The Week ahead

On Wednesday, the European Parliament will vote on proposals to tackle the dramatic rise of energy and food prices, which, together with the rise of inflation, squeeze consumer purchasing power and businesses. Many of them have been advocated for weeks by the EPP Group, such as strengthening the energy market, developing investments in the EU energy infrastructure, especially interconnection projects, or introducing zero VAT for basic food products. Read more about the measures the EPP Group proposes in our position paper adopted this week.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has led to all-time high increases in food and fertiliser prices. There is an urgent need to tackle current fertiliser prices and shortages as soon as possible to guarantee our food security. The EPP Group is asking the Commission to act now. At the request of the EPP Group, a debate will take place on Thursday in plenary.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament will debate Russia’s escalation of its war aggression against Ukraine. “Russia's escalation efforts show Putin's desperation. His regime must be completely isolated. The sooner the states of the democratic world provide more military aid to Ukraine, the sooner Ukraine wins the war. This is the only way to save not only Ukrainian lives but the lives of Russian people as well”, says Rasa Juknevičienė MEP, EPP Group Vice-Chair for Foreign Affairs. 

On Wednesday, in a plenary debate with Council and Commission representatives, the EPP Group will urge Member States to open the Schengen area of passport-free travel to Romania and Bulgaria. Croatia is also ready to join. By standing together, we can strengthen the Schengen area and ensure that the EU’s external borders are better protected.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament will approve the new law establishing the unified standard for charging ports and charging technology. From mid-2024 onwards, the USB Type-C Port will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, portable speakers and other devices. The new rules benefit the environment by putting an end to the piles of cables that we all have in our drawers and avoiding about 11,000 tonnes of electronic waste per year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed flaws in the EU's health systems. This is why the EPP Group has been pushing for Europe to become a true Health Union. On Tuesday, the European Parliament will confirm two new EU laws, making sure the EU will be better prepared for future health crises. One will strengthen the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), whereas the other will improve existing rules on cross-border health threats. The EPP Group made sure the EU is now better equipped to respond to the health challenges of our time.

Crypto-assets such as Bitcoin are here to stay. In recent months, we have seen an avalanche of news about the rise and fall of cryptocurrencies. We are not only facing an expanding market, but also a rapidly and continuously changing one. However, to be trusted, cryptos must  - like any other financial service -  comply with rules, especially in the field of tax. Setting up such a fair, transparent and predictable framework is exactly the aim of Lídia Pereira’s Report which will be debated on Monday and voted on on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament will condemn the wave of repressions against women’s rights protesters in Iran following the death of Masha Amini. “We call on President Raisi to stop the pushback against the protestors immediately and to abolish the compulsory hijab law. The Iranian authorities must ensure that fundamental rights of citizens are respected, including that those who are under any form of detention are not subject to any form of mistreatment”, says David Lega MEP, the initiator of the debate and Standing Rapporteur on Iran.

The EPP wants to help towns and regions make good use of the huge Recovery Fund which the EU set up to finance recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the EU-wide implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the EPP Groups in both the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions have launched an unprecedented project to provide support to Mayors and regional and local leaders from our political family in the Member States through a series of conferences on the RRF programme. The first conference on this project will take place on 7 October in Warsaw. Invited speakers include the Mayors of the cities of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz (Gdańsk), Roman Szełemej (Walbrzych), Kostas Bakoyannis (Athens) and Bucharest's District 6 Ciprian Ciucu, as well as the Marshal of the Lublin Voivodeship Elżbieta Polak. Special addresses will be given by the President of the Civic Platform, Donald Tusk, and the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas. EPP Group Vice-Chair, Chairman of the Working Group for Budget and Structural Policy, Siegfried Mureșan MEP, will open the event.