European Parliament

Plenary sessions : The code of conduct for European Commissioners needs to be thoroughly tightened up, in order to prevent conflicts of interest for Commission members, and to help restore the faith of European citizens in today’s political institutions. This was the key message agreed by most MEPs during Tuesday evening’s debate with EU economic affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, on the business ties of past and present Commissioners and the recent “Bahamas” leaks.

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Plenary sessions : MEPs voiced startlingly different views on the state of Greece’s economic adjustment programme, its impact and the prospects for future negotiations between Greece and its creditors, in a public debate with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday afternoon.

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Plenary sessions : High-level guests, solemn speeches and a warm applause. All this was present on Tuesday afternoon at the ceremony surrounding Parliament’s historic vote in favour of the Paris climate agreement and the signature paving the way for it to enter into force. Take a look at our slideshow to see how it happened.

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Plenary sessions : The UNFCCC Paris Agreement on fighting climate change, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, will come into force next month, having met the necessary conditions much earlier than predicted, as the European Parliament agreed to its ratification by the European Union in a historic vote on Tuesday. The EU will join the US, China and India, other global players and major greenhouse gas emitters, at a November meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) in Marrakesh.

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Plenary sessions : Revised EU rules to prevent trade in goods and services that may contribute to torture or execution were approved by MEPs on Tuesday. In negotiations with member states on previous drafts, the European Parliament inserted a ban on the marketing and transit of equipment used for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people in third countries.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament approved €1,651,834 in EU Solidarity Fund aid on Tuesday to help Greece to repair damage caused by an earthquake that hit the Ionian Islands region, and in particular Lefkada, northern parts of Ithaki and Kefalonia, on 17 November 2015.

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Plenary sessions : Parliament gave its green light on Tuesday to EU aid worth €5.3 million to help find new jobs for 1,441 workers made redundant by Microsoft and its suppliers in Finland and almost €4 million for 918 workers made redundant by Ericsson in Sweden. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid had been approved by the EU Council of Ministers on 29 September.

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Suspending EU structural funding for Spain and Portugal would be counter-productive, because it would harm their most vulnerable citizens and regions, a vast majority of MEPs warned the EU Commission at a “structured dialogue” hearing yesterday. The suspension had been proposed under EU Stability and Growth Pact rules, because Spain and Portugal had run up excessive deficits.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Regional Development

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General : United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will travel to Strasbourg on Tuesday to attend the final vote of the European Parliament on whether to grant consent to the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the EU.

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Plenary sessions : Torture and the death penalty still take place in many countries around the world and the EU should play no part in delivering services or goods to make this possible, according to Marietje Schaake. The Dutch ALDE MEP is in charge of steering an updated version of the EU's anti-torture regulation through Parliament. MEPs debate her report on Tuesday and then vote on it the same day. We talked to her about why the regulation is necessary ahead of the vote.

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The European Parliament will vote on Tuesday to give its consent to the ratification of the Paris climate agreement by the European Union, after Council gave its green light on Friday. For Environment Committee chair Giovanni La Via (EPP, IT) the decision allows the EU to remain a leader in climate action ahead of the next round of talks to take place in Marrakech in November.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

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Plenary session, Strasbourg

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MEPs’ plans to tighten up EU car “type approval” rules, in the wake of the VW scandal, were discussed in the Internal Market Committee on Thursday. These include stricter supervision of tests done before a car can be placed on the market and more stringent obligations on EU member states to check that those already on the road meet all EU safety, environmental and production requirements.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

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General : The first-ever universal and legally binding global climate deal was agreed by 195 countries in Paris last December at the COP21 conference.Parliament wants the EU to ratify the Paris climate agreement as soon as possible to ensure it can rapidly enter into force. We talked to environment committee chair Giovanni La Via, an Italian member of the EPP group, about Parliament’s commitment to implement the climate deal and the challenges ahead.

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Budget Committee MEPs reversed all the cuts proposed by the Council to the draft 2017 EU budget to meet the needs of the migration crisis and slow economic growth, in a vote on Wednesday. They also boosted funding to fight youth unemployment and increased spending on research and infrastructure projects. The full plenary will vote on 26 October on a proposed budget amounting to €161.8bn in commitments, €4.13bn more than the original Commission proposal.
Committee on Budgets

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MEPs’ plans to tighten up EU car “type approval” rules, in the wake of the VW scandal, will be outlined in 196 amendments to the EU Commission proposal to overhaul the current system, to be debated in the Internal Market Committee on Thursday at 11.00. These include stricter supervision of tests done before a car can be placed on the market and more stringent obligations on EU member states to check that those already on the road meet all EU safety, environmental and production requirements.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

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General : Anti-Semitism continues to be a problem in Europe with every fifth Jew having experienced verbal or physical violence. On 27 September MEPs and representatives from Jewish communities gathered in the European Parliament to debate anti-Semitism and the future of Jews in Europe. "Jewish friends and neighbours, we stand with you against those who spread hatred," said Parliament President Martin Schulz. "Europe is not Europe without its Jews. Europe is your home!”

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General : After five years’ existence, the transparency register, of independent organisations and people whose business is to influence EU decision-taking processes, is to evolve into a mandatory system covering all EU institutions. This is "an eagerly-awaited reform", said European Parliament Vice-President Sylvie Guillaume, welcoming the proposed inter-institutional agreement tabled by the European Commission on 28 September.

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General : The current situation in Europe of Anti-Semitism and future prospects for Europe’s Jewish communities were debated at a conference hosted by EP President Martin Schulz and First Vice-President Antonio Tajani on Tuesday.

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