Monday 26 March
- EU-Turkey leaders’ meeting
- EP: AFET, ENVI, LIBE, CONT, ECON, REGI
- EC: Mogherini in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- EC: Oettinger in Warsaw, Poland
- EC: Gabriel in Sofia, Bulgaria
- EESC: Section meetings
- EESC: Study Groups
- Presidency: Conference on “Cybersecurity Challenges”
- Presidency: Conference on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
- Presidency: Forum on “Innovations, Regulations, Investment”
- CoE: Debate on shrinking space for civil society and youth
- CoE: Round table on judicial reforms in Montenegro
Tuesday 27 March
- EP: CONT, ECON, ENVI, LIBE, REGI, JURI, FEMM, EMPL
- EP: Workshop on CO2 emission targets for cars and vans
- EC: Juncker receives Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister
- EC: Timmermans and Hogan at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture
- EESC: Section meeting
- EESC: Study group
- Presidency: International Conference on Road Safety
- CoE: Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
- CoE: Report on preventing corruption
Wednesday 28 March
- EP: JURI, AFCO
- EC: College Meeting
- EC: Juncker, Mogherini and Katainen meet President of Finland
- EESC: Section meeting
- CoE: Visit to Turkey
Thursday 29 March
- EC: Thyssen in Montréal, Canada
Friday 30 March (Good Friday)European Union
International Summits
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Monday 26 March
EU-Turkey leaders’ meeting
The meeting will bring together Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey. Taking place in Varna, Bulgaria, this working dinner will assess matters of mutual interest and recent developments in Turkey, including in the area of rule of law and fundamental freedoms. Leaders will also discuss how to move the EU-Turkey relationship forward, on the basis of mutual respect and common interests.
European Parliament
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Monday 26 March
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Report on Climate diplomacy.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Committee on Foreign Affairs
Exchange of views with representatives from the European External Action Service, from the Commission and the Migration Policy Centre: Progress report on the Implementation of the European Agenda on Migration; Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – Second Annual Report on the Facility for Refugees in Turkey; State of play of Commission pilot project with third countries on legal migration.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Committee on Budgetary Control
A debate will take place around the findings of a delegation of MEPs who visited Slovakia following the murder of Ján Kuciak, to look into the situation on the ground, which will feed into a resolution to be voted on during the 16 19 April plenary session in Strasbourg.
Monday 26 – Tuesday 27 March
Committee on Budgetary Control
The committee will hold a hearing on the integrity policy of the Commission, during which the Budget and Human Resources Commissioner Günther Oettinger will be quizzed on Martin Selmayr’s appointment as Commission Secretary-General. This will feed into a resolution to be voted on by the whole Parliament on April 19.
Votes: Annual Report 2016 on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests – Fight against fraud; Annual Report 2016 on the Control of the financial activities of the European Investment Bank; report concerning the implementation of the budget by the European Commission during the financial year 2016.
Exchange of views: CONT mission to Latvia and Lithuania; With the European Investment Bank on the Volkswagen loan case; On joint CONT-LIBE ad-hoc delegation to Slovakia (7 – 9 March 2018); Public procurement procedures in Hungary and Poland with special emphasis on procedures having a single bidder; Evaluation of cohesion policy in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic since their accession to the EU; Follow-up to “Stork nest project” in the Czech Republic.
Reports: The situation in Hungary (pursuant to the European Parliament resolution of 17 May 2017).
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Public Hearing with Danièle Nouy, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB; Report on Sustainable finance; Structured dialogue with Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs; Exchange of views with Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union and Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs.
Vote: Establishing a framework for screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Structured dialogue with Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, to focus on the evaluation and implementation of the Commission Work Programme and the priorities up to the end of the legislature; Priorities for the 2019 EU Budget with general rapporteur Daniele Viotti (S&D, IT) to gather expert input from 17 parliamentary committees in order to start preparing a position ahead of the Commission’s Draft Budget, expected in May.
Votes: Charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures; Monitoring the application of EU law 2016; Mid-term evaluation of the LIFE programme.
Exchange of views with European Court of Auditors: report on “Rural Development Programming: less complexity and more focus on results needed” from the agri-environment-climate measures’ perspective; report “Greening: a more complex income support scheme, not yet environmentally effective”.
Committee on Regional Development
Reports: Cohesion policy and the circular economy; Union Civil Protection Mechanism; Role of cities in the institutional framework of the Union; Increase of the financial envelope of the Structural Reform Support Programme and adapt its general objective; Role of cities in the institutional framework of the Union; Union Civil Protection Mechanism
Votes: Strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union: the 7th report of the European Commission; Cohesion Policy and thematic objective ‘promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures’.
Exchange of views with Corina Creţu, Commissioner for Regional Policy.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security.
Reports: 2019 budget – Trilogue mandate; Mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders; Combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment; FRONTEX – the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
Votes: Interoperability of electronic road toll systems and facilitating cross-border exchange of information on the failure to pay road fees in the Union (recast); Council Decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism; Council Decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Additional Protocol supplementing the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism; Candidate of the European Parliament for the selection panel for the appointment of the European Chief Prosecutor; Media pluralism and media freedom in the European Union.
Tuesday 27 March
Committee on Legal Affairs
Votes: Annual reports 2015-2016 on subsidiarity and proportionality; Work-life balance for parents and carers; Rail passengers’ rights and obligations (recast); Statistics of goods transport by inland waterways (codification)
Reports: Replacing Annex A to Regulation (EU) 2015/848 on insolvency proceedings; Three-dimensional printing, a challenge in the fields of intellectual property rights and civil liability; Contracts for the supply of digital content; Rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes; Application of Directive 2004/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage (the ‘ELD’); (…).
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
Votes: Protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work; Implementation report on the EU Youth Strategy; Modernisation of Education in the EU; Interpretation and implementation of the interinstitutional agreement on Better Law-Making.
Reports: Work-life balance for parents and carers; Statute for social and solidarity-based enterprises.
Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
Votes: Union Civil Protection Mechanism; Modernisation of Education in the EU.
Notice to members on the mission report of Hungary 2018.
Visit of Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.
Reports: Work-life balance for parents and carers; The situation in Hungary.
Workshop “Post 2020 CO2 emission targets for cars and vans: the right level of ambition?”
The aim of the workshop is to feed into the debate and help prepare the Parliament’s position on the Commission proposal on post 2020 CO2 emission targets for cars and vans.
Wednesday 28 March
Committee on Legal Affairs, Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Report on “Interpretation and implementation of the inter-institutional agreement on Better Law-Making”.
Find an overview of committee agendas here.
European Commission and High Representative
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Monday 26 March
Mogherini in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Mogherini will take part in a conference on Afghanistan: “Peace process, security cooperation and regional connectivity”.
Oettinger in Warsaw, Poland
Oettinger will gather views on the Future of EU finances and the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and holds a Citizens’ dialogue on the topics of “The future of the EU finances after 2020”.
Gabriel in Sofia, Bulgaria
Gabriel will deliver a speech at the Cybersecurity Challenges Conference, the Bulgarian Presidency’s IT HUB CONNECT event and will meet with Mr Nenad Popović, Minister for Innovation and Technological Development of Serbia.
Tuesday 27 March
Juncker receives Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister
Juncker receives Mr Miroslav Lajčák, President of the United Nations General Assembly and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia.
Timmermans and Hogan at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Frans Timmermans and Phil Hogan deliver keynote speeches at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, in Brussels.
Wednesday 28 March
College Meeting
Discussion topics: Orientation debate on the Multi-annual Financial Framework, Single Euro Payments Area extension, Action plan on Military Mobility.
Juncker, Mogherini and Katainen meet Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland.
Thursday 29 March
Thyssen in Montréal
Thyssen will attend the G7 meeting “Preparing for jobs of the future” with employment and innovation ministers; and the joint session “Our Approach to prepare for jobs of the future”.
A full list with meetings of Commissioners can be found here; the Commissioners’ weekly activities can be found here; the agenda of the College Meetings can be found here; Commission events can be found here.
European Economic and Social Committee
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Monday 26 March
Section for external relations
ACP-EU Follow-up Committee. Discussions: New impetus to the Africa-EU partnership; Follow-up on the post-Cotonou debate, preparing for the negotiations; Latest developments on economic partnership agreements (focus on SADC); Latest developments in CARIFORUM.
Section for economic and monetary union and economic and social cohesion
Opinions: VAT reform package; Economic and Monetary Union Package; Review of the prudential rules for investment firms; Funding the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Study Groups
Section for the single market, production and consumption: SG on Social economy enterprises/ migrants.
Section for agriculture, rural development and the environment: SG on Interface between chemicals, products and waste legislation.
Tuesday 27 March
Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship bureau meeting
Adoption of opinions: EU Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships; EU Action Plan 2017-2019 – Tackling the gender pay gap.
Debate on Youth policy: youth rights and transitions from education to work
Study Group
Section for external relations: SG on multilateral court for the settlement of investment dispute.
Wednesday 28 March
Section for external relations
Draft opinions: Economic and social cohesion and European integration of the Western Balkans – challenges and priorities; Screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union.
More information about EESC events can be found here.
The agendas of the different EESC meetings can be found here.
Bulgarian Presidency
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Monday 26 March
Conference on “Cybersecurity Challenges”
The main purpose of the conference is to discuss cyber security and cyber resilience as a strategic priority in all countries in the European Union. The forum is jointly organized by the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications and the State eGovernment Agency. The conference will feature over 150 delegates from the government sector, private business and non-governmental organizations from Europe. Guests at the official opening of the conference are the Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Maria Garbiel, and Deputy Prime Minister, Tomislav Donchev. The program is divided into four panels: European Cybersecurity Ecosystem; Internet Security; Achieving Cyber Resilience – Crisis Response Management at Technical and Operational level; Changing the Mindset – Way to Gain True Cyber Resilience Through Cooperation at the Strategic, Political level.
Monday 26 – Tuesday 27 March
Conference on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
A conference on Establishing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will be held in Sofia. It is organised jointly by the European Commission and the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The conference will provide a forum for discussion on issues related to the establishment of the Office and preparation of the Member States that participate in the enhanced cooperation for the forthcoming implementation of the Regulation. During the Conference, the following issues will be discussed: Election and appointment of the EU Chief Public Prosecutor and delegated European Public Prosecutors; The consequences of setting up the EPPO, including internal Rules of Procedure, adaptations in national legal systems and cooperation with national authorities; Developing a case management system; Cooperation with other EU agencies, non-participating Member States and third countries; and Training of EPPO staff.
Forum on “Innovations, Regulations, Investment”
IT Hub Connect is two-day international forum organised by the Indian-Bulgarian Business Chamber and the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. It aims to strengthen the relationship between the IT industries in the Balkans, India and US, setting а common ground for cooperation. The forum will gather government officials, C-level executives, business experts and start-up companies from Southeast Europe, India and US to explore business challenges and opportunities focusing on three main pillars – Innovations, Regulations and Investments.
Tuesday 27 March
International Conference on Road Safety
“Road Safety & Innovation – Leveraging new technologies and good practices from Europe and beyond” is an international forum for road safety and technology stakeholders held under the patronage the Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, the Road Infrastructure Agency and the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Forum is an international experience-sharing platform that is also fully aligned with ongoing policy initiatives by the European Commission in the fields of road safety and the digital economy.
The agenda of the Bulgarian Presidency can be found here.