Europe is not closing the door to Turkey, but recent developments prompt it to look for alternatives to Turkey’s accession to the EU, said MEPs in a debate with Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Wednesday.

Opening the debate, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani urged Turkey to respect fundamental rights, which are the basis of Europe. He stressed that “Europe is not an Islamophobic continent and is not closing the door on the Turkish people.”

Many MEPs voiced concern at the way Turkey’s referendum, which backed expanding presidential powers, was conducted, calling it unfair. They said it is time to reassess EU – Turkey relations and start a new chapter.

Some MEPs could not see Turkey ever becoming a full EU member, while others still hoped that it would be enough to suspend the negotiations, leaving the possibility for Turkey to change its current course.

An expanded customs union, more trade, student exchanges, and cooperation on security and migration, were some of the ideas presented by MEPs as a new way forward. Some also advocated maintaining support for democratic forces in Turkey, as millions of Turks do want to be a part of EU.

Next steps

The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee is set to start debating the traditional annual resolution on Turkey’s progress on 2 May. The draft resolution for 2016, prepared by rapporteur Kati Piri (S&D, NL), also calls on the EU “to suspend the accession talks with Turkey if the constitutional package is implemented unchanged”.

You can catch up with the debate via Plenary on Demand

President Tajani highlighted the international “Girls in ICT” Day, to be held on Thursday. This aims to encourage young women to study and take up careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

 In Europe, only 29 women per thousand graduate in these fields, compared with 95 men, he noted.

This gender gap grows as you go up the hierarchical scale, added Mr Tajani, urging EU countries and companies to do their bit to close this gap, in line with the Millennium Development Goals.

Agenda changes

Wednesday 26 April

– The order of the second and third items will be reversed, so that the Commission Statement on the “Decision adopted on the European Pillar of Social Rights and work-life balance initiative” will be taken as the second point, after the Commission statement on “Situation in Hungary”.

– The debate on the Commission statement on “Situation in Hungary” will be wound up by a resolution, to be voted in the May I part-session

Thursday 27 April

– The immunity report (A8-0163/2017) by MEP Gilles Lebreton on MEP António Marinho e Pinto is added to the votes (Rule 9.8).

– A motion objecting to the Commission Delegated Regulation amending Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, is added to the votes.

Immunity waivers

The President announced that the European Parliament had received requests from the Financial Department of the High Court of Paris to lift the immunity of Marine Le Pen and Marie-Christine Boutonnet and pursuant to rule 9(1), he had referred the requests to the Legal Affairs Committee.

Requests by committees to start negotiations with Council and Commission

Decisions by several committees to enter into inter-institutional negotiations (Rule 69c) are published on the plenary website. If no request for a vote in Parliament on the decision to enter into negotiations is made within 24 hours, the committees may start negotiations.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Jüri Ratas met today with the Executive Director of eu-LISA Krum Garkov in the headquarters of the Agency in Tallinn, Estonia. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the role that large-scale IT systems play in contributing to safety and security in Europe and preparations for the upcoming Estonian EU Presidency.

Krum Garkov welcomed Prime Minister Ratas and thanked him on behalf of the Agency for the interest and support shown with the high-level visit. The Executive Director and Prime Minister exchanged views on transformations in the area of EU freedom, security and justice, which relies increasingly on modern technologies and information sharing.  Mr Garkov elaborated on eu-LISA’s 2017 priorities related to the evolution of the existing IT systems and integration of new ones in line with their respective legal basis. The revision of the Agency’s mandate and the legal proposals that are currently being negotiated at EU institutional level were also discussed.  In addition the Prime Minister and the Executive Director talked about the ongoing preparations for the EU Presidency that Estonia will take over from Malta for the second half of this year.

During a brief tour of the current headquarters, located in the EU House in Tallinn, the Prime Minister and the Executive Director spoke about the progress of the new headquarters building that will, in the not too distant future, house eu-LISA in Tallinn.

Prime Minister Ratas also spoke with staff, addressing the Strasbourg and Brussels office too via video conferencing.

Links:

Contact:

Mare Haab

Head of External and Internal Communication

e-mail: press@eulisa.europa.eu

mob: +372 588 78 668

for general information: info@eulisa.europa.eu

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Jüri Ratas met today with the Executive Director of eu-LISA Krum Garkov in the headquarters of the Agency in Tallinn, Estonia. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the role that large-scale IT systems play in contributing to safety and security in Europe and preparations for the upcoming Estonian EU Presidency.

Krum Garkov welcomed Prime Minister Ratas and thanked him on behalf of the Agency for the interest and support shown with the high-level visit. The Executive Director and Prime Minister exchanged views on transformations in the area of EU freedom, security and justice, which relies increasingly on modern technologies and information sharing.  Mr Garkov elaborated on eu-LISA’s 2017 priorities related to the evolution of the existing IT systems and integration of new ones in line with their respective legal basis. The revision of the Agency’s mandate and the legal proposals that are currently being negotiated at EU institutional level were also discussed.  In addition the Prime Minister and the Executive Director talked about the ongoing preparations for the EU Presidency that Estonia will take over from Malta for the second half of this year.

During a brief tour of the current headquarters, located in the EU House in Tallinn, the Prime Minister and the Executive Director spoke about the progress of the new headquarters building that will, in the not too distant future, house eu-LISA in Tallinn.

Prime Minister Ratas also spoke with staff, addressing the Strasbourg and Brussels office too via video conferencing.

Links:

Contact:

Mare Haab

Head of External and Internal Communication

e-mail: press@eulisa.europa.eu

mob: +372 588 78 668

for general information: info@eulisa.europa.eu