2008 October 20, Monday
www.europarl.europa.eu
Outcome of EU summit: financial crisis, food prices, climate/energy, immigration, Lisbon Treaty
MEPs will hold a debate on Tuesday 21 October with French President and Council President-in-Office Nicolas Sarkozy on the outcome of the EU summit of 15-16 October in Brussels, where the European Union’s leaders are due to discuss the world financial situation, energy and climate issues, immigration and asylum, food and petrol prices and the next steps on the Lisbon Treaty. The House will vote on a resolution on Wednesday.
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2008 October 13, Monday
Press release: Edit Bauer and Árpád Duka-Zólyomi
On yesterday’s plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) of the Slovak ruling coalition unanimously raised their voices against the expected, but undone criticism from the MEPs representing the Party of Hungarian Coalition in Slovakia (SMK-MKP). We hoped that at least one of them would distance oneself from discriminatory practices of the Minister of Education or at least from the statements of the Chairman of the Slovak National Party (SNS), which spread hatred. Unfortunately, this did not happen. In contrary, they have taken intolerant acts, which have been on the agenda of the Slovak political scene for a longer period now, even to the EP grounds. Accusing us of provocation and trigger tension in the Slovak media about our alleged speeches during the Plenary in advance, without us even saying a word, was for other MEPs at least strange, if not embarrassing. Just a short time ago we were glad to see the Slovak colleagues raising their voices in the interest of the Slovak minority in Pilisszentkereszt, Hungary. But somehow they forgot that they had helped the self-government of the Slovak minority in Hungary.
Threatening MEPs with the expression of autonomy speaks about a deep lack of knowledge about the real situation in Europe. Talking about self-governance is neither felonious nor prohibited. What’s more, some of the Member States have different forms of efficiently working autonomy on their territory which do not impair the neither the integrity nor the sovereignty of the state. Criticising the participation of MEPs from SMK-MKP on the Forum of Deputies of the Carpathian Basin is a demonstration of lack of knowledge as there are similar forums also in Romania, Italy and so on. Instead, such forums should be used for deepening the cooperation between nations. To achieve this, it would be necessary that some of the Slovak colleagues would not mislead the domestic media with lies and half-truths. By listening to the allegations from one of our colleagues on hypothetically existing efforts about the renewal of the former “Great Hungary” might evoke in the united Europe at the most just a smile.
If the MEPs representing the Slovak ruling coalition could eliminate the prejudices against the Hungarian minority living in Slovakia, they could avoid further blundering, unlike they did by their yesterday’s speeches in the Plenary.
2008 October 6, Monday
EUobserver.com
This week will start with a meeting of the EU’s economy and finance ministers (ECOFIN) in Luxembourg on the need for a European response to the international financial crisis, just a day after the bloc’s four biggest states - Germany, France, Britain and Italy – hold emergency talks on the subject in Paris.
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2008 September 18, Thursday
Euractiv.com
The European Parliament yesterday (17 September) launched its own online TV channel, EuroparlTV, in an attempt to reverse widespread political disenchantment among citizens ahead of the European elections.
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2008 September 15, Monday
Europarl.europa.eu
Committee meetings and political groups week - Brussels
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2008 September 4, Thursday
EUobserver.com
The European Parliament’s top administrative body - the bureau - on Wednesday (3 September) recommended MEPs hold a second unusual meeting in Brussels following the ceiling collapse in Strasbourg.
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2008 March 12, Wednesday
Euractiv.com
Common EU rules for preventing terrorist attacks at airports and planes will enter into force within two years after MEPs approved a compromise with member states, despite misgivings over who should finance the new security measures.
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2008 March 11, Tuesday
Euractiv.com
Proposals to improve the European Ombudsman’s access to EU documents as a means of increasing transparency within the EU institutions were approved by MEPs on 10 March.
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