European Parliament

The priorities of the Maltese Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers are being outlined to parliamentary committees by Maltese ministers at a series of meetings taking place in January.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on Legal Affairs

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Following an exchange of views with the members of the Committees on Budgets, Budgetary Control and Legal Affairs, a majority of the committees’ coordinators were satisfied that Commissioner Günther Oettinger is in a position to assume the portfolio that is transferred to him and look forward to a close working relationship.
Committee on Legal Affairs
Committee on Budgets
Committee on Budgetary Control

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Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP

General : From drones to medical equipment, robots are increasingly becoming a part of our everyday life. But although some 1.7 million robots already exist worldwide, their use is still not properly regulated. A report being voted on today by the legal affairs committee calls on the European Commission to produce a legislative proposal to deal with issues such as who should be liable if someone gets hurt due to robots. We talked to report author Mady Delvaux, a Luxembourg member of the S&D group.

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EU rules for the fast-evolving field of robotics, to settle issues such as compliance with ethical standards and liability for accidents involving driverless cars, should be put forward by the EU Commission, urged the Legal Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Committee on Legal Affairs

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The European Parliament will elect a new President, for the second half of this legislature, on 17 January. Outgoing President Martin Schulz will preside over the election of his successor, who will in turn oversee the election of the 14 Vice-Presidents and the five Quaestors, on 18 January.

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Progress in transferring asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to other EU countries under an intra-EU deal and from third countries to EU territory will be assessed by Civil Liberties Committee MEPs on Thursday. They will also discuss the results of the March 2016 deal with Turkey to improve the management of migration and refugee flows.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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General : The EU should in the future have more possibilities to finance itself directly instead of being mostly funded by member states, according to a report to be presented to Parliament on Thursday 12 January. Such a system of own resources was already in place for decades in the past and should be readopted. Report co-author Alain Lamassoure spoke to us ahead of the presentation, pointing out that the proposals would not result in a power shift from national governments to Brussels.

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General : Parlamentarium, Parliament's visitors centre, recently celebrated five years of being open to the public. To mark the occasion we have launched a special #ThisIsMy5 photo contest on Parliament's Instagram page. Everyone is welcome to take part and the winners will be treated to a trip to Brussels.

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An “effective and comprehensive European whistle-blower protection programme” should be proposed “immediately” by the EU Commission, urged the Budgetary Control Committee on Monday.
Committee on Budgetary Control

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General : Manfred Weber MEP, EPP Group Chairman

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Three parliamentary committees will quiz Commissioner Günther Oettinger about his new portfolio for Budget and Human Resources, which Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has asked him to take over from former Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
Committee on Budgets

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General : Three parliamentary committees question commissioner Günther Oettinger this week to assess his suitability for his new portfolio of budget and human resources. In addition the civil liberties looks at the current state of play regarding refugees in Europe, while the legal affairs committee votes on the first-ever EU rules for robotics and artificial intelligence.

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Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

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General : Aarhus in Denmark and Pafos in Cyprus are Europe's cultural capitals for this year. Since the capitals of culture initiative was launched in 1985, 54 cities around Europe have had the honour. The aim is to highlight the richness of Europe’s cultural diversity and looks at its shared history and heritage. Read more about this year’s cultural capitals.

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Three parliamentary committees will quiz Commissioner Günther Oettinger about his new portfolio for Budget and Human Resources, which Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has asked him to take over from former Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
Committee on Budgets

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General : Malta has taken over the rotating presidency of the EU Council from Slovakia. This means that for the next six months the small island state plays a key role in setting the agenda, finding compromises and addressing a range of challenges such as the migration crisis and the expected start of the Brexit negotiations. We asked Maltese MEPs what their hopes and expectations were for their country's firs- ever presidency of the EU Council.

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General : As 2016 is drawing to an end, take a look back at the events that the marked the year in Parliament: from UK Prime Minister David Cameron meeting Parliament President Martin Schulz ahead of the Brexit referendum to MEPs paying tribute to the victims of the Nice tragedy in July. Relive this year's key events in our photo gallery and join the conversation on our Facebook page.

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General : From all of us at the European Parliament, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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General : Fighting illicit financial flows, investing in family and small-scale agriculture and coordinating aid for Haiti after Hurricane Matthew were among the issues on which Members of the European Parliament and their counterparts from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries agreed at the 32nd session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) in Nairobi, which closed on Wednesday.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP