The Week ahead

On Thursday and Friday, EU leaders will gather for a special summit in Brussels to discuss ways to stem the recent migration influx. “We need to make substantial changes to asylum procedures in the EU. If necessary, building fences at our external borders should be eligible for EU funding.The European Commission should not refuse to finance such measures. Fences are always the last resort, but we need them wherever smuggling gangs successfully try to circumvent European law. We have also to answer the question of whether asylum applications could be made outside of the EU”, said Manfred Weber MEP, EPP Group Chairman in the European Parliament. "We need a system that gives us the instruments to stand up against the despicable behaviour of countries like Turkey and Belarus who are instrumentalising migration and use people for their own political games", Jeroen Lenaers MEP, EPP Groups Spokesman in the Civil Liberties and Home affairs Committee said. The EPP Group issued a position paper outlining its policy proposals on Asylum and Migration reform this week.

The EPP Group wants to create new business opportunities by setting new rules for data use. Data has been repeatedly named as the „new oil“, given its importance for an increasingly interconnected economy. Today, machines and appliances collect enormous amounts of data in every moment they are used, be it mobile phones, industrial robots or even washing machines. Until now, harmonised rules on how this data is accessed and used have been missing. The EU's data act aims to fill this gap by establishing common rules for the sharing and usage of data generated by connected products or related services. This will also bring more fairness to data sharing contracts and allow public sector bodies to use data where there is an exceptional need. Next Thursday, the European Parliament's Committee on industry, Research and Energy will vote on proposals, spearheaded by EPP MEP Pilar del Castillo.

On Monday, Parliament‘s Human Rights Committee (DROI) will elect its new chair, after Socialist MEP Maria Arena resigned after allegations in the so-called Qatargate scandal. “The EPP Group has always defended human rights worldwide and considers the work of the Human Rights‘ Committee as highly important. This is why it was necessary that this situation was clarified so that the committee can work in a more serene atmosphere”, says Isabel Wiseler-Lima MEP, EPP Group Spokeswoman on Human Rights.

The EPP Group wants to ramp up the production of renewable gases and hydrogen by facilitating their integration in European energy networks. While the EU aims to reach climate-neutrality by 2050, the usage of fossil fuels in the EU needs to be gradually reduced and replaced by renewable gases and hydrogen. Existing gas network infrastructure will have to be filled with these renewable fuels. Next week, MEP's will decide about new rules on how gas pipelines can be re-used for hydrogen transport and how new hydrogen networks shall be financed. These are some of the important components of the so called "hydrogen and decarbonised gas market package". European Parliament's industry, research and energy committee will vote on next Thursday. EPP Group MEP Jerzy Buzek is Parliament's negotiator for the revision of the EU gas market regulation, the legislative heart of the reform proposals.

Representatives or Russia’s anti-war opposition, muffled at home, will raise their voice at the heart of the European Parliament. On Monday, they will participate in the work of the Human rights Subcommittee. “A democratic Russia is possible", assures EPP Group’s spokesman on Russia, Andrius Kubilius MEP, pointing out that "the new window of opportunity will open after Russia is totally defeated in the war, after Putin and Lukashenka will face justice, and after Russia agrees to pay compensation for the damage inflicted on Ukraine.” He emphasizes that Europe has to be prepared for that day. “In cooperation with Russian opposition forces, we can build a strategy on how to assist Russia’s transformation to a normal European type of country. Helping Russia to become democratic is the best way we can ensure peace and security of the European continent for a long time.”