The Week ahead

Roberta Metsola MEP is the EPP Group’s candidate to lead Parliament's work over the next two and a half years. "Roberta Metsola is a well-respected, extremely dedicated and competent Member of this Parliament who has shown her leadership on many occasions. We are convinced she is the best candidate for the job", says EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber. After the election of the new President, the Members will also elect new Vice-Presidents and Quaestors. The EPP Group candidates for Vice-Presidents are Rainer Wieland (DE), Ewa Kopacz (PL), Othmar Karas (AT) and for Quaestors Anne Sander (FR) and Christophe Hansen (LU).

Members will debate the new rules for online intermediary services, the Digital Services Act (DSA), on Wednesday in plenary. “The DSA will put an end to the digital wild west where the big platforms set the rules themselves and criminal content goes viral", says Arba Kokalari MEP, the EPP Group's negotiator of the DSA. The EPP Group stands firm against unfair business practices of the digital giants. The EPP Group succeeded in ensuring that consumers are protected online as they are protected offline. "We want a proportionate approach, making sure that big online companies with a systemic risk take more responsibility for what happens on their platforms, while SMEs are not overburdened and prevented from growing and scaling-up", explains Andreas Schwab MEP, EPP Group Spokesman on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. "I'm happy that we found a compromise that also gives medium-sized companies the chance to be exempt from some requirements by applying for a waiver. In addition, I am pleased to have due diligence obligations that will prevent the sale of illegal products online, while still allowing for a flourishing and innovative e-commerce sector", continued Kokalari. The vote will take place on Thursday.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron will present the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU to the European Parliament. Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group, and François-Xavier Bellamy MEP, Head of the French Delegation, will take the floor during the debate. This is a major responsibility for France, at a decisive moment for the future of the whole of Europe, given the crises affecting our continent and the world. The EPP Group will continue to work to achieve its priorities and guarantee the continuity of action at a time when the French Presidential elections are taking place. The French Presidency mustn't be a mere communication exercise.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament will confirm a new law giving more powers to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The EPP Group wants the EU to become a true Health Union with more health powers. To better prepare Europe for future health crises and to anticipate and prevent shortages of critical medicines and medical devices, the EPP Group has strongly pushed all along for strenghthening the EMA. The agreement between the Member States and the European Parliament on the new law was reached in October last year.

The mandate of the parliamentary committee which inquired into alleged contraventions and maladministration of the rules for the protection of animals during transport is coming to an end. Parliament's plenary will debate the findings and vote on the final report on Thursday. Better conditions and control for live animal transport have been the key priority for the EPP Group. “The well-being of animals in transport is a mutual interest for farmers, consumers and the whole food-chain alike", says the EPP Group’s Daniel Buda MEP, Parliament's negotiator of the committee’s final report. "However, forbidding live animal transportation in Europe would mean the shutdown of a good part of small and medium-sized farms and would benefit the importers only."