12 September 2016
STATE OF THE UNION
ECR Leader Syed Kamall will respond to President Juncker’s State of the Union speech.
Speaking of his expectations from the speech, he said: “While others call for “More Europe”, or “No Europe”, the ECR will be the only group calling for a “Better Europe” based on decentralisation, fairness, diversity and respect for all member states. These principles have been neglected, leading to more scepticism. The EU is too large to continue centralising and harmonising. People want solutions to challenges like security, but not new EU powers or agencies. Let us ask how we can better cooperate, not how we advance the European project.”
The debate comes just ahead of a meeting of 27 EU states in Bratislava to discuss the future direction of the EU.
Debate: Wednesday from 09.00 CET
Contact: Syed Kamall on +333 88 1 75792 or syed.kamall@ep.europa.eu;
Press Officer James Holtum on +32 473 861762 or james.holtum@ep.europa.eu
RETURNS DOCUMENT FOR IRREGULAR ECONOMIC MIGRANTS
At present only 40 percent of non-EU nationals who do not qualify to stay in the EU are actually being returned to their country of origin. This piece of legislation, being steered through the parliament by ECR MEP Jussi Halla-aho, creates a common travel document for the returns of people who stay ‘irregularly’ in the EU. It addresses many flaws in the current national returns documents such as the varying formats and inadequate security features, making it less burdensome for governments to return irregular migrants.
Vote: Thursday @ 12.00 CET
Contact: Jussi Hall-aho on +333 88 1 75121 or jussi.halla-aho@ep.europa.eu; Press Officer Otto Juote on +32 475 904431 or otto.juote@ep.europa.eu
JULIAN KING
The UK Commissioner-designate for Security Union, Sir Julian King, will appear before civil liberties and home affairs committee MEPs in a hearing to assess his suitability for the post. ECR home affairs spokesman Timothy Kirkhope would like to see Sir Julian clarifying how he will use his new role to promote greater trust and cooperation between national intelligence and law enforcement authorities, rather than focusing his capital on creating new structures and agencies.
Hearing: Monday from 19.00CET
Possible plenary vote: Thursday @ 12.00
Contact: Timothy Kirkhope on +33 3881 75321 or timothy.kirkhope@ep.europa.eu; Press Officer Robert Taylor on +32 498 984760 or robert.taylor@ep.europa.eu
HARNESSING THE JOB-CREATION POTENTIAL OF SMALL BUSINESSES
MEPs will vote on a report drafted by ECR MEP Zdzisław Krasnodębski which makes a series of recommendations on how the EU can improve the environment for business development and job creation among small and medium-sized businesses. The report says that both national and European policies must address the issues of skills (shortages, mismatches, brain drain), regulatory uncertainty and administrative burdens, as well as the problem of undeclared work. Mr Krasnodębski has also highlighted the necessity of ensuring a level-playing field for SMEs regarding their competitive position compared with large corporations. Small and local business is particularly disadvantaged in over-regulated and bureaucratised administrative systems.
Vote: Thursday @ 12.00
Contact: Zdzisław Krasnodębski on +333 88 1 75510 or zdzislaw.krasnodebski@europarl.europa.eu; Press Officer Katarzyna Ochman on +32 470 955928 or katarzyna.ochman@ep.europa.eu
CONTACTS
ECR Group spokesman: James Holtum Tel: +32 473 861762 E-mail: james.holtum@europarl.europa.eu
– For enquiries relating to a national delegation of the group or its members:
UK delegation: Robert Taylor Tel: +32 498 984760
E-mail: Robert.taylor@europarl.europa.eu
Polish delegation: Katarzyna Ochman Tel.: +32 470 955928 E-mail: katarzyna.ochman@europarl.europa.eu
German delegation: Michael Strauss on + 49 1714927919
E-mail: michael.strauss@europarl.europa.eu
Flemish delegation: Yannick Vanderveeren Tel.: +32 473 80 64 46 Email: yannick.vanderveeren@europarl.europa.eu
Danish delegation: Kristian Olesen Tel.: +45 61624876
Email: Kristian.olesen@europarl.europa.eu
Czech delegation: Jan Krelina Tel.: +32 493 214346
E-mail: jan.krelina@europarl.europa.eu
Dutch delegation: Maarten Van Der Flierte Tel: +31 652 244464
E-mail: maarten.vandefliert@europarl.europa.eu
Finnish delegation: Otto Juote Tel: +32 475 904431
Email: otto.juote@ep.europa.eu
Latvian delegation: Karlis Bumeisters Tel: +371 29245260 Email: Karlis.bumeisters@europarl.europa.eu