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News > Weekly European Agenda | 21/02/2022

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Weekly European Agenda

Weekly European Agenda | 21/02/2022

21-27 February 2022

Monday 21 February

Tuesday 22 February

Wednesday 23 February

Thursday 24 February

Friday 25 February

Institutional Agendas

European Parliament

This week, MEPs will be working outside the European Parliament, either in their respective constituencies or in Parliamentary delegations. Parliament will resume its activities next week.

Monday 21 February – Wednesday 23 February

Delegation from the LIBE and AFCO Committees travels to Warsaw to discuss Rule of Law

A delegation from the Civil Liberties and Constitutional Affairs Committees will travel to Warsaw. They will assess the rule of law situation, including the issue of the primacy of EU law, in the framework of the ongoing “Article 7” procedure on possible breach of EU values against Poland. MEPs plan to meet, among others, representatives of the Polish Government, the judiciary, civil society organisations and media.

Monday 21 February – Thursday 24 February

Delegation of the SEDE Subcommittee travels to Tallinn and Vilnius to discuss Ukraine crisis

A delegation of the Security and Defence Subcommittee will go to Tallinn and Vilnius, to receive first-hand information on the threat from cyber-attacks in the context of escalating tensions related to the Ukraine crisis. MEPs will meet representatives from the government, NATO and private companies.

Find an overview of the parliamentary agenda here.

Council of Ministers

Monday 21 February – Tuesday 22 February

Informal meeting of transport ministers

The ministers of transport will come together to discuss their views on current affairs in the transport sector. They will be joined by European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean.

Monday 21 February

Foreign Affairs Council

Foreign affairs ministers will discuss the latest developments in Russia’s military build-up around Ukraine and will hold a discussion on the European security situation.

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Agriculture ministers will hold a debate on the proposal from the Commission for a regulation on deforestation-free products.The proposal tackles deforestation and forest degradation caused by the production of commodities (such as coffee, soy and wood) which the EU imports from other countries. The new legislation aims to reduce the EU’s impact on deforestation and by these means help fight climate change and protect biodiversity. The policy debate will be based on a note prepared by the French presidency.

Tuesday 22 February

General Affairs Council

During this council, ministers will start preparing the European Council on 24 and 25 March 2022 and exchange views on the draft annotated agenda. They will also hold an orientation debate on strengthening preparedness, response capacity and resilience to future crises. There will be a hearing on the Rule of law in Poland. The French presidency will inform ministers on the Conference on the Future of Europe, as well as on the “One Ocean Summit” which was held in Brest, France, on 9-11 February 2022.

Thursday 24 February

Competitiveness Council – Internal market and industry

Ministers responsible for the internal market and industry will discuss the directive as regards corporate sustainability regulation (CSRD) and are expected to agree on a general approach on the file. The CSRD proposal requires companies to publish detailed information on sustainability matters such as the environment and social rights. It also extends and strengthens existing rules on non-financial reporting. Ministers will discuss the role the Competitiveness Council can play in the green transition, with a particular focus on the industrial mobility ecosystem. They will address challenges and needs to support the transition of the mobility ecosystem. Also on the agenda is an information point by the European Commission on the European Chips Act, which was presented on 8 February.

Friday 25 February

Eurogroup meeting

The euro area member states will discuss matters relating to their shared responsibilities related to the euro trying to ensure close coordination of economic policies among the euro area member states.

Friday 25 February – Saturday 26 February

Informal meeting of ministers for the economy and finance

Each presidency of the Council organises an informal meeting of economic and finance ministers to discuss topics relating to the Ecofin Council. This Council defines European Union policy in three main areas: economic policy, tax issues and the regulation of financial services. The national central banks and other institutions will be invited to take part in the discussions.

An overview of planned Council meetings can be found here.

European Commission and High Representative

Monday 21 February

Reynders participates in the Conference of the Heads of the Supreme courts of the members states of the European Union

Commissioner Didier Reynders will participate in the Conference of the Heads of the Supreme courts of the members states of the European Union in Paris.

Várhelyi participates in the Meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers

Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi will participate in the Meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers.

Gabriel participates in the EPP Podcast for the International Women’s Day 2022

Commissioner Mariya Gabriel will participate, via videoconference, in the EPP Podcast at the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2022 on the theme #BreakTheBias.

Tuesday 22 February

Johansson meets with Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland

Commissioner Ylva Johansson will be in Poland to meet with Hanna Machińska, Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights.

Wednesday 23 February

College meeting

As part of its strategy to accelerate the digitalization of the EU Single Market, the European Commission will publish the Data Act, which aims to provide a harmonised framework for data sharing, conditions for access by public bodies, international data transfers, cloud switching and interoperability. Moreover, the College is expected to launch the Just and sustainable economy package including a Communication on decent work worldwide.

An overview of the Commission College can be found here; the Commissioners’ weekly activities can be found here; the agenda of upcoming College meetings can be found here; Commission events can be found here.

European Economic and Social Committee

Monday 21 February

Restoring sustainable carbon cycles

On 21 February 2022, the NAT Section of the European Economic and Social Committee will organise an online public hearing to connect relevant experts and key stakeholders to feed into its opinion on Restoring sustainable carbon cycles. At this event, they will explore the opportunities and challenges of carbon farming in achieving sustainability, as well as those of industrial carbon capture, use and storage.

Tuesday 22 February

The way forward for EU economic governance

On 22 February 2022, the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission, together with the European Economic and Social Committee, will organise an online stakeholder conference on the Economic Governance Review.The aim of the stakeholder event is to ensure a wide-ranging and inclusive debate involving civil society, trade unions, employer representatives and citizens.

Thursday 24 February

Shaping Europe together

In the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the EESC has played a very active role through its ad-hoc group and as observer in the Conference’s executive board and member of the Plenary. Following its kick-off event on 10 June 2021, the EESC will hold a second event, in view of the closing of the Conference. The objective is to wrap up the work done so far, to discuss the state of the art, the challenges ahead and the ambitions for the future.

More information about EESC events can be found here.
The agendas of the different EESC meetings can be found here.

Committee of the Regions

Friday 25 February

High-level roundtable on youth and the Future of Europe  

Land Burgendland, together with the European Commission in Austria, Europe Direct Burgenland and BürgerInnen Forum Europa, supported by the European Committee of the Regions, will organise a high-level panel discussion in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe. 2022 being the European Year of Youth, the ideas about the future of Europe will be discussed mainly with young people: Burgenland invited youth representatives, young politicians, students and experts on youth policy to discuss the future of Europe together with the youth.

More information about Committee of the Regions events can be found here. The agendas of the different Committee of the Regions meetings can be found here.

French Presidency

Thursday 24 February

What Are the Challenges for Books and Reading in Europe?

On February 24th, experts and professionals will be invited to discuss the issues Europe faces surrounding books and reading at the opening of the “Effractions” literary festival held at the Public Information Library (BPI) at the Centre Pompidou.

Thursday 24 February – Friday 25 February

Conference on the Current Situation and the Outlook of the Fight Against Radicalisation in Europe

This conference will aim to take stock of actions undertaken, identify the challenges for European action in the field of preventing extremism, and lay the groundwork for the future “knowledge hub” called for by the European Commission.

The agenda of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU can be found here.

European Central Bank

Friday 25 February

Participation by Lagarde and Panetta in Eurogroup meeting in Paris

President of the ECB Christine Lagarde and Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, will participate in the Eurogroup meeting taking place in Paris.

More information about ECB events can be found here. 

Council of Europe

Monday 21 February

Conference on social resilience and health equity

A conference on social resilience and health equity will be organised, in the framework of the Italian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, in order to raise awareness on the importance of human rights protection during public health crises and how to support member states in getting better resilience and preparedness to such crises. The online conference will be an opportunity to identify needs to be addressed for the protection of vulnerable groups, including persons having difficulties in accessing healthcare.

Find an overview of Council of Europe events here; the PACE diary here; the Congress calendar of events here; information on forthcoming judgments here; the calendar of hearings here; information on Venice Commission events here; the agenda of the Commissioner of Human Rights here; and the Chairmanship agenda here.

National Elections

Sunday 27 February

Belarusian Constitutional Referendum

A constitutional referendum is scheduled to be held in Belarus on 27 February 2022. Political analysts suggested that the legitimisation of the All-Belarussian People’s Assembly, which would become an important governing body, is the main change in the Constitution.

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Monday 21 February to Friday 25 February

Expert online exchange on the inadmissibility of evidence tainted by torture

The exchange will foster an exchange on the remaining gaps and common trends in the effective implementation of the exclusionary rule, a discussion on what steps are needed to implement the policy and practical recommendations and the role various actors can play in implementing them, sharing of good practices – including examples of where torture-tainted evidence was effectively excluded – and ideas for multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure the prohibition of torture-tainted evidence is better applied in practice.

Wednesday 23 February

Integrating a gender perspective in intelligence services

Some of the questions to be addressed are: What are good practices when it comes to integrating gender into the work of intelligence services– their collection and analysis of information? How to best integrate a gender analysis into surveillance practices and intelligence strategies? What are the gendered risks of the use of surveillance technologies and practices by intelligence agencies? What role should oversight bodies, including parliaments, play in making sure that intelligence services adopt a gender perspective?

More information can be found here.

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