The Week ahead

The EPP Group strongly condemns the cynical blackmail Turkish President Erdogan is playing with the lives of people. Chairman Manfred Weber: “We strongly support the Greek and Bulgarian Governments in their efforts to maintain order at their borders with Turkey. We are of course ready to help the victims of the fighting in Idlib, but we cannot accept illegal border crossings into Europe. We are supporting Turkey to deal with the consequences of the Syrian conflict, and the EU should be ready to do more, but the announcement by the Turkish President that the border to Europe is now open is irresponsible and dangerous.”

On Wednesday, the European Commission will present its Climate Law, suggesting how to cut emissions to net zero by 2050. The EPP Group believes that, while becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is very ambitious and challenging, we want to put Europe's united effort behind this goal. "We have to be more ambitious in protecting our planet, but we must be smart as well while doing it. This is why the EPP Group supports setting CO2 emission targets to at least 50 percent by 2030 with an option to increase this by 55 percent if certain conditions are met", said Peter Liese MEP, EPP Group Spokesman for the Environment Committee. The EPP Group insists on two conditions to move beyond a 50 percent target to 55 percent, specifically: an impact assessment and international cooperation. "There is a chance that China, India, South Africa and Canada will also increase their emission targets", noted Liese.

The EPP Group will hold its special Bureau meeting on Thursday and Friday in the ancient city of Prague. Members will discuss EPP Group priorities for the Future of Mobility and Transportation as well as the Common Agricultural Policy. European Commissioners responsible for Budget and Transport, Johannes Hahn and Adina Vălean, will also participate in the meeting.

Negotiations on the future relation between the EU and the UK are due to start next week. The EPP Group believes that by leaving the European Union, the UK has lost the advantages of EU membership and no future partnership will be able to fully compensate. In order to benefit from the access to the EU market, the UK will have to respect EU rules. The depth of our future cooperation will depend on the UK: the more it is willing to cooperate under EU accepted standards, the closer the cooperation can be. Any future agreement will be subjected to the European Parliament's approval.

The European Commission is due to unveil its Gender Equality Strategy this week, ahead of International Women's Day 2020 (8 March). The Strategy is expected to include positive action towards achieving equality of pay and pensions as well as increasing the participation of women in the workforce, including in the technological and digital sectors. The EPP Group looks forward to reviewing the Commission's proposal in order to ensure equality for our citizens. The Women's Committee will also host an inter-parliamentary meeting on Thursday, for the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a global policy on women's empowerment and gender equality.

On Wednesday, the European Commission is set to present the new EU-Africa strategy. We want it to forge an ambitious, result-oriented partnership benefitting both the EU and Africa without compromising on fundamental values or principles, such as democracy and the rule of law. These values and principles must inform the new strategy, as well as become the basis for any mutual relations and agreements.

Forests cover 43% of the EU’s land area while our forest sector employs over 500 thousand people. How can well-managed and growing forests better benefit our economies? How can forests contribute to the climate battle and have a rich biodiversity at the same time? These are the questions the EPP Group, on Wednesday afternoon, will debate in a Public Hearing on European Forest Strategy beyond 2020. This meeting will be hosted by EPP Group Spokesmen from the Committees on Agriculture and Environment, Herbert Dorfmann and Peter Liese. The hearing will feature Petri Sarvamaa MEP who is assigned to draft the Parliament’s proposal on the issue.

The EPP Group Working Group on Intercultural and Religious Dialogue will hold the ‘Conference: Creating a New Narrative of Tolerance: The case of religious diversity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’ on Tuesday in the European Parliament. The event aims to present how the UAE has become a country that welcomes religious diversity and fosters interreligious dialogue. During the conference, the book ‘Celebrating Tolerance: Religious Diversity in the United Arab Emirates’ and the so called Abrahamic Family House project will also be presented. The speakers list includes Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Hedayah (International Centre of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism) and Member of the UAE Federal National Council, the Chief Rabbi of the UEA as well as other Jewish and Christian representatives.

Thursday @13.00 hrs: Stanislav Polčák and others on “The petition against expansion of the Turów Brown Coal Mine and related negative environmental impacts in the Czech Republic”

Friday @11.00 hrs: Pre-session briefing