Round-up of Strasbourg session 12-15 January

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.