Tag: Parliament

In the run-up to the European elections, some websites are trying to monitor MEPs according to their attendance in plenary sessions and committee meetings. But in practice the task is proving extremely difficult. EurActiv France contributed to this report.

MEPs yesterday (16 December) overwhelmingly passed legislation to normalise the employment conditions of their Brussels-based assistants by developing a common set of rules.

Centre-right MPs from across the EU are to launch the "Club of the 27", a measure aimed at bringing national parliamentarians closer to the European Parliament's EPP-ED Group and involving them more closely in the elaboration of EU policy. EurActiv France reports from Paris.

European Parliament leaders have asked for a business group to be removed from its premises following accusations over its influence on policy.

British Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan yesterday caused outrage in the European Parliament after comparing its German president, Hans-Gert Pöttering, to Adolf Hitler, highlighting deeper unease between the Tories and Parliament's leading political group.

The Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty (ITS) group in the European Parliament, which brought together extreme right MEPs from across the EU, has collapsed after Romanian MEPs left following insulting comments made last week by fellow group member Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of former fascist leader Benito Mussolini, it emerged yesterday.

New plans for the distribution of MEPs' seats have come under attack by Italy, which risks losing out on equal footing with France and the UK. Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Italy might block the new system from being inserted in the new EU Treaty to be agreed at a summit in Lisbon next week.

Green MEP Helga Trüpel talks about the ongoing challenge of communicating EU policies, the different views among the institutions over a joint approach and how to ultimately win the hearts and minds of EU citizens.

Helga Trüpel is a member of the Green group in the European Parliament. She is currently Vice-Chairwoman of the Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education and a member of the Committee on Budgets.

To read a shortened version of this interview, please click here.

The replacement of long-standing EP Foreign Affairs Chairman Elmar Brok by Jacek Saryusz-Wolski from Poland is likely to be the most spectacular change as Parliament prepares for a mid-term reshuffle of committees.

Halfway into its term, the Parliament prepares to vote on a new president, vice-presidents and committee chairs in a reshuffle that sees the far-right bolstered after Romania and Bulgaria's EU accession.

The symbolic value of Strasbourg remains intact, argues France's EU Ambassador Pierre Sellal, in defence of the European Parliament's French seat.

The communications commissioner argues that times have changed and that the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament no longer works as a positive symbol of Franco-German unity.

The Parliament has set up a temporary committee to inquire into alleged CIA detention centres and covert prisoner flights in Europe. In addition, MEPs adopted a resolution calling for the Guantánamo detention centre to be shut down.

The director general of the CBI argues the UK parliament should reform its system of scrutiny of EU proposals to have more say in EU affairs.

Faced with a potential negative vote in the Parliament, Barroso withdrew his Commission team at the last moment. He will now tour various capitals in order to come up with a new Commission line-up. 

Socialist MEPs have presented Commission president Barroso with a stiff challenge - to resolve the Buttiglione crisis by 21 October. EurActiv outlines the stakes and positions, and the results of all the commissioner hearings.

MEPs will meet in committees to prepare the questionnaires for the forthcoming hearings of commissioner candidates and to meet the Dutch ministers in their respective areas to discuss the programme of the Dutch EU Presidency.

Polish ex-foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek has put his hat in the ring to become President of the Parliament. He enjoys the support of the Greens and of the recently announced pro-European centrist group.

MEP Harlem Désir tells EurActiv that the PES is now ready to be transformed into a "more federated" and "truly transnational" party. A broader left-wing platform could be set up in the new parliament to outweight the EPP.

In an interview with EurActiv, the MEP and member of the ruling French party UMP warned centrist leader François Bayrou against leaving the EPP to form a coalition with the liberals in the new parliament.

This European Policy Brief by the Federal Trust considers the effectiveness of the recommendations in the draft Constitution aiming to reinforce the legitimacy of the EU, as put forward by the European Convention.

The next European Parliament will again be dominated by the centre-right parties, if predictions in an academic study launched by PR company Burson-Marsteller turn out to be correct.

At a presentation to the media in Brussels, the Greens in the European Parliament expressed their ambition to lead a pan-European electoral campaign in which 25 Green parties will participate.

Thirty-two Green parties from throughout Europe have now officially joined forces to found the European Green Party. The first ever Europe-wide political force will run a common campaign for the European Parliament elections in June.