The European Parliament next week will set priorities for the European Council at the end of March and assess the solidarity of the European Union (EU) on migration policy and support for Ukraine.
MEPs participate from Monday to Thursday in the monthly plenary meetings in Strasbourg, France, this time with the preparation of the European Council on 23 and 24 March.
The debate between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel will take place on Wednesday morning, 15 March.
The meeting in Brussels (Belgium) on 27 should discuss the latest developments related to the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine and how EU member states, together with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other countries, can go further in support of Kiev.
In the latest resolution on the war on February 16, the majority of MEPs confirmed their readiness to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine for as long as necessary, and called for serious discussion of the possibility of sending fighter jets to Kyiv.
However, 27 countries resisted the idea, overshadowed by the possibility of an unprecedented escalation in the conflict that began just over a year ago. The European Union has focused efforts and discussions on the need to rapidly supply more high-caliber ammunition to meet Ukraine’s urgent needs.
The discussion should also focus on the competitiveness of the Union and the single market, as well as the solutions that Brussels will have to find to counter a more protectionist international political and economic context, as is happening in the United States of America.
Also on Wednesday, MEPs will consider the distribution of responsibilities between Member States and European solidarity with regard to migration and asylum policies.
The plenary debate with Sweden, the Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Commission, will focus on the need to reform the common rules of the community bloc regarding migration and asylum, as follows from the action plan of the Central Commission for the Mediterranean route and the February Extraordinary Council (totally dominated by the presence in Brussels of the President Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky).
The EU’s migration policy is a hot topic for debate in both the European Parliament and the Commission and Council, but it has received further impetus after a shipwreck in late February off the coast of Crotone, in the Italian region of Calabria. in which at least 70 people died.
The government of Georgia Premier Meloni has been widely criticized for tightening migration and asylum policies, especially for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the Mediterranean.
On Thursday, a group of Italian citizens protested during a rally chaired by Italy’s chief executive. The meeting took place near the shipwreck. Despite the fact that the Italian government has increased criminal liability for those convicted of human trafficking or causing death to others during these passages through the Mediterranean, several NGOs and citizen groups have criticized the position of the Meloni government, whose deputy is Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
MEPs are expected next week to evaluate an agreement to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union, as in principle the stalemate created by the border between the Republic of Ireland (an EU member state) and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.