Pre-plenary press briefing at 15.30

Parliament and political group spokespersons will hold a press briefing on this week’s plenary session at 15.30. Find additional info here.

Opening of the session

EP President David Sassoli will open the remote plenary session at 17.00.

Live coverage of debates and votes can be found on Parliament’s webstreaming and on EbS+.

For detailed information on the session, please also see our newsletter.

All information regarding plenary, including speakers’ lists, can be found here.

Post-COVID-19 recovery

MEPs will debate the Technical Support Instrument, worth 864.4 million EUR, to help EU countries prepare the recovery plans needed to access funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility in order to support economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote will take place tomorrow at 13.00.

Dorota KOLINSKA
(+32) 498 98 32 80
EP_Economics

Stronger EU powers in trade disputes

Parliament will debate new rules allowing the EU to use countermeasures in trade disputes when WTO arbitration is blocked. They are set endorse the strengthening of the so-called enforcement regulation that allows the EU to protect its trade interests against partners acting illegally. The text will be put to the vote tomorrow at 13.00.

Eszter BALAZS
(+32) 470 88 08 77
EP_Trade

In brief

Implementation of EU budget. MEPs will debate the annual report on how the EU budget has been spent in 2019 with the President of the European Court of Auditors, Klaus-Heiner Lehne.

Free movement of services. Parliament will discuss how to improve the free movement of services in the EU, as numerous barriers and fragmentation hinder economic growth. A resolution will be put to the vote on Wednesday.

EU arrest warrant. MEPs will propose ways to improve the European Arrest Warrant and ensure it contributes effectively to combatting serious crime in the EU. A resolution will be voted on Wednesday.

January 18, 2021 About the EUIPO

Virtual meeting with Director-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD)

On 13 January, the Executive Director of the EUIPO, Christian Archambeau, and Director-General for DG RTD, Jean-Eric Paquet, held their first bilateral meeting via video-link.

The virtual meeting was also attended by the Director for the European Innovation Council (EIC) Task Force, Jean-David Malo, and the Director of Prosperity, Peter Dröll, as well as the EUIPO’s Deputy Executive Director, Andrea Di Carlo,  the Head of Cabinet, Ursula Schildt, the Director of the Customer Department, Inge Buffolo, and the Director of International Cooperation and Legal Affairs Department, João Negrão.

A general introduction on the EUIPO’s scope of activities and on the SP2025 was provided, highlighting the contribution of strong IP protection as a common value in different EU policy areas to create growth and jobs. Discussions focused on possible joint initiatives to support innovative SMEs and, more in general, the EU innovation ecosystem. 

The participants agreed to follow up on potential cooperation activities in regular bilateral meetings.

The main topics that MEPs will discuss and vote on during the 18-21 January plenary session include:

• COVID-19 vaccines
• Inauguration of Joe Biden and situation in the US
• Priorities of the Portuguese Council Presidency
• Right to disconnect
• Tackling the social and employment crisis caused by the pandemic
• Gender Equality
• Use of Artificial Intelligence

Interpretation will be available at the press conference in English, French and German.

Journalists wishing to actively participate and ask questions, please connect via Interactio by using the link https://broadcaster.interactio.io/join?code=HIAGWR22EJPB.

You can also follow it live from 15.30 via Parliament’s webstreaming and EbS+.

Information for the media – Use Interactio to ask questions

Interactio is only supported on iPad (with the Safari browser) and Mac/Windows (with the Google Chrome browser).

When connecting, enter your name and the media you are representing in the first name / last name fields.

For better sound quality, use headphones and a microphone. Interpretation is only possible for interventions with video.

Journalists who have never used Interactio before are asked to connect 30 minutes before the start of the press conference to perform a connection test. IT assistance can be provided if necessary.

For more details, check the connection guidelines and recommendations for remote speakers.

The European Supervisory Authorities – ESAs (the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority) submitted today to the European Commission the final Report on the draft Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) under the Financial Conglomerates Directive (FICOD) on reporting templates for intra-group transactions (IGT) and risk concentration (RC). The draft ITS aim at further increasing comparability amongst conglomerates of different EU Member States thereby improving supervisory consistency.

The harmonisation of the IGT and RC templates for conglomerates aim to align the reporting under FICOD in order to enhance convergence overview on group specific risks, in particular contagion risk. The draft ITS provide the foundation for the harmonisation of reporting, with one single set of templates and common definitions and instructions to fill in the templates as set out in the Annex to the ITS. 

The proposed date of entry into force of the ITS is 1 January 2022, which will give conglomerates sufficient time to implement the reporting requirements. 

Next steps

The ESAs draft ITS have been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement in the form of a European Commission’s Delegated Regulation, i.e. a legally binding instrument applicable in all Member States of the European Union. Following the endorsement, they are subject to non-objection by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

Informal video conference of European affairs ministers, 18 January 2021

European affairs ministers will take stock of the discussions on the Conference on the Future of Europe, and prepare the informal video conference of heads of state or government on COVID-19 coordination to be held on 21 January. The Portuguese presidency will present its priorities for the next six months.

Informal video conference of economics and finance ministers, 19 January 2021

Ministers will discuss the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, non-performing loans and the European Semester. They will also hear presentations on the presidency work programme, state of play of financial services legislative proposals and the latest EIB Investment Survey.

Informal video conference of the members of the European Council, 21 January 2021

EU leaders will meet via videoconference to discuss coordination of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 25 January 2021

Ministers will discuss the 2021 fishing opportunities for fish stocks shared with the UK, the current state of play of the post 2020 CAP reform package and trade-related agricultural issues.

Foreign Affairs Council, 25 January 2021

EU ministers of foreign affairs will be briefed about current affairs and exchange views on Climate and Energy Diplomacy.