- The European Parliament is negotiating several key topics, including Slovakia.
- There will be a vote on streamlining the asylum policy and climate goals.
- The negotiations will also touch on EU competitiveness, poverty and foreign policy issues.
On Monday afternoon, the four-day plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) will begin in Strasbourg. Deputies will talk about the state of the rule of law and the possible misuse of European funds in Slovakia, vote on streamlining the asylum policy of the European Union or the bloc’s climate goal by 2040. TASR informs about it.
During the opening day of the plenary session, in addition to discussing the priorities of the European Central Bank with its president Christine Lagarde, the MEPs will also remember World Cancer Day, which falls on February 4. The debate will focus on recommendations to strengthen the fight against this disease, which they will vote on on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the negotiations will begin with a debate on the need to strengthen the EU’s preparedness and solidarity mechanisms following the recent damage caused by extreme weather in the south of Europe. Subsequently, the MPs will discuss steps to strengthen European defense at a time of increasing instability in the international environment.
The plenum is also awaiting several important votes. MEPs should approve the Safe Third Country Regulation and the Safe Country of Origin Regulation. The aim of these two proposals is to speed up and make asylum procedures more efficient for persons who are not entitled to protection within the Union.
Parliament will also deal with climate policy. MEPs are likely to back a tentative deal with the EU Council on a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. This commitment fits into a broader effort to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050.
Also on the agenda is a vote on the protection mechanism for the import of agricultural products from Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay). Under the proposal, it would be possible to temporarily suspend tariff preferences resulting from the EU-Mercosur trade agreement in the event that a sharp increase in imports causes serious damage to European farmers. The entire agreement has not yet been ratified by the European Parliament, and last month it decided to refer it to the Court of Justice of the EU to review its compatibility with the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.
On Wednesday, MEPs will ask the Council of the EU and the European Commission about the state of the rule of law and the observance of fundamental rights in Slovakia, as well as the possible impact of the situation on the use of EU funds. Voting on the relevant resolution is scheduled for the next plenary session in March.
The negotiations will also focus on urgent measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the Eurobloc, deepen the single market and reduce the cost of living. MEPs will present their priorities for translating the recommendations of Draghi’s 2024 report into practice and evaluate progress made in this area so far.
Another topic will be the European Commission’s strategy for the fight against poverty, on which MPs will express their opinions in Wednesday’s debate and then vote on it on Thursday. On the final day of the session, the European Parliament will also deal with foreign policy issues. On the agenda are votes on resolutions related to the situation in northeastern Syria, as well as the human rights situation in Uganda, Iran and Turkey.
