The Week ahead

The EPP Group fully supports the initiative of President Roberta Metsola to reform the rules and introduce further controls to make sure no criminal organisation can infiltrate and influence the work of our Parliament. The current corruption cases are unacceptable and we expect the affected parties to accept all the consequences. More transparency and accountability are needed to protect the integrity of the Parliament and to repair the damage done by the scandal. The EPP Group will support the lifting of the immunity of the Members in question to facilitate the investigations by the competent authorities.

It is indispensable that Europe boosts its own industrial competitiveness - not only in the light of the US Inflation Reduction Act. In a world of increasingly growing competition between China and the US, Europe needs to assure that it doesn't fall behind and get under the wheels of these two economic superpowers. If we want to keep our prosperity, Europe has to become a more attractive place for business and industry. Our own wealth can only be kept and increased if industrial competitiveness becomes and remains a major priority at the highest political level. The EPP Group will continue the fight to keep energy prices under control, diversify and extend our trade partnerships, secure access for our companies to raw materials and decrease the regulatory burden industry is facing. The debate will take place on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament will debate and then vote on Thursday on a call to set up a special tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The EPP Group wants the EU to take leadership in bringing forward the fight against the impunity of the Russian aggression. A special International Tribunal must hold Russia accountable. Such a Special Tribunal would also bring the highest authorities of Russia, including its President Vladimir Putin himself, to justice. For this reason, such a Special International Tribunal for the crime of aggression would be different from the International Criminal Court, which started to investigate war crimes perpetrated by ordinary Russian soldiers in Bucha, Irpin and Izium. The establishment of a Special Tribunal would also send a very clear signal to both Russian society and the international community that Vladimir Putin can be convicted for his war crimes. It will also be a clear signal to the political and business elite in Russia that there is no way for Russia under Putin’s leadership to come back to 'business as usual' with the West.

Parliament will debate how to protect the rule of law in Spain on Wednesday in plenary. The Spanish Government is taking measures that endanger judicial independence and democratic quality, going against recommended EU standards of respect for the rule of law. The latest example is the election of new members of the Spanish Constitutional Court: the new President was State Attorney General during the previous Socialist government, a magistrate is the former Justice Minister and another magistrate was Director-General in the Presidency of the current government. These appointments are a clear violation of the continuous EU calls to Member States to guarantee judicial independence. Other measures have been taken through an express procedure, without a proper debate or consensus and without prior assessments of the advisories bodies. These include the repealing of the crime of sedition from the Penal Code and the reform of the crime of embezzlement. It is estimated that more than 100 convicted embezzlement offenders will benefit from the new legislation.

Rising costs for energy and fertilisers have increased farmers' costs significantly and are adding significantly to food price inflation in Europe. The topic will be discussed in the plenary of the European Parliament on Tuesday. The EPP Group has long been demanding firm action from the European Commission to ensure food security and relief the financial pressure on farmers.

On Tuesday, the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will present the priorities of his country's presidency to the European Parliament. EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber MEP will express his full support for the ambition of the Swedish Presidency, in particular on competitiveness and migration. Citizens expect Europe to deliver on these issues and the EPP Group will do everything it can to help the Swedish Presidency succeed.

On Tuesday, Parliament will take stock of the EU’s foreign, defence and human rights policies. As Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister MEP authored the Report on the Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. He insists that: “The EU responded to the Russian war of aggression with a coherence and determination rarely seen before. Yet, it would be irresponsible to rely on the possibility of ad-hoc mobilisation at every such turn. Rather, the EU must reinforce her instruments and improve her institutional set-up. Only this way, will this Union finally come of age as a geopolitical actor that can chart its own course.” Tom Vandenkendelaere MEP, who spearheaded the Report on Common Security and Defence Policy, says: “The unjustified, unprovoked and illegal military aggression of Russia against Ukraine has dramatically deteriorated European security. In this context, the EU must do what is necessary to increase and speed up military help for Ukraine, improve Europe’s defence policy and strengthen its cooperation with NATO. We must fast track the decision-making process on defence issues and reduce our dependence on third countries.”

On Monday, the European Parliament will debate changes to EU law dealing with waste shipments. The new rules would, amongst others, phase out the export of plastic waste to OECD countries and include digitalising documents for better information exchange within the Single Market. "We want Europe to become an attractive environment for recycling and a place where waste becomes a valuable resource. The EU must become a world leader in an innovative, sustainable use of waste", says the European Parliament's main negotiator, the EPP Group's Pernille Weiss MEP.

On Tuesday, MEPs will vote to amend an EU law that aims to combat the misuse of letterbox companies for tax purposes. The text defines concrete common minimum economic substance requirements that will help to identify what constitutes a company and what constitutes a tax shelter. For Lídia Pereira MEP, Parliament’s lead negotiator on the topic, “European taxpayers expect the EU to guarantee tax transparency and fairness within the Single Market. Among the proposals, we are building criteria which allow national tax authorities to better screen the real purpose of a company and respond to tax avoidance or aggressive tax planning. Moreover, we are clarifying the consequences of being considered a shell entity, with concrete penalties."

This year, the EU Single Market turns 30. The European Parliament will hold a ceremony on Monday and a debate to mark the occasion. The Single Market has united Europe. By opening access to goods, services, jobs, business opportunities and cultural richness across the whole continent, it has generated prosperity and become a guarantor of new freedoms. Nevertheless, in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine and geo-economic tensions, prosperity and freedom can no longer be taken for granted. Moreover, given the United States’ protectionist push to subsidise domestic industries, it is all the more important to keep the Single Market open, to decrease barriers and to foster seamless trade and thus, increase its attractiveness to investors and citizens alike. Europe must answer to the current challenges with more European cooperation and less barriers, with smart rules adapted to a new digital reality. Only together, with a strong economic backbone, can we Europeans exercise our sovereignty.