 'out-migration', but it will also touch on the taboos around sexual and/or domestic violence. A resolution with recommendations for future action will be adopted on Wednesday.
  
  On Wednesday, the specific needs of women in prison will be discussed. A report from the Women's Rights Committee notes the general increase in numbers of women in prison across the EU. It makes recommendations on women prisoners' rights and on social reintegration after release.
  
  On Thursday, the issue of gender and development comes onto the agenda. It has been known for years, for example, that women in Africa make up just over half the population, but perform 75% of agricultural work. The Development Committee report makes recommendations on how to incorporate gender issues further into the EU's development work.
  

• EU role in Iraq: Iraq is back on the European Parliament's agenda on Wednesday afternoon. This time the focus will largely be on EU aid as well as EU support for UN efforts in the country. MEPs will adopt a non-binding resolution on Thursday.
  

• Sustainable transport: Monday's debate on sustainable transport is very likely to strike a chord with those in the UK who are discussing ideas such as tolls for fast lanes on motorways or new charges for 4x4s in the London Congestion Charge zone. The report set to be discussed by MEPs in Strasbourg covers also civil aviation, shipping and rail transport, but the focus is likely to be on how to deal with congested large cities and inter-city corridors. The resolution set for adoption on Tuesday brings in no new EU legislation but is a contribution to the ongoing debate.
  

• Preparing the EU Summit: The spring summit of EU Heads of State and Government will take place in Brussels on 13-14 March. As usual, the summit will begin with an address by European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering. Economic issues will dominate the summit agenda and are likely therefore to be the main theme of Wednesday morning's debate, as MEPs respond to Commission and Council statements.
  

• Commission annual policy strategy 2009: Tuesday's debate on the annual policy strategy is the start of a dialogue between the European Commission and European Parliament on where policy priorities should lie in 2009. The idea is that the policy strategy leads in to the concrete legislative work programme (published in the autumn) and then to the adoption of the budget for 2009 by the end of this year. 2009 looks set to be an important year for the EU: European Parliament elections; a new European Commission; and, possibly, entry into force of the new EU Reform Treaty.
  

• Chad: The situation in Chad will be discussed by MEPs on Wednesday afternoon. EU troops have recently been dispatched under a UN mandate to protect refugees fleeing the Darfur region of Sudan. MEPs will respond to statements on latest developments from the European Commission and Council.
  

• Estonia: The President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, will make a formal address to the European Parliament on Tuesday at 11am (UK time). President Ilves grew up in the USA after the war and in the 1980s worked for Radio Free Europe. He was an MEP from 2004-2006.
  

• Arms exports: Wednesday afternoon sees the annual debate on the implementation of the EU Code of Conduct on arms exports. MEPs will adopt a resolution on Thursday.

 

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

 

Committee meetings