EU Agenda: Week Ahead - February 13 to 18, 2012

This week, the 14th EU-China summit takes place in Beijing; ministers debate guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure; the Commission debates the future of pensions in Europe; and Euro-MPs vote on on Eurobonds, and are set to save the food aid programme for needy citizens. The week's events in the European Union including EU Council, Commission and Parliament meetings and other EU-related conferences and events. Events for the week of 13 to 18 February 2012.

 Council of the EU
 European Commission
 European Parliament
 Other Institutions

 

Monday 13 February

European Parliament plenary session (Strasbourg) Jobs for young people: MEPs will quiz the Commission on its plan to use up to €82 billion in unallocated EU structural funds to help small firms and combat youth unemployment. Homeless people: as more than 3 million people in the EU are homeless and suffer out in the cold, MEPs will press the European Commission to act on their September 2011 request for a strategy for the homeless.

Commissioner Piebalgs in Burma/Myanmar Commissioner Piebalgs will visit Burma/Myanmar on 12-14 February. The Commissioner is set to announce additional funding from the EU to encourage the transition and to assist the country's fight against poverty.

Tuesday 14 February

	European Parliament plenary session (Strasbourg) Food for the needy: Parliament is set to save the food aid programme for needy EU citizens. If MEPs endorse a compromise reached with the Council, the programme will continue until the end of 2013, with an annual budget ceiling of €500 million (debate Tuesday, vote Wednesday).
	EU-China summit (Beijing) The 14th EU-China summit will take place in Beijing. The EU delegation will by headed by Commission President Barroso and Council President Van Rompuy. The Chinese delegation will be headed by Premier Wen Jiabao. A business summit will preced the summit.
	Transport, Telecommunications & Energy Council (Energy items) (Brussels) The Council will be devoted to energy issues, starting with a public policy debate on a draft regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure. The proposal is intended to help the EU deliver the huge investments required to replace aging infrastructure, to ensure security of supply, to make the transition to a low-carbon economy and to complete the internal energy market.
	EC weekly meeting of the College (Brussels) -agenda, minutes
	The future of pensions in Europe (Brussels) The White Paper sets out ideas and proposals to ensure pensions in the EU are adequate and sustainable in the long run. Its aim is to help Member States in their efforts to create the right conditions so both women and men can remain in the labour market throughout the life-cycle and to improve opportunities for safe complementary retirement savings.
	European year for active ageing and solidarity between generations (Brussels) The Committee of the Regions forum will focus on the multilevel governance approach of the policy domain and will highlight how local and regional actors improve the conditions for active ageing in the three major thematic strands of the EY, each of which closely related to the competences of the CoR: Employment, Participation in Society and Independent Living.

Wednesday 15 February

European Parliament plenary session (Strasbourg) Current economic crisis/Eurobonds: MEPs will take stock of the current economic crisis ahead of the 1 and 2 March EU summit. They will also vote a resolution on Eurobonds, which says these could become a source of stability for the Eurozone in the medium term, but other instruments are needed to meet short-term needs. Mario Monti: economic developments in Italy and Europe will be debated with Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti. Syria: Parliament will debate the deteriorating security and human rights situation in Syria with Denmark's Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal. A resolution will also be put to the vote (debate Wednesday, vote Thursday).

Coreper II, Coreper I (Brussels)

Thursday 16 February

	European Parliament plenary session (Strasbourg) Russia: Parliament will take a stand on the situation in Russia, in a resolution focusing on the December 2011 legislative elections, the recent demonstrations and upcoming presidential elections in March. Hungary: MEPs will vote on a resolution on recent political developments in Hungary, further to a heated plenary discussion with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on 18 January.
	Coreper II, Coreper I (Brussels) Coreper is responsible for preparing the work of the EU Council. It consists of Member States' ambassadors to the European Union.
	Urban forum (Brussels) The legislative package adopted by the Commission on 6 October 2011 proposes to strengthen the urban dimension of the future cohesion policy. The event aims to set the ground for a dialogue between the Regional Policy Commissioner and cities on the future urban dimension of cohesion policy.
	Conference on smart use of ICT in transport and logistics (Brussels) DiSCwise is a European pilot action that aims to improve the information exchange between stakeholders in the transport and logistics sector and to operationally assist them in building digital supply chains with a co-modal approach. It is a project with a strong SME focus.

Friday 17 February

Employment, Social, Health & Consumer Affairs Council (Brussels) The Council will have a first exchange of views on legislative proposals regarding the enforcement and implementation of the posting of workers directive and the use of the right to collective action (Monti II), which the Commission will present to the Council. The main objective of these proposals is to improve the implementation and the application in practice of the posting of workers directive of 1996. The Council will also hold a policy debate on women on company boards and will take stock of the alert mechanism report on macro economic imbalances which will be presented by the Commission.