Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Highlights of the Brussels plenary session

/noticias.info/ Selected highlights of the Brussels plenary session 7-8 May 2008 include the following:

Wednesday 7 May 2008

The session opens on Wednesday at 3pm with a debate on EMU at 10 - successes and challenges after 10 years of Economic and Monetary Union. MEPs will discuss prospects for the euro area, after hearing a statement from the Commission marking the 10th anniversary of the decision – in May 1998 – to move to the creation of the euro. Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia will present to Parliament the conclusions of a Communication on the subject, to be adopted earlier in the day on 7 May.

In a late addition to the agenda, MEPs will then debate the situation in Georgia. The House will vote on a resolution on this topic in June.

Parliament then debates the next Transatlantic Economic Council (13 May 2008 in Brussels) after hearing a statement from the Commission. The Transatlantic Economic Council which was created at the 2007 EU-US Summit (held on 30 April, 2007) to help the economic integration of the US and the EU. It is chaired by Commissioner Günter Verheugen and Daniel Price (Assistant to the President on International Economic Affairs) from the US side. The House will also vote on a resolution on this topic.

MEPs turn their attention to human rights and EU election observation with two separate reports from the Foreign Affairs Committee. The EP annual report on human rights in the world in 2007 looks at a range of human rights issues as well as highlighting the situation in countries of particular concern such as China, Iran and Russia. It also evaluates the EU's efforts to promote human rights through its policies.

The second report on EU election observation missions is the first of its kind, and generally supports the EU's observation missions, underlining how crucial they are, especially in developing countries. The committee wants to increase the role of the EP, especially in the immediate post-election period when the new parliaments are called, and legislators need advice on how to function in a democracy.

Glyn Ford (South West, Labour, PES, UK) will be putting forward a report on trade and economic relations with the countries of South East Asia (ASEAN) The EP International Trade Committee is in favour of concluding a free-trade accord between the EU and the 10 countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). However, say MEPs in the committee, the agreement must meet certain conditions regarding sustainable development, the fight against fraud and respect for human rights. The members of ASEAN are: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

At the opening of the session, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering will announce that the written declaration on microcredit has been adopted. It calls on the Commission and the Council to lend greater support to microcredit projects and to bolster programmes to help women. The written declaration calls for human and financial resources to be allocated to microcredit projects in the developing countries and in the Mediterranean.

Thursday 8 May 2008

Parliament will debate the hot topic of activities of lobbyists in the European institutions. A mandatory public register for lobbyists, common to the Council, Commission and Parliament and providing for "full financial disclosure", is proposed by the Constitutional Affairs committee. Lobbyists would also have to comply with a code of conduct and face sanctions if they infringed it. The report was initially drafted by Alexander Stubb (EPP-ED, FI) who has since left the European Parliament to become Finland's Foreign Minister and has been taken up by Ingo FRIEDRICH (EPP-ED, DE).

The House will also tackle the Commission's White Paper on Sport. The fight against doping should be stepped up, and clearer guidelines are needed on how EU rules should apply to sport, says an own-initiative report proposed by the Committee on Culture, Education and Sport. In a report that outlines the EU's policy on sport, MEPs in the committee voice concern about the possible deregulation of gambling markets; warn against new rules that could create direct discrimination in player selection and the selling of TV rights. notas_de_prensa_archivo