This week in the European Parliament: France v the European Parliament; Options for future data sharing arrangements; Civil liberties committee begins Facebook hearings; Reintegrating workers recovering from injury and illness.

France v the European Parliament

The European Court of Justice will issue an opinion on France’s legal bid to annul decisions regarding the EU’s 2017 budget made by the European Parliament on 1

st

December 2016. France
argues the Treaties stipulate that budgetary powers can only be exercised during plenary sessions in Strasbourg and not, as in this case, at additional sittings in Brussels. The issue goes to the heart of
the ECR Group’s campaign for a single seat for the European Parliament.

Opinion issued: Tuesday

Options for future data sharing arrangements

ECR Group co-Chair Syed Kamall hosts a panel discussion focussing on one of the biggest issues facing the European tech sector: the future of data flows. The withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU has put the issue of data flows further under the political microscope. Now is the time to start talking about possible solutions. The future of data flows is a key issue for businesses across the globe, especially in light of the implementation of the new GDPR.

Also next week, the parliament’s internal market committee will vote on proposals from the commission that will allow organisations to store and process non-personal data anywhere in the EU. The ECR Group believe this is essential to fully unleash the benefits of the data economy and it is estimated that removing obstacles to data mobility could generate additional growth of up to 4% GDP by 2020.

Kamall hearing: Tuesday @ 15:00. Where: ASP A1 H1

IMCO vote: Monday @ 16:15

When: Monday, 17:30 – 20:00

Civil liberties committee begins Facebook hearings

The parliament’s civil liberties committees will commence its series of in-depth hearings on the Facebook – Cambridge Analytica scandal. Over the next two weeks, the committee will hear from whistle-blowers, activists, the European Commission and Facebook executives. This should be an opportunity to establish what went wrong, what the impact has been on Facebook users, and look at how this can be avoided in the future. The ECR Group takes the scandal very seriously and believes that it is important to establish all the facts and start rebuilding trust.

When: Monday, 17:30 – 20:00

Reintegrating workers recovering from injury and illness

On Thursday the employment committee will vote on ECR Slovakian MEP Jana Žitňanská’s report that examines that pathways to reintegrate into employment workers who are recovering from injury or illness. The report considers that rehabilitation comprises three particular type of challenges: medical, vocational and social challenges and that these are faced by both employees and employers. successful rehabilitation encompasses all three aspects and the report subsequently considers varying initiatives that could aid the reintegration process.

When: Thursday @ 9:00