Round-up of Strasbourg session 12-15 January

Published: 20 January 2009 y., Tuesday

Strasbūras
Last week's first Parliamentary session of the year opened with Members dealing with key international issues such as the crisis in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute. The week also saw MEPs vote to ban certain pesticides to protect safety.

With the death toll rising in Gaza last week Parliament's President Hans-Gert Pöttering led calls for an “immediate end of violence on both sides”, with fellow MEPs echoing these sentiments all week.
 
The start of the year also saw many homes in eastern and central Europe without gas as Russia and the Ukraine became locked in a fierce dispute over gas supplies. Throughout the week MEPs voiced condemnation of the whole debacle, with a resolution having now being passed.
 
A decade of the euro was also marked with MEPs being joined by the President of the European Central Bank Jean Claude Trichet and Europe's Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia to debate the impact of the currency.
 
The first session of the year also saw the Czech Republic's PM Mirek Topolánek come before the House to set the priorities of his country's 6-month presidency of the EU.
 
In other debates the House passed the resolution to ban harmful pesticides in a bid to increase safety. Also discussed was the introduction of biometric passports, humane animal transport across Europe and the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
 

Šaltinis: europarl.europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Climate change: Commission invites to an informed debate on the impacts of the move to 30% EU greenhouse gas emissions cut if and when the conditions are met

The European Commission today presented an analysis of the costs, benefits and options for moving beyond the EU's greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 from 20% below 1990 levels to 30% once the conditions are met. more »

EU and Latin America agree to strengthen cooperation in civil aviation

At a joint EU–Latin America Civil Aviation Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, today signed two "joint declarations" with Latin American aviation leaders that will lay the foundation for closer cooperation in civil aviation between the EU and Latin America. more »

Thirty-seven ministers of Europe and Asia come together in Madrid

Ministers from 37 countries - 27 from the European Union and the ten that form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - will meet in Madrid on Wednesday to commemorate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of a formal framework for relations between the two groups. more »

Regions in the spotlight

RegioStars awards: the EU recognises the most original and innovative regional projects. more »

Farmers turn Champ Elysees green, agricultural subsidies, France, farmers, Young Farmer's union

The Champs Elysees goes green as animals and thousands of square meters of plants cover Paris' most famous avenue to showcase farm production. more »

EP mission to Israel and the Palestinian Territories

A 15-strong delegation of MEPs will visit Israel and the Palestinian Territories from 24 to 27 May. more »

The EU, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Strategic Partnership at the eve of the Madrid Summit– Working Together in a Globalised World

The Strategic Partnership between the EU and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) was founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1999 to foster and strengthen political, economic and cultural links between the two regions. more »

Opening of the Strasbourg session: EP celebrates IDAHO

At the start of this week's Strasbourg session, EP President Jerzy Buzek announced that, as every year, the EU was celebrating 17 May as International Day against Homophobia (IDAHO). more »

The Euro-Mediterranean Civil Forum urges the region’s leaders to demand that Israel comply with international law

The Euro-Mediterranean Civil Forum, which ended this Sunday in Alicante, has agreed to ask the leaders of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) to demand that Israel ‘respect international resolutions to put an end to the occupation and colonisation of Palestine’. more »

Volcanic ash closes airports

Due to the high density of a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, the no-fly zone over parts of Scotland and England was extended Sunday. more »