European Parliament Plenary Session – November I 2023
European Parliamentary Research Service
Facts. Analysis. Insight. Foresight. We (EPRS) are the in-house research service of the European Parliament.
Written by Clare Ferguson with Sara Van Tooren.
Members of the European Parliament sit in plenary in Brussels on 8 and 9 November 2023. Their agenda includes hearing European Council and Commission statements on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 26‑27 October 2023 and of the EU‑US Summit on 20 October, as well as on the European economic security strategy. A Commission statement is expected on the state of the energy union. Actor and Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Cate Blanchett, is due to give a formal address on Wednesday, on the importance of helping refugees and displaced people.
The Parliament has long called for a boost to the EU budget – so that it can respond to growing demands and tackle new crises – but without increasing national contributions based on gross national income. Members are set to discuss a Committee on Budgets (BUDG) report on the Commission’s proposed amendment to the 2021 Own Resources Decision (ORD) on Wednesday afternoon. The amendment presents an adjusted package for the next generation of own resources, with an increased call rate on emissions trading system (ETS) revenue and a temporary statistical own resource based on company profits. The BUDG report considers the amended proposal adequately reflects the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) roadmap and calls on the Council to adopt the amended ORD. The committee again emphasises the need to secure sufficient (and not merely temporary) own resources for the EU budget, and introduces further amendments. The Council can adopt its decision on the proposal once Parliament has voted.
Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in the EU, causing chronic disease and premature mortality. Parliament is expected to debate a new proposal to tighten the regulation on light- and heavy-duty motor vehicle emissions and battery durability (Euro 7) on Wednesday afternoon. Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) would like to set stricter limits for heavy-duty vehicle exhaust emissions, but would grant additional time to reach the more stringent thresholds. The committee would retain most Euro 6/VI standards on testing conditions for cars and trucks, and supports the proposed creation of an environmental vehicle passport and on-board systems for monitoring emissions, consumption and battery health. The report as voted would form Parliament’s position for negotiations with the Council.
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Parliament is set to decide on the political agreement reached following trilogue negotiations on fair access to and use of data (Data Act) on Thursday. Data-driven innovation could benefit citizens through, for instance, personalised medicine and new transport possibilities, but most industrial data remain unused or are concentrated in the hands of a small number of large companies. To resolve this, EU policymakers have been exploring how to make data sharing possible by giving users rights to access and share generated data with third parties, such as businesses, if they choose. The Council and Parliament agreed on a final text in June 2023, which the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the Permanent Representatives have both endorsed. The agreed Data Act sets out users’ rights to access and share the data they generate through their use of connected devices, the possibility to share private sector data with public sector bodies and institutions in public emergencies, sets new requirements to allow users to switch cloud provider, and safeguards against unlawful international data transfers.
Members are also due to vote on the Committee on Fisheries recommendation that Parliament consent to the conclusion of a new EU fisheries agreement and implementing protocol with Madagascar, as part of a set of EU tuna agreements. The new framework should provide access rights for the EU fleet to fish in Malagasy waters in return for an EU contribution of €1.80 million per year, €700 000 of which represents access rights. The rest should support Madagascar’s fisheries policy and conservation efforts. A four-year agreement and implementing protocol, initialled after eight rounds of negotiations between the European Commission and the government of Madagascar, have applied provisionally since June 2023.
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