EP News, the electronic newsletter from www.europarl.org.uk

MEPs return to their constituencies for the week of 29 September - 3 October unless they are on official business elsewhere.

Culture Committee in Liverpool 29 Sept - 1 Oct

A delegation of MEPs from the European Parliament's Culture Committee will be in Liverpool for 3 days to examine regeneration in the city which is this year's European Capital of Culture. London Labour MEP Mary Honeyball will be joined by MEPs from Romania, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Austria and Finland. They will be met by former Brookside Channel 4 producer and head of Liverpool 08 Phil Redmond, with visits to follow to the EU-funded European Opera Centre at Liverpool Hope University, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool Town Hall and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The 'Cities on the Edge' project will be the focus of the MEPs' 3rd day in Liverpool.

Sakharov Prize

The Foreign Affairs Committee this week chose a short-list of three finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought: Hu Jia from China, Aleksandr Kozulin, from Belarus and Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The winner will be decided in mid-October, with the award ceremony due for 17 December in Strasbourg.

Among the key votes from the plenary session this week in Brussels:

Telecoms

In a series of votes at 1st reading on the economic regulatory framework for telecommunications, MEPs decided that a body bringing together national regulators should ensure rules are implemented in a consistent manner across the EU. They also want to ensure that frequencies freed by the switchover from analogue to digital TV could be used for new wireless services such as broadband internet or mobile TV, and that such services are interoperable across the EU. On the regulations aimed at providing wider access to telecoms services and greater information for consumers, a majority in the European Parliament approved amendments focusing on protection of privacy and fundamental rights. West Midlands Conservative MEP Malcolm Harbour and North West Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy spoke in the debate which took place on 2 September [ more on this vote ].

Shipping

MEPs adopted their 2nd reading on a series of maritime safety proposals (known as Erika 3): Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system; Investigation of accidents; Port state control; Liability of carriers of passengers by boat in the event of accidents; Ship inspection and survey organisations. But Member State transport ministers are still blocking two areas: flag state obligations and civil liability. Since the European Parliament adopted the package with a large majority and included elements of the two missing files in its amendments, MEPs are suggesting that it is now up to the Transport Ministers to act to conclude agreements on the whole package. Two UK MEPs spoke in Tuesday's debate: Ian Hudghton (SNP, Scotland); Derek Clark (UKIP, East Midlands) [ more on this vote ].

Financial markets / Hedge funds

MEPs made a formal request to the European Commission to propose new legislation to improve regulation of financial markets, in particular regarding hedge funds and private equity investors. They also want measures to deal with some of the causes of the credit crunch. UK MEPs who spoke in Monday's debate: Sharon Bowles (Lib Dem, South East); John Whittaker (UKIP, North West); John Purvis (Cons, Scotland) [ more on this vote ].

In committee

Vehicle emissions

The Environment Committee backed a target for emissions from passenger cars of 120g of carbon dioxide per kilometre from 2012 in a vote on Thursday. It also opted for a new long-term target of 95g CO2/km for 2020. MEPs rejected proposals for transitional measures for the car industry until 2015. From 2012, car manufacturers exceeding the targets will have to pay fines - "excess emissions premiums" - for every excess gram of CO2 [ more on this vote ].

AFET	SEDE	DROI	BUDG	CONT	DEVE	ECON	EMPL	ENVI	ITRE	IMCO	INTA
TRAN	REGI	AGRI	PECH	CULT	JURI	LIBE	AFCO	FEMM	PETI	CLIM

Committee in charge	Date of meeting	Link to full agenda	Link to Committee
Title of procedure	MEP in charge	Type of procedure	Stage of procedure	Proposed Act / OEIL
AFET - Foreign Affairs [ list ]			committee homepage	-
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SEDE - Subcommittee on Security and Defence [ list ]	13 October 2008		committee homepage	---
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DROI - Subcommittee on Human Rights [ list ]	13 October 2008		committee homepage	--
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BUDG - Budgets [ list ]	6-9 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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CONT - Budgetary Control [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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DEVE - Development [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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ECON - Economic and Monetary Affairs [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage
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EMPL - Employment and Social Affairs [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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ENVI - Environment, Public Health and Food Safety [ list ]	6 October 2008		committee homepage
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ITRE - Industry, Research and Energy [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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IMCO - Internal Market and Consumer Protection [ list ]			committee homepage
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INTA - International Trade [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage
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TRAN - Transport and Tourism [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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REGI - Regional Development [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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AGRI - Agriculture and Rural Development [ list ]	6 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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PECH - Fisheries [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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CULT - Culture and Education [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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JURI - Legal Affairs [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage
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LIBE - Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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AFCO - Constitutional Affairs [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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FEMM - Women's Rights and Gender Equality [ list ]	7 October 2008		committee homepage	--
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PETI - Petitions [ list ]	6-7 October 2008		committee homepage	-
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CLIM - Temporary Committee on Climate Change [ list ]	8 October 2008		committee homepage
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