Highlights of the Strasbourg plenary session 21-24 April 2009

This week is the penultimate plenary session of the European Parliament (21-24 April 2009) before the European elections on the 4-7 June 2009. The MEPs face a packed agenda during the session and I highlight here a few of the matters for discussion.

Safer and easier e-money transactions
The offer of e-money services should be enhanced by boosting innovation and improving consumers' confidence with a legislative report put forward by John PURVIS (EPP-ED, UK) for the Economics Committee. Updating the existing legislation on e-money business to achieve a true single market allowing this industry to expand is the objective of the report.

Electricity and gas market: MEPs to debate and vote on deal with Council Presidency
Europe's electricity and gas markets will be further liberalised while the rights of energy consumers are strengthened. Parliament will debate and vote on a wide-ranging package of energy market legislation.

Charges for calling, texting and mobile internet surfing
Charges for calling, texting and mobile internet surfing will be cut from 1 July 2009. MEPs negotiated a compromise with the Czech Presidency on the extension of the 2007 which will be debated and voted on in Strasbourg. The informal compromise negotiated by Industry Committee MEPs with the Czech Presidency still needs to be backed by the whole Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

Tyre labels to show fuel efficiency, safety and noise
Tyre buyers will be better informed about their fuel-efficiency, safety and noise performance thanks to a mandatory tyre label proposal put forward by the Industry Committee. Like the European energy label, the tyre label will use fuel-efficiency classes ranging from best-performance (green “A” class) to worst (red “G” class). It will also show the tyre's wet grip and noise performance.

Nuclear safety measures in the EU must be improved, say MEPs
The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy is backing a report from the Commission/Council which is calling for an EU-wide nuclear safety framework, based on the principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency. According to the report, drafted by Gunnar HÖKMARK (EPP-ED, FI), nuclear installations should be operated so as "to achieve the highest safety standards that can reasonably be achieved taking into account economical and social factors."

Report calls for Member States to maintain minimum stocks of crude oil
MEPs are concerned that a sudden shortage of crude oil - one of the main energy sources of the EU - could be extremely damaging to the economies of Member States, and that could also "compromise" national military capabilities. The risk of an unexpected shortage of oil has increased in recent years due to increasing global demands, the concentration of oil supplies in often unstable areas and decreasing resources within the European Union. In light of this, the report drafted by Miloslav RANSDORF (GUE/NGL, CZ) calls for increased energy security and more effective monitoring of oil stocks in the EU.

Clearing away the obstacles to cross-border healthcare
The general aim of the draft directive on cross-border healthcare is to ensure that there are no obstacles to patients who seek treatment in a Member State other than their own. It also clarifies the right to be reimbursed after a treatment in another Member State. These rights have been confirmed in European Court of Justice Judgments but are not yet included in EU legislation. The directive also aims to ensure high-quality, safe and efficient healthcare and to establish healthcare co-operation mechanisms among Member States. Parliament will vote at first reading on plans to give patients the right to seek healthcare abroad more easily and be reimbursed for the costs. The Environment and Public Health Committee's report also calls for patients to be properly informed about their rights when treated outside their home Member State.

War on hospital bugs
The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee is urging Parliament to back measures designed to reduce the millions of infections picked up by patients in hospitals each year. The recruitment of specialised nurses, better education, support for research and better information for patients are among the measures proposed. Patient safety is of increasing concern in healthcare systems everywhere. The most common problems are healthcare associated infections, medication-related events and complications during or after operations. Many such problems could be avoided fairly easily.

Action plan for urban mobility
Sixty per cent of Europeans lived in urban areas in 2005, and that number will rise to eighty per cent in 2020, making urban transport a major component of goods and passenger transport in Europe. A significant proportion of greenhouse gases are generated by road traffic in urban areas. Parliament will vote on a report by the Transport Committee that seeks to prompt EU action on problems relating to urban mobility such as congestion and pollution.

New rights for bus, coach and ship passengers
Parliament will vote at first reading on two regulations designed to replicate for bus, coach and ship passengers certain rights already granted to air travellers under EU rules. There will be stricter rules on compensation for delays and cancellations and on payments in the event of accidents and assistance for disabled passengers. The Transport Committee is tabling the two reports, one by Gabriele ALBERTINI (EPP-ED, IT) on rights of bus and coach passengers, the other by Michel TEYCHENNÉ (PES, FR) on the rights of passengers travelling by sea and inland waterway.

Deforestation and forest degradation
Recent studies show that there is potential for reducing global greenhouse emissions by 40 % by 2030 and that, at a cost of less than half of one percent of global GDP, wind, solar and other sustainable renewable energies could provide almost a third of total global power needs; whereas energy efficiency could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter and whereas deforestation could be almost halted. Parliament will debate the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss following a statement from the Commission. MEPs will also vote on a resolution on this topic.

Strengthening the fight against nuclear proliferation
The next Review Conference of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is scheduled for 2010, and according to MEPs, it should be a chance to put the production, use and disarmament of nuclear weapons under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The conference also presents an opportunity to reach a consensus on a treaty to end the production of fissile material for military purposes.

Europe must deliver a common immigration policy, say MEPs
An own-initiative report by Simon BUSUTTIL (EPP-ED, MT) is proposing a blue-print for a common policy on European immigration. The report recognises the importance of legal immigration, in the face of Europe's ageing population and declining workforce, but also urges Member States to jointly tackle the problems caused by illegal immigration.

MEPs call for stricter legislation to protect citizens from the effects of profiling
At a time when our personal data is accumulating on the internet and in data-bases, a Parliamentary report, drafted by Sarah LUDFORD(ALDE, UK), warns against the dangers of 'profiling' of European citizens on the basis of criteria such as ethnicity, religion, gender or age, especially by the police. MEPs are warning against the excesses of the system and call on Member States to shed light onto these practices.