The Week ahead

Following the numerous cases of rule of law breaches in Romania and the escalation of a threatening campaign of the Romanian authorities against Laura Codruţa Kövesi, the European Parliament's candidate for the post of European Chief Public Prosecutor, the EPP Group requested a plenary debate on the topic. The Romanian Government must hear clearly that the EU will not stand by idly while the rule of law for Romanians is at stake and when Ms Kövesi is being silenced for her fight against political corruption.

Our fight against terrorists is not limited to stopping their financing or information exchange between authorities. We want to stop terrorists from communicating their messages and their acts. This is why on Wednesday, we will vote to support the concrete proposals on how to stop terrorist content from being disseminated on social media, namely that platforms should remove the content within an hour of being notified about it.

The last debate of this parliamentary term on the Future of Europe will take place on Wednesday. The 20th debate of its kind will be held with Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, former EPP Group Member.

The EPP Group will support the establishment of the European Defence Fund for 2021 to 2027. The all-European defence technological and industrial base, in particular our SMEs, will benefit from this fund. It will strengthen our strategic autonomy. Excellence and innovation will be key to selecting defence projects and it will add a real perspective of a common defence for the European Union. The fund will naturally benefit the defence sector, but also the civilian sector. The debate will take place on Wednesday, vote on Thursday.

After a record time of six months, the European Parliament will approve the final agreement with Member States to revamp the European Border and Coast Guard on Wednesday. The new mandate for the Agency, which adds 10,000 border and coast guards to its forces, will not only better protect the continent’s borders and make Europe safer, but it will also improve and make the process of returns of individuals without the legal protection to be in Europe more efficient.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament will seal the agreement on the interoperability of EU information systems. Two pieces of legislation negotiated by the EPP Group will close the gaps in data sharing essential for tracking criminals, preventing terrorist attacks and managing migration in the EU. We are therefore finally connecting all information gathered by border guards, law enforcement and customs officers, immigration officials and judicial authorities in order to detect people who pose a threat to citizens' security.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament will vote on the partial deal of InvestEU. Even if this partial agreement excludes figures and other issues that are part of the negotiations on the EU's next long-term budget, our position aims at InvestEU triggering €700 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027. The EPP Group fully supports InvestEU as we believe it to be an excellent tool for creating jobs and strengthening the EU's competitiveness. It brings together 13 EU financial instruments, taking advantage of economies of scale, adding efficiency and cutting red tape, and at the same time, providing EU budget guarantees that attract other investors, learning from the success of the Juncker Plan.

To compete on the global scene, the EU needs a stable framework for its long-term research and development for the future. This is why we have successfully pushed the European Commission and the Council to agree on the future Horizon Europe Programme before the European elections in May. The Horizon Europe Programme will run from 2021 to 2027 and it will be the world’s biggest research and development programme. In an earlier vote, the European Parliament voted to allocate €120 billion to the programme, giving more than half to the collaborative pillar where universities, research organisations and industry work together. We still want to keep these ambitions when budget discussions on the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021 to 2027 begin later this year.

As the first legislation of this kind at EU level, new transparency rules will improve the functioning of the Digital Single Market by safeguarding a fair, predictable, transparent, sustainable and trusted business environment for smaller businesses and traders when using online platforms. In other words, businesses that rely, for example, on platforms (like Amazon) and search engines (like Google) to attract customers will benefit from the new transparency rules and this will be to the advantage of both consumers and businesses. The vote will take place on Wednesday.

MEPs will approve new rules on safety requirements for vehicles which will reduce the number of fatalities on EU roads. The new rules consider technical progress, like tyre pressure monitoring systems, intelligent speed assistance, driver drowsiness and attention monitoring/distraction recognition systems etc. Special focus is on protecting pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users. In addition to this, it should also pave the way for the development of fully-automated driving vehicles in the near future.

MEPs will vote on Tuesday on the agreement reached between the Parliament and the Council to make the rules simpler for the fishing sector with the aim of minimising unwanted catches. The goal of the new rules is also to protect marine ecosystems and to ensure the conservation of fishery resources. The new rules will include technical measures applying to all EU waters and also regional measures which would be different for seven EU sea basins including mesh sizes, selectivity of fishing gear, closed or restricted areas and real time closures.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament will approve rules to reduce risks to EU banks and protect EU taxpayers. At the same time, the reforms should improve the funding conditions of the real economy and ensure that banks can play an active role in financing investments and growth.

MEPs will vote on Tuesday on an overhaul of the architecture of the European financial market supervision. The competencies, the structure, the governance and the financing of the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will change. "I want the European financial market supervision to be stronger, more effective and more efficient and to meet the challenges of digitisation and the growing interconnectedness of the financial sector", said the EPP Group's Othmar Karas MEP, Parliament's Co-Rapporteur.

Tuesday @ 11.10 EPP Group Plenary briefing

Tuesday @ 16.00 Róża Thun MEP, Rapporteur, on type-approval requirements for motor vehicles

Wednesady @ 14.30 Christian Ehler MEP, Rapporteur, on Horizon Europe

Wednesday @ 16.30 Roberta Metsola MEP, Rapporteur, and Dimitris Avramapoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, on the European Border and Coast Guard